IMPACT OF THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION ON SOCIETAL MORALITY; A CASE STUDY OF IWO LG
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
According to Thungu (2010), education is the transmission of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. The acquired knowledge, skills, attitudes and values should enable the individual to develop into a good member of society. Education should therefore bring about some changes that are acceptable to society. Education transmits what is worthwhile in a morally acceptable manner (Ngaroga, 2006). Also Ngaroga in his book “Education for Primary Teacher Education” wrote that education reflects the values and standards of a society and its educators. Education should therefore be worthwhile in terms of the transmitter, content and methods which help the child to relate to his or her society. Early childhood is the period from birth to eight years of age. According to Wanjohi (2010), the concept of Early Childhood Development and Education takes into account the child in the mother’s womb soon after conception, through high-school and the transition up to eight years. During the early childhood the child is educated or enlightened so as to cope with life as he or she transits from one stage to the other. Educationally, religion initiates the students into a search for truth, appreciate oneself and become aware of the implications of their actions on others (Ashton, 2000).
According to Thungu (2010), moral and theological education in Nigeria was formally incorporated into the curriculum way back in 1924 as a recommendation of the Phelps – Stokes commission. Upon establishing formal education, the missionary groups took up the responsibilities of not only starting schools but also developing of curriculum for education. The missionaries trained and employed their own teachers, formulated their own content, learning resources and teaching methodologies. Consequently, Theological education operated in different names like
Catechism, Bible Knowledge, Religious Knowledge, Scripture, Bible Study and Christianity (Shiundu and Omulando, 1992). In 1952, the Binns Commission was appointed to make recommendations. Religion was recommended to continue being the basis for African education. Further, it was recommended that there be scrapping of the examination oriented curriculum to reduce dropouts and also to reduce the number of Africans who would proceed for clerical jobs. In 1976, the Gachathi report was required to formulate a specific programme for realizing the educational objectives and policies. Among the recommendations that were made, the teaching of social education and ethics was to be integrated into Theological education. This gave teaching of Theological education an advantage of being taught in schools(Thungu, 2010). According to Thungu (2010), at independence, Nigeria education system reviewed Theological education to make it more relevant to the needs of students and society. The Ominde Commission of 1964 recommended that Theological education should continue to be part of the school curriculum. The Republic of Nigeria Publication (1980) which was reviewed in the year 2012 required the churches to transfer their schools to the government. Churches consequently assumed the role of sponsorship so as to maintain their religious traditions.
According to Nigeria Institute of Education (2006), Theological education component is a new inclusion in the Early Childhood Development and Education curriculum. Theological education inclusion in the Early Childhood Development and Education curriculum fosters God’s knowledge, man’s relationship with God and strives at identifying and enhancing students’s moral and spiritual development. According to sessional paper No. 1 of 2005 the Ministry of Education has specific objectives which are in line with national and international goals. One of the specific objectives is to develop a comprehensive Early Childhood Development program (Thungu, 2010). In Nigeria Theological education is geared towards the continuous moral and spiritual development of students through Christian Theological education, Islamic Theological education and Hindu Theological education. At school, students learn Theological education through different method such as role play, songs, stories, question & answer and poems that enhance moral and spiritual growth (Njuguna,2012).
Njuguna (2012) in his book “Christian Theological education” commented that learners are expected to learn different aspects which include learning about God, creation, prayer and places of worship, rituals, scriptures, religious festivals, religious ceremonies and the good people from the Holy books. These activities integrate Theological education and moral values to the students (K.I.E.,2008). The Ministry of Education through the Nigeria Institute of Curriculum Development has adopted both the general and specific objectives in teaching of Theological education. Some of the general objectives include: the acquisition of the qualities of sharing, respect for and working with others, appreciation of significant aspects of the life of good people in the holy books, appreciation of significant aspects of simple bible stories and recognition and appreciation of the significance of God in their lives (K.I.E, 2008).According to Boeree (2003), educators influence students’s moral development not simply by being good role models as important as it is but also by what they bring in their daily relationships with students. In order to teach morality and enhance the moral development of students, a teacher must set up classroom rules that require moral behavior (Narvaez, 2006). These rules should be fair in their creation and execution; where everyone’s needs are held at the same standard. The rules should reinforce positive behavior and seek to eliminate negative behavior. Rules of this nature involve respect for people and property, as well as responsible behaviors.
