ABSTRACT
The study investigated Behaviour Problems and Its Effects On the Academic Achievement Among Adolescents in College of Education in Katsina. The design used for the study was the survey. A sample of 60 adolescent students was randomly selected form selected departments in the colleges of education in the State. Attention problems, delinquency, and substance use were significantly associated with diminished achievement, but depression was not. Combinations of problems involving substance use were especially consequential. Our results demonstrate that the social consequences of mental health problems are not the inevitable result of diminished functional ability but, rather, reflect negative social responses.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In the current age of educational reform, problem behaviours of students have become an emerging issue for educators, policy makers and school administrators all over the world. Here the term ‘Problem Behaviour’ implies to emotional and behavioural adjustment problems of students. Such problems not only impede educational, personal and social development of students but also may results in lifelong impairment functioning in social and personal life (Rutter, 1996). According to Bird, 10% to 20% children in developed world are suffering from serious emotional and behavioural distress at any one time and the prevalence is almost the same or higher for the children of developing country (Nikapota, 1991).In a study Rabbani and Hossain (1999) showed that 13.4% of urban primary school children in Dhaka city have been suffering from emotional, conduct and undifferentiated disorders. In a study on secondary level students of rural Bangladesh Morshed and Ahsan found that 21% students are either suffering from any one type of problem behaviour (Emotional symptoms, Conduct problems, Hyperactivity-inattention and Peer problems) or at risk of having such problems. Adolescence is the time for rapid physical, sexual, psychological, cognitive and social changes. Since, adolescents ‘ relationship with their parents gets weaker in this period, peers may play a critical role on their mental development and pave the way for them to learn social skills, controlling behaviour, share what they feel and discuss their problem (Massen, 2009). This coincides with global changes as well as technological processes, the new forms of cultural challenge, which pave the way for increasing the so-called generation gap leading to conflicts between generations that some values have become counter values as a result of lack of a clear-cut definition, and some counter values have become values leading to some behavioural deviations in this age group. Ericsson suggests that adolescents, who know their “selves” in a short time, will face the risk of discovering other roles being provided in an inappropriate way and take many possibilities for granted (Ganji, 2004).Adolescents tend to be independent and objective to their parents and they question family values in order to prove their maturity and individuality and try to make and analyze their newly made values, although their chosen values are not the result of their rational decisions they’ve made logically. They choose their values for reasons related to their contradictions and motivations. These choices are sometimes unconscious. These are among major factors in emerging culture-value gaps between adolescents and their parents. This gap is sometimes so extended that opposes social values and norms and leads to behavioural-social disorders in this age group, so that it could make the community educational institutions make some efforts to control or remove this abnormally. As the definition says, according to behavioural-social standard, abnormally or deviation is a behaviour that not only causes destruction and braking social norms, but it also provokes negative feedback from others; hence, behaviours against social standards, criteria, and norms are considered abnormal and out of the ordinary (Ganji, and Hassanzadeh, 2009).Behaviour towards schooling denotes a positive or negative predisposition towards schooling and every activity in the school environment, which could be cognitive, emotional, or behavioural (Bernstein, Penner, Clarke-Stewar & Roy, 2006). Fazio and Roskes (1994), said, ―behaviours are important to educational psychology because they strongly influence social thought, the way an individual think about and social information‖. It is evident that, when so defined, behaviours cannot be directly observed but must be inferred from overt behaviour, both verbal and nonverbal. Most children come to school ready and willing to learn. How school can best foster and strengthen their predisposition and ensure that they leave school with the motivation and capacity to continue learning throughout life has remained a matter of great concern. Without development of the right behaviours, students may not be well prepared to acquire the new knowledge and skills necessary for successful adaptation to changing circumstances and the necessary situation to achieve in their academic pursuit (Kuusinen & Leskinen, 1988). In school, teachers manage much of students‘learning. However, learning might be enhanced if students can manage it themselves; moreover, once they leave school, individuals have to manage most of their own learning. To do this, they need to be able to establish goals, to persevere, to monitor their learning progress, to adjust their learning strategies as necessary and to overcome difficulties in learning. Students who leave school with the autonomy to set their own learning goals and with a sense that they can reach those goals tend to be better equipped to learn throughout their lives (Candeias, Rebelo, Olivera & Mendes, 2012). Beyond students ‘perception of how well school will prepare them for life, their overall behaviour to school and to all the school-related activities could be important. For some students, school is central to their daily life. They view schooling as essential to their long term well-being, and this behaviour is reflected in their participation in academic and non-academic pursuits. The students tend to have good relations with school staff and with other students when their behaviour to school is positive. However, many youth’s express negative behaviour to school as they do not tend to believe that the school and success in it will have a strong bearing on their future. Such negative feelings and behaviours may result in their becoming disaffected with school (Williams, 2000). They may withdraw from school activities, and in some cases, participate in disruptive behaviour and display negative behaviours towards teachers and other students. Students behaviour to school can be seen as a disposition towards learning, working with others and functioning in a social institution. It is partly for this reason that the Pearson Foundation (2014) with the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspiration identified eight conditions for students to realize academic, social, and personal success; and emphasized that behaviour towards school, also referred to as the sense of belonging is the first and most crucial. It emphasizes self-worth, engaged learning and sense of purpose. Behaviour to school is an important condition for a student’s feeling of well-being, social engagement, and competence. Highly positive behaviour towards school increases intrinsic motivation, for it fosters self-confidence and investment in the community. It is only with positive