ABSTRACT
It has been recorded that students repeatedly perform poorly in Epistles in Christian Religious Studies (CRS) in both internal and external examinations. It has also been observed that teachers have been using the lecture method in teaching the Epistles to students. Evident abound that the lecture method use in delivering Epistles to students does not effectively captivate the interest of students hence their consistent mass failure in epistles in CRS and the need for the change in teachers’ method of teaching. It is therefore necessary to explore an alternative method in lesson presentation such as use of story telling instructional technique. The study was conducted to examine the effects of story telling on secondary school students’ achievement and interest in themes from selected Epistles in Christian Religious Studies in Enugu State, Nigeria. Ten research questions guided the study while ten null hypotheses were formulated and tested at p≤0.05 level of significance. The study adopted quasi-experimental design of non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group. The population for this study was 980 senior secondary school students in the 59 public secondary schools in Nsukka education zone. Random sampling technique was used to sample four co-educational public secondary schools of 2 urban and 2 rural from the study area. The sample for the study was 200 CRS students taken from 4 intact classes drawn from 4 co- educational schools of 2 urban and 2 rural; 2 experimental and 2 control groups, through multistage random sampling technique. Out of the four intact classes, two were randomly assigned to story telling instructional technique, 1 rural and 1 urban; while the remaining two classes were assigned to conventional lecture method, 1 rural and 1 urban. Two sets of instrument were used for data collection for the study which included; Epistles Achievement Test (EAT) and Epistles Interest Inventory (EII). The instruments were validated by three experts. The reliability of the Epistles Achievement Test (EAT) was achieved using Kuder-Richardson’s (K-R 20) with a coefficient of 0.77 while that of Epistles Interest Inventory (EII) was determined using Cronbach Alpha reliability method which yielded a coefficient of 0.94. Before the onset of the experiment, students in both experimental and control groups were given pre-test on Epistles achievement test (EAT) and Epistles interest inventory (EII) to ascertain the entry level achievement and the extent the students show interest in Epistles. The experiment lasted for four weeks. After the exposure of experimental group to story telling technique, the CRS teachers administered the post-test, Epistles achievement test (EAT) and Epistles Interest Inventory (EII) on students to determine the extent of their achievement and interest of the students in Epistles. Data collected from both pre-test and post-test were analyzed using means and standard deviation to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that there was significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught Epistles with story telling and those taught with lecture method. The result also showed that students mean achievement and interest scores did not differ significantly as a result of gender. In addition, location has significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students but has no significant difference on their interest. Based on these findings, the study recommended that secondary school teachers should adopt the story telling instructional method in teaching epistles. Seminar and workshops should also be organized by State and Federal Ministries of Education for the teachers on effective use of storytelling instructional method in the teaching and learning of Epistles in schools. Also the curriculum planners should review the Epistles aspects of Christian Religious Studies curriculum to accommodate the story telling instructional technique.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Human beings in their quest to solve contemporary life puzzles believe that there is a supernatural being in control of the universe. In an effort to satisfy this supernatural being, the human being therefore engage in religious activities. Religion is one of the popular institutions that have vastly influenced the lives of many nations manifesting in the political, physical, social, moral, spiritual and economic affairs of the modern world. Religion according to Anyocha (2005), emanated from two Latin words – Religio and Religo. While Religio deals with sacredness, piety or fear of the supernatural, Religo has to do with that which holds together, binds or fastens. It was from these two Latin words that the idea of binding relationship between the human self and some supernatural forces or ultimate realities emerged. Hence, human beings are dependent on this supernatural for some benefits they drive from the being. Waardenburg, (1999) affirmed that about two thirds of the world’s populations have embraced religion. This confirmed the significant role religion plays in the life of the people, and the diverse manner through which they carry it out in many societies.
