PROBLEMS AND PROSPECT OF TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES IN PRIMARY SCHOOL (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Social Studies was introduced in the Nigerian School Curriculum as part of the instrument for achieving national development (National Policy on Education (NPE) 2001). This was what informed its designation as part of the core curriculum at different levels of education in Nigeria. Social Studies curriculum development agencies such as the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and experts further identified and disseminated the curriculum goals or purposes of the subject in the school curriculum. These include citizenship education, reflective inquiry and social science education, (Barth-shermis, 2000; Barth-Norris, 2006; Dubey and Barth, 2000; Olawepo, 2004) among others. These broadly stated goals must be clare to, and recognized as important as well as attainable by teachers and other participants connected with the Curriculum if the intentions or purposes must be realized and the investment of effort is to be considered worthwhile (Feather, 2002;Meece, Blumenfeld, & Hoyle, 2008). These intentions or purposes are prima facie stated with clarity, but their perception or conceptualization by teachers and scholars is still in doubt as Onyabe (2000) observed that the philosophy, content and methodology of social studies has remained vague to both scholars and teachers. The incidence of conflicting conceptions of social studies curriculum is a cause for concern for three major reasons. First, the anchor or strategic position of purposes or intentions in the curriculum development process (Pratt, 2004) as illustrated in Tyler (2009) (Linear) and Wheeler (2000) (cyclic) curriculum models, among others.
The National Policy on Education (2004) made social studies a core subject in the primary schools in Nigeria, with the objectives of inculcating in the learner in integrated forms, basic skills, values, and attitudes for useful living. In simple terms, the effective implementation of the UPE in primary school through social studies instruction is inextricably dependent on quality social studies teachers who are adequately informed about what to teach, how to teach, attitudes, values, and skills expected to be injected in the learner for the realization of functional educational goals. Nworgu (2007) and Ibiam (2007) in their respective studies established that most social studies teachers are not sufficiently informed about the demands, implications, and objectives of education reforms in Nigeria, specifically the UPE. This anomaly is likely to affect the potency, worth, and relevance of instruction delivered to the learner.