Apart from teachers affecting students moral development, Boyer (1995) suggested that students identify with and adopt their parents’ methods for evaluating their own behavior. With consistent positive attitude of parents, this can direct students to a positive processing for assessing their own behavior. Boyer (1995) further suggested that a parent with negative attitude can negatively affect the child’s processing of their own behavior, such as causing anxiety over physical attack or loss of a parent’s love. In turn, students may adjust towards simply trying to please, rather than actually learning from the situation. When students are caught in a damaging environment, they learn to soothe their anxiety by adopting their parents’ negative attitudes, behaviors and mind sets, which help them to be critical of their mistakes and punish themselves for making them. They become accustomed to a parent’s defective conflict resolution of using physical force to get rid of anger and other upsetting emotions.
The moral, ethical and spiritual development of students is a fundamental goal of education (KIE, 2006). Moral development is clearly not confined to one area of the curriculum. Teachers across all areas of curriculum have a responsibility to inculcate in their learners positive values and a capacity for moral and ethical judgment. This is in line with research conducted by Narvaez (2006) who found that if the content of religion did not focus in some way on what young students perceived to be the main spiritual and moral issues of the day, then they tended to regard descriptive content as religious paraphernalia, more concerned with institutional maintenance than with people’s search for meaning and values.
In spite of the introduction of Theological education in high-school s, which ought to give a good moral foundation, immorality and cases of indiscipline have been noted among young students in institutions in Nigeria. There are cited cases among four to eight years’ old students which are alarming, even though Limuru has a rural environment with little urban influences. Reports from students’s office and probation offices in Limuru affirms that cases of bullying, running from homes and living in streets, truancy and drug abuse are present among the young students of 4 years to 8 years olds (Daily Occurrence Book, Limuru, 2013). This has sometimes resulted in many cases of school drop-outs and need for rehabilitation of young students. The most recent case is one of 7 year old boy. In the month of May 2013 the boy attempted to poison his family using a strong pesticide. Since then the boy has been in remand home at Kirigiti in Osun State. This could be due to perversion of religion which has been cited as a primary cause of social disintegration, intolerance, hatred, sexism, poverty, oppression and warfare throughout the ages (Margaret, 1992).
1.2 Statement of the problem
Despite the general and specific objectives of teaching Theological education, there is no evidence on the ground to prove the effectiveness of the same. This has caused an outcry in Iwo LG where moral decay among the young students has been attributed to the characteristics of the teachers who teach theological education in preschools, parents’ attitude towards the content of theological education, teaching methodologies used by the teachers and the content taught in theological education.
According to Margaret (1992) perversion of religion has been a primary cause of social disintegration, intolerance, hatred, sexism, poverty oppression and warfare throughout the age’s oppression. Such problems could imply that students in Iwo LG are subjected to inadequate teaching of moral values. Such students could be an example of pupils who lacked social values such as, sharing, honesty, obedience and self-control in their day to day lives. It would be necessary for proper teaching of Theological education which could help the students to acquire both the values and knowledge to help them develop morally in the right way. The acquired values and knowledge could be necessary to help students to cope well with others and be able to deal with life situations in the right way.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of Theological education on moral development of students in Iwo LG, Osun State.
1.4 Objectives of the study
The study sought to:
- Find out how the characteristics of theological education teachers influence students’s moral development in Iwo LG.
- Establish how the teaching methodologies employed in theological education influence moral development of students in Iwo LG.
- Determine how the parental attitude towards theological education influences moral development of students in Iwo LG.
- Establish how the curriculum content in theological education influences moral development of students in Iwo LG.
1.5 Research questions
This study was guided by the following research questions:
- How do the characteristics of theological education teachers influence students’s moral development in Iwo LG?
- How do the teaching methodologies employed in theological education influence moral development of students in Iwo LG?
- How does the parental attitude towards theological education influence moral development of students in Iwo LG?
- How does the curriculum content in theological education influence moral development of students in Iwo LG?
1.6 Significance of the study
This study may be of benefit to curriculum developers. This is in line with having them get a feel of how the curriculum of theological education impacts on the moral development of the students. It may lead to a situation whereby there could be a review of the curriculum in place to suit the demands of the time. The educational officers may equally benefit by way of getting to learn other aspects of teachers which may promote or influence the moral development of students. The study might help high-school teachers, teaching religion to adopt appropriate methodologies to inculcate moral values of the students. Parents might as well know how their attitude affects the moral development of their students and hence might change for the better as a result of this study.
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IMPACT OF THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION ON SOCIETAL MORALITY; A CASE STUDY OF IWO LG