Throughout history, religion has expressed the deepest questions human beings ask; questions pertaining to life and death, physical and spiritual, natural and supernatural, sacred (holy) and profane, among others. It is a major force in human experience that has taken a central place in the lives of virtually all civilizations and cultures. As one thinks back to the dawn of human consciousness, one finds religion everywhere. It is impossible to open a newspaper, listen to the radio or popular music, watch television or films without issues debated about religious and ethical dimensions of acts of terrorism and ethnic cleansing, cloning, euthanasia, abortion, divorce, gay marriage, feminism, animal rights, capital punishment, and a host of other issues that fiercely divide the public, all over the world. Since moral and ethical issues are at the heart of every religious tradition, encouraging students to discuss them in an academic setting is of great importance in creating educated, thinking individuals; resulting in building the ‘whole man’.
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Commenting on religion and its definition, the National Open University of Nigeria Report (2006) agreed that the word Religion was of European origin that emphasizes relationship between human being and divine, and human being and their environment. It is a universal phenomenon which is as old as the existence of humankind. Religion is as diverse as human cultures, historic and prehistoric, Western and non-Western. The report concluded that it is wide and thus difficult to define with precision but emphasized that for a precise definition of religion there is need to bear in mind its several functions for individuals and societies. Religion in the view of Okwueze (2003) is a regulated pattern of life of a people in which experience; beliefs and knowledge are reflected in humanity’s conception of itself in relation to others, its social, physical as well as the meta-physical world. The author quoting Williams James (1902) defined religion as the feelings, acts and experiences of individual humankind in their solitude; so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they consider the Divine. In the context of this study, religion is a subject taught in senior secondary schools as Christian Religious Studies (CRS) with the aim of inculcating in students the relationship or mutual co-existence between a lower and higher spiritual being; the physical/natural/human and the metaphysical/supernatural being.
Religion is also one of the global issues which often bring about cultural conflicts like religious crises in Nigeria today. This may be the reason why Okwueze (2003) commented that every religion involves certain ideas, belief and observances. These beliefs and observances may manifest positively or negatively. Positively, religious beliefs can reflect in human life in the way they demonstrate love to ones ‘self and others. There is no country, nation, race or generation without religion. The appreciation of the importance of religion according to Anyocha (2005) had led some social scientists in recent times to search for the real meaning of religion. Perceiving religion, therefore, as a social fact, enables one to examine its social relevance to the society; its regulation of conduct in the form of right and good or wrong and bad, of certain conducts of individuals in the society.
Overall, religion is powerful and persistent; it shows no sign of disappearing, in other words, religion has come to stay. It provokes heartfelt commitment, eloquent expression, forthright action and intense debate for both practitioners and observers, and for everyone who wants to be informed about the world around him/her (National Open University of Nigeria’s Report, 2006). Religion is an intensely curious phenomenon that calls out for better understanding. Many people including people from Enugu state engage in different religions. Religion being part and parcel of the people’s way of life is being interpreted by the people based on their understanding and feelings.
Due to the need of religion in an individual’s life and conduct, the Federal Government of Nigeria, integrated the teaching of Christian Religious Studies into the curriculum of secondary schools. In line with the current efforts to instill discipline and enhance empowerment in the Nigerian youths, the objective of the Christian Religious Studies curriculum stated that it is expected not only to impact the content of the Bible into the students but also moral lessons and instructions. The subject provides the moral foundation required by children in the society. It teaches students that certain things are good or bad; that is, certain things are right while others are wrong. The curriculum also presents God as creator and sustainers of human life and the source of Christian belief, value, joy and hope. The National Policy on Education, Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2004) indicated the philosophy and goals of education in Nigeria with reference to religion as promoting inter-African solidarity and world peace; inculcate the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individuals and Nigerian society among others. It is the responsibility of teachers of Christian Religious Studies to ensure that the content of the subject is effectively taught to the students.
