CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Social studies refers to the subject matter, possessing skills, attitudes and activities that focus on society and on individuals as members of a social group. National Teachers’ Institute (N.T.I,2000), opines that Social studies is an area of school curriculum specifically designed for the study of man and how he fits into the society by utilizing the necessary attitudes, values and skills at his reach.
Awe in Fadeiye (2005:06), is of the view that
…Social studies is a discipline if properly programmed and effectively taught should help to solve social problems that are facing developing countries like ours (Nigeria) where the old norms are fast losing their grips and without any effective substitute to replace them.
Bozimo and Ikwumelu (2009), maintain that Social studies aims at helping people develop the ability to make decisions so that they can resolve personal problems and shape policy by participating in intelligent social action. They also state that Social studies is concerned not only with knowledge but also with attitudes, skills and values. Ikwumelu (2002) holds that it gives an opportunity for important social and moral issues such as attitudes to the destitute, poverty, racialism and different types of government, cruelty to animals and children, brutality and injustice to be introduced into curriculum. Jarolimek (1977:04), agreeing with the above view, states that Social studies is a field of study that teaches about people, how and where they live, how they form and structure societies, how they govern themselves and provide for their material and psychological needs; how and why they love and hate each other, how they use and misuse the resources of the planet that is their home.
Social studies does not focus on purely individual problems or problems that are peculiar to a given individual, and it is not synonymous with indoctrination nor with uncritical acceptance of beliefs (Bozimo and Ikwumelu, 2008). Kissock (1981) thus holds that Social studies is a programme of study which a society uses to instill in the students the knowledge, skills, attitudes and actions it considers important concerning the relationship human beings have with each other, the world and themselves.
In Social studies therefore, man is viewed as being at the centre while his physical, political, cultural, psychological and socio-economic environments encircle him. This probably explains why Nigeria Education Research Council (NERC) in Fadeiye (2005) opines that Social studies is the relationship between man, and his physical and social environments as well as his relationship with science and technology.
Social studies can thus help the Nigerian citizens generally to develop the ability to respect the worth and dignity of individuals, it will help in the inculcation of national consciousness and national unity, instill in man a disposition for acceptance of attitudinal change or rebranding in order to tame the tide of corruption which has enveloped all sectors of life in Nigeria.
Agreeing with the above assertion, Jarolimek (1977:3), maintains that Social studies is expected to contribute immeasurably to the development of confidence, hope and positive self image in our children in conflicting ideologies, values and attitudes since it aims at:
helping young people develop competence that enables them to deal with and to some extent manage, the physical and social forces of the world in which they live. It also provides young people with a feeling of hope in the future and confidence in their ability to solve social problems.
To achieve these objectives, Adeniji (2004), suggests that all the teachers of Social studies in all affected levels of education need to be familiar with the content and methods of teaching the subject in order to interpret the content of Social studies correctly and encourage its learning. In addition, they need to acquire skills on selection and utilization of Social studies methods.
Okoro (2001:19), supporting this view, states that when Social studies instructional methods are related to the content, learning will cease to be fragmentary and memorization of unrelated facts and concepts will end. He maintains that the ultimate result of relating Social studies instructional methods and content is for a successful inculcation of such Social studies content as:
– Independent thinking and the desire to think on more individual level.
– Group cooperation or developing more favourable attitudes towards working more effectively and efficiently with others.
– Social responsibilities or respect for obligations to obey the rules of the home, schools and community.
– Empathy or developing the ability to relate and identify more closely with other peoples’ situations.
– Democratic living or the growth of improved attitudes towards increasing respect for other people’s rights.
Downey and Kelly in Ikwumelu (2002:3), observe that “social awareness and social understanding are still not being developed, students still consider either to take for granted what their teachers offer or to reject it out of hand”, probably as a result of lack of relevance between Social studies content and its instructional methods. It is only when such relevance is achieved that Social studies programme can help students think critically about their own assumptions and about the world in which they live, so that they will no longer be contented to accept their lot blindly but can learn ways of contributing towards changes.
Wheeler in Fadeiye (2005:06) equally maintains that “whether a subject is effective or not depends on the nature and quality of the learning experiences that are associated with it”.