THE BARRIERS TO THE EFFECTIVE TEACHING OF SOCIAL STUDIES IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOL (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Education is a process of acquiring desirable changes in ones behaviour or character. The school is a formal institution set up primarily to inculcate the desirable character in children and improve their knowledge in order to be useful to themselves and the society at large.
Social studies is one of the subject in the curriculum that help in achieving the aims and goals of education. The comparative educational study and adaptation centres (CESAC) 1968, defined social studies as “the study of man and his society with his interplay between him, his environment and effect of science and technology. He went on to state that the usefulness of social studies is enhanced when it is seen as a way of looking at the society in order to understand social problems and thereby help to seek solution to them.
Aderalegbe (1975) also described social studies as “a study of how man influence and has in turn influenced by his environment, in terms of physical, social, political religious, economic, psychological, cultural, scientific and technological environment. He went on to refer to social studies as a way of life”. Social studies is relatively a new subject through out the world. The idea of social studies first sprang up ion the United State of America and later in Europe. By the early 1960 the teaching of social studies has spread to all parts of the United State of America and Europe and later the subject started having impact in developing countries.
Social studies offer us important opportunities to know what is happen in, where, when and how, making our understanding positive value, social studies help in promoting, travelling experience and clearly show the inter-relationship and interdependence between man and places above all, it is clearly shown the world is dynamic rather than a static, social studies as a subject seek to solve the problems of the society and give clear insight into the problems of man and his environment. Social studies was introduced to Nigeria schools in 1963 in view of satisfying the urge of children who are always curious and want to know where, when of various events takes place in their environment, since the introduction of the social studies into Nigeria education system several questions has been raised about the teaching and learning of social studies. They ask such questions as what a learner who is exposed to social studies sought to find out.
This project sought to find out the problems associated with the teaching of social studies in secondary schools using Iguobazuwa Grammar School , Udo Mixed School, Siluko Grammar School, Gbelebu Secondary School, and also Ofienamas School all in Ovia South West Local Government Area.