behaviour towards school that a student can develop good sense of belonging and engagement in school. The condition of belonging means that a student is a valued member of the school community while still maintaining his or her uniqueness. It is a relationship between two or more persons characterized by a sense of connection and support for individual achievement of self-actualization and advancement.In addition, these problems could have an immediate impact on our lives or leave indirect negative effects by increasing public service costs or developing anxiety among in individuals. A student, for example, who leaves school not only risks his future career, but also violate social health and public service costs (Ganji, and Hassanzadeh, 2009), as a result socialization process is disturbed, emotional-social hurt and behavioural disorder and behavioural deviation, I. e. behavioural-social disorders, develops in adolescents. Behavioural-social disorders are common disabling disorders which collapse individuals and inhibit them from success, and also make families, school authorities and societies face a number of problems and high rate of social dilemmas. Pathology of these disorders in adolescence, as a harder time than childhood has captured considerable attention from experts and authorities. Pathology is the study of a set harms and behavioural disorders among adolescents that hurt adolescents’ personality because of their development and deviation from norms and committing abnormal deeds in the community.Many significant changes occur in this period; psychological are among the most significant changes in adolescence. A tendency toward peers in the process of socialization develops in adolescents in this period. In this life stage, adolescents need more emotional, economical, and personal independence and the most importantly they need to belong to a specific group called peers group and their acceptance (Akbari, 2002). In this period, adolescents must find a philosophy of life and their identities. These days unfortunately most adolescents cannot learn their developmental tasks successfully or they learn it with problems; therefore, there is a high rate of crime among adolescents. Therefore, this study focus on the effects of behaviour disorder on academic performance (A Case Study of Katsina University).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In recent years, increasing evidence also has established the negative academic outcomes typical of this population. For example, students with behaviour earn lower grades, are less likely to pass classes, and experience higher rates of school dropout than typical students and students with other high incidence disabilities (Wagner and Cameto 2004).nIt is to be mentioned that, “the behaviours of an individual which can make it difficult for him to learn in the classroom, cause harm to him or others and isolate him from his or her peers are often termed as problem behaviours” (Problem Behaviours in the Classroom: What They Mean and How to Help, 2002).The present study considers the four attributes of problem behaviour. These are: Emotional Symptom (e.g. headache, stomach distress without any medical cause; depression or general pervasive unhappy mood etc.), Hyperactivity-Inattention (e.g. lack of concentration, impulsivity etc.), Conduct problem (e.g. Bullying, Truancy, lying, stealing, Arguing, etc.) and Peer relationship problem (e.g. peer rejection, peer envy etc).Students with emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD) commonly engage in behaviours (e.g., verbal and physical aggression; social skills acquisition and performance deficits) that negatively influence both their ability to successfully negotiate peer and adult relationships and their educational experience (Cullinan and Sabornie 2004; Gresham et al. 2004; Landrum et al. 2003; Walker et al. 1992; Walker et al. 2004). Namely, when students are unable to negotiate social demands and meet teachers’ expectations for school success (Lane, Givner et al. 2004; Lane, Pierson et al. 2004; Lane et al. 2006), school becomes a formidable task. In the absence of effective interventions, these behaviour patterns become more firmly established and less amenable to intervention efforts (Kazdin 1987; Walker et al. 2004).Despite increased attention to the academic needs of students with EBD, their academic achievement, like their behavioural and social skills, does not appear to be improving (Lane et al. 2002). Unfortunately, these poor outcomes do not improve when they leave the school setting. This group of students goes on to have negative employment outcomes, difficulties with sub-stance abuse, and a high need for mental health services (Bullis and Yovanoff, 2006; Walker et al. 2004). Given that between 2% and 20% of the school-age population is likely to have EBD, this is no small problem. These problems make it glaring that there is a need to carry out a study on the effects of behaviour disorder on academic performance (A Case Study of Katsina University).
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective of this study is to examine the effects of behaviour disorder on academic performance (A Case Study of Katsina University).
The specific objectives include the following:
1. To find out if there is a prevalence of behaviour disorder among students of Katsina University.
2. To examine if behaviour disorder influences the concentration of students of Katsina University.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. what are the prevalent behavioural problems affecting adolescents’ academic achievements.
2. Which of these are most common among adolescents.
3. What are the factors that aid in exacerbating these behaviours.
4. What are the best ways to combat them without negatively affecting the personalities of these adolescents
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research work is of significance to every guidance and counselling department of every school. The findings here will help educators know the history of these behavioural problems and consequently design peculiar solutions for each case. This is a very important research work ask the ages of adolescence is a very complex one with convoluted complexities of being stuck between the child’s age range and adulthood. This usually creates a lot of behavioural issues as the adolescents are trying to find their footing in the world.On a wider focus, the study will shed light on every other campus both state and federal universities and polytechnics and help understand and develop a pattern of these adolescent problems. It will serve as a primary source of materials in other studies of adolescent related researches.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Our research is limited to the adolescent students of the college of Education at Ankpa. Again, we will emphasize the behavioural problems that are particular first to adolescent and how their age range help worsens the situation. The chapters will be structured to better to reflect the strict scope and objectives. The fought chapter will be sectioned to both discuss the effects of these problems and their peculiarity with the adolescent students of college of education Ankpa
1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The major limiting factor of this research is time and space to properly document every finding related to this research.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Adolescents: An adolescent is a young person between the ages of a child and that of an adult.