The major concern of the teaching of Christian Religious Studies, according to Okwueze (2012), is for the examination of its relationships with economic, political, cultural and social institutions as well as its diverse functions in the life of the society; thereby creating in the students, the ability to accommodate different religious ideologies. This means that the goal of studying CRS is not just to attain intellectual and moral perfection but to help students acquire spiritual knowledge of an extraordinary complex feature of human existence (Akubue, 1992). Christian Religious Studies therefore aims at developing a better understanding of the various religious groups, which creates an awareness and appreciation of group differences and similarities. To this effect, the students are expected to understand the reason(s) behind different religious groups’ behaviours and accommodate them the way they are. This is in line with Iwe (1979) in Anyacho (2005) who commented that ignorance and self-centeredness have often set Catholics against Protestants, Moslems against Christians or heathens, and members of the old established Christian churches against the adherents of the newly arrived churches.
Studying Christian Religious Studies (CRS) is the path to emancipation from ignorance to the acquisition of information and skills. Christian Religious Studies has become a specialized course and one of its areas of specialization is the Biblical Studies, which according to the National Open University of Nigeria’s report (2006) is the area of religious studies that deals exclusively with the study of the sacred text of Christianity – the Bible. Scholars in this field have two broad areas, the Old Testament and the New Testament. For students to qualify for the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE), they are expected to cover these broad areas even though there are selected chapters. The West African Examination Council (WAEC) divided the areas into three sub-headings. ‘Section A’ termed, Themes from the Old Testament (questions 1-4). ‘Section B’ is Themes from the Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles (questions 5-8), and ‘Section C’, Themes from selected Epistles, (questions 9-12). Themes in the context of this study simply mean topics to be covered. A candidate is expected to attempt at least one question from each section and then the remaining one from any of the three sections, making it a total of four questions.
It has been recorded that students perform poorly in some aspects of the subject. Reports of Zama (1996), Anyanwu (2002), Eneogwe (2006) and Eze (2010) and researcher’s observations revealed that students perform better in Sections A and B, Themes from the Old Testament and the Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles respectively, than in Section C – themes from selected Epistles. The letters of Saint Paul or Pauline letters found at the end of the New Testament in the Bible are being referred to as Epistles. These are the fourteen books in the New Testament that are traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle as the author. Among these letters are some of the earliest Christian documents that provide insight to the belief and controversies of Christianity (Compellingtruth, 2015). The poor performance of the students in Epistles has been repeatedly reported by the WAEC chief examiners almost every year. In 2007, the chief examiner reported that there was a drop in the candidates’ performance when compared with the previous years. As usual, the report continued, the candidates performed better in Sections A and B than in Section C. Even though in 2008, the report commended that there was a slight improvement in Section C. In 2009, the performance of the students in Section C went down as usual hence the report stated that most of the students performed better in Sections A and B, than in C. Furthermore, the report of the Chief Examiner’s General Certificate Examination GCE (2009) also lamented that the performance of the candidates fell below expectation, as majority of the candidates scored below average. The report also added that the strengths of the candidates rested mostly on Sections A and B than on Section C, where their performance was very poor. Hence there is need for improvement in the performance of students in Christian Religious Studies in general and in Section C in particular, in the WASCE and GCE.
What could be the root cause of the poor performance of candidates in the Epistles? There were various opinions on the likely causes of this poor performance of the students. This may be attributed to many variables which may include: the abstract nature of the themes (inadequate knowledge of the subject matter), media used (teacher’s method of teaching), gender, and environment/location of a school. Speaking on the abstract nature of section C, Eneogwe (2006) commented that some Christian Religious Studies topics are so interestingly historical that many of the teachers merely take the story as they appeared and found it difficult to conceive the story in any other context. On the other hand, some topics are so abstract such as Epistles that such teachers erroneously conclude that there cannot be any technique to explain them. Ngwoke (2005) quoting Ivowi (2001) described this situation as the text materials becoming next to nothing in instruction and learning, thereby making the materials very boring for the students. Harp and Mayer (1997) in Ngwoke adduced the reason for the boring nature as its inability to stimulate, challenge or satisfy the students and thereby limiting their interest and understanding of the text. For the author, the need to consider the students’ interest in teaching and learning should not be neglected.
