Leadership Styles of Social Studies Teachers and Academic Achievement of Junior Secondary School Students in Social Studies in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine leadership styles of Social Studies teachers and academic achievement of junior secondary school students in Social Studies in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State-Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was adopted. The simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the six public secondary schools used for the study. A sample of two hundred junior secondary school three students (JSS 3) was drawn from the population and used for the study. Three research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Data were collected using two researcher made instruments tagged “Social Studies Teachers Leadership Styles Questionnaire (STLSQ) and Social Studies Achievement Test (SOSAT) The Data Collected was analysed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Fisher Least Square Difference (SLD) was used in the multiple comparism. The findings of the study revealed significant differences in the academic achievement of students based on their teachers’ leadership styles. Students taught by teachers with autocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles had a lower LSD value compared to students taught by teachers with democratic leadership styles. Students taught by teachers with democratic styles performed academically higher than those taught by teachers with either autocratic or laissez-faire leadership styles. Based on this, it was recommended amongst other things that Social Studies teachers imbibe more of democratic rather than autocratic or laissez faire leadership styles in their classroom and that educational administrator should organize workshop and seminars for teachers on proper classroom management.

Exploration On Definition And The Components of Food And Nutrition Literacy Among Junior Secondary School Students: A Qualitative Study

Background: Food and nutrition literacy (FANLit) has been proposed to promote healthy diet behaviour and is believed to decrease the prevalence of overweight, obesity and chronic disease. However, the perspective of junior secondary school students, aged 12-15 years and stakeholders on FANLit is not well-defined. This study aims to explore the definition and the components of FANLit.Methods: This qualitative study were carried out in Health region 2 includes Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Tak, Uttradit and Pethchboon province. 49 participants were recruited from national and regional levels of Thailand. Data were collected by in-depth interview and focus group discussion using semi-structured questionnaire. Interview data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.Results: FANLit is defined as an individual’s level of knowledge and skills (fundamental, interactive and critical) that relates to food and nutrition to make appropriate food selection and nutrients. Four themes of FANLit were identified as follows: 1) food and nutrition knowledge (Subthemes: food knowledge, food understanding, nutrition knowledge, and nutrition understanding), 2) functional food and nutrition literacy (Subthemes: accessing to food and nutrition information, food selection, food preparation, daily food and nutrition planning and management), 3) interactive food and nutrition literacy (Subthemes: communication with others, sharing and discussion), and 4) critical food and nutrition literacy (Subthemes: information used in decision making, healthy food selection, effective budgeting.Conclusions: The results provide beneficial information regarding FANLit definition which is the initial stage to develop the assessing instrument and the intervention to improve FANlit in the adolescent group.

Self-Concept, Self-Efficacy and Self Esteem as Predictors of Academic Performance in Mathematics among Junior Secondary School Students in Edo State

This study examined Self-Concept, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Academic Performance in Mathematics among Junior Secondary School Students in Edo State. The main purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between self-concept and academic performance in mathematics of Junior Secondary School students in Edo state. The study adopted the correlation research design. A sample of 3,639 was drawn from a population of 36,615 junior students in Edo state. The data generated for the study were obtained through a self designed questionnaire. Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression were used to analysed the data collected. The result obtained revealed the following: there was a positive relationship between self-concept and academic performance in mathematics among junior secondary school students, there was also a negative relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance in mathematics among junior secondary school students in Edo state. The study thus concluded that self-concept and self-efficacy are not only significantly related to academic performance, they significantly predict academic performance of students. It was therefore recommended that adequate and sufficient attention must be given to sustain the development of positive self-concept and self-efficacy of students in the school system, while deliberate efforts should be made to build up the self-esteem of the students and Teachers should be offered professional guidance by educational authorities on these self-constructs in students as an avenue to improve on students’ academic performance.

Exploring the development of biological literacy in Tanzanian junior secondary school students

<p>Internationally, scientific literacy is a major goal of science education in the twenty first century. In Tanzania, where there is a widespread lack of public understanding about major health issues, biological literacy is needed so that people can make decisions about the socio-scientific issues that confront them. To that end, the Tanzanian school curriculum aims to connect students’ understandings of Biology to their everyday lives but few studies have been conducted that show whether these aims have been achieved, especially in junior secondary school. This ethnographic case study investigates the ways in which the junior secondary school Biology curriculum in Tanzania supports or constrains the development of biological literacy and how institutional context, particularly as it relates to urban and rural schools, influences the delivery of the Biology curriculum. Teachers’ and Year Four students’ of secondary schools views about school Biology were sought in the course of this study and the issues that emerged were analysed using social constructivist and social constructionist theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through student questionnaires, student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The research sites included rural and urban schools, and government and private schools. The findings suggest that the Biology curriculum