CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Birth order is significant in child rearing, consequently the family is first in the life of the child in several ways. As Cooley put it “the family is the cradle of personality”. It is primary in point of time in the processing or induction of the child into society and culture. The new individual’s basic drives and need can reach fruition only with the setting provided by these people who surround him. His interpersonal relationships will be reflected not ire terms of any cultural determinant alone but in terms of the various individual differentials represented by family members. Therefore it is pertinent to note that intellectual development in social studies as a subject area has to be viewed closely putting into consideration the family unit as being the key ingredients in the formation of eventual IQ growth, along with environment variable of a student’s family.
A child’s personality or socialization trend may depend on his sibling position or birth order. The impact of ordinal birth position upon the child and sibling relationship has received considerable exploration nation wide, certain generalizations may now be made if we remember that all of their birth positions are incident to the social and emotional Climate of the home. And this depends largely on the types of homes, like the nuclear family, which can be looked at as a democratic home with a minimum frustration. And the extend family with it accompanying frustration. Again of these types of families, the socio-economic status also counts in determining its correlation to personality development of the individual student in general and their performance in social studies in particular. In this study these generalization .will be grouped into the oldest child(as first born child) whose position in the family structure is a unique one though various studies and writers ascribe- different effects on the position. The youngest child or the last child in the family whose position is also a crucial position depending on the economic condition of the family and accompanying cultural advantages for him.
The study of these age differentials will go along way in helping teachers, parents and the society at large to carry. out effective investigation of the effects of birth order on students performances in social studies. Birth order as an integral part of a child formative and development stages is the much that will be focused on as it affects the learning ability and assimilation rate of the students in social studies. Coupled with this is the home and parental status and environmental factors militarizing against students achievement in school generally and social studies in particular will also be focused as an area of study, being an essential and a strong determinant of measuring students performance in social studies. Coupled with this is the home and parental status and environmental factors militating against students achievement in school generally and social studies in particular will also be focused as an area of study, being an essential and a strong determinant of measuring students performance in social studies. Birth order or order of delivery of children in this case will be further viewed or analyzed from the perspective of the first born child, the middle born child and the last born child as earlier indicated.
Huni (1966), supports the motion that the environment of the child has a great influence on the acquisition of basic knowledge and skill. Kernes( 1997), points out that for the child to grow intellectually and socially with increased independence-to meet daily-life situation, the child must be provided a conductive environment which helps him develop adequate motor skills and be motivated to learn. The home is the foundation of education because it plays a central role in socializing the child. The child spends his early years and learns his language at home. The importance of the family was stressed by Data (1984) that the environment of the home remains a principal settings in which the child’s initial experience have an enduring impact on the physical, intellectual and personality development of the child”.
According to Datta, the early social and physical environment that home provides for the child has an impact on his later social and cognitive development. Obanya (1981) further asserted that the environment of the learner affects his attitude to schooling as well as his performance in school. Uche (1984) claims that there: is enough evidence from past research findings, that child’s school performance is related to their background and to activities which go on in a child’s home is related to the social status of their parents. He also believes that many tower class parents fail to provide even the minimum level of reinforcement and stimulation for their children intellectual development.
1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the study is aimed at stressing the indispensable effects of birth order on students performance educational development. Consequently, that parents, teachers and. the society Will be able to appreciate the various differences in the students throughout their schooling periods. Thus, it is expected that through this study that glaring effects of Birth order be enumerated enough for parents and the society at large to take redress where necessary, and maintain an appreciated standard of breeding children so as to attain a desired result of intelligent, well-motivated children as a product of education. The study will also help the teachers understand why a student learns in the way he does and their performances in social studies and also make the students aware of the various variables that determine their academic achievement in social studies.
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The specific statement of the problem is to analyze the extent to which birth order of the children or their positions in the family affects the child’s performance in sue: along with the socio-economic status of the family. Analysis of the position of the children, that is, the first child, middle child and the last born child in the family will be studied closely in order determine their academic performance in social. In order to ascertain the reasons for the different levels of performance of the students with respect to their individual positions in the family. Miner (1969) has pointed out that the socio-economic status of the child was related to the level of achievement attained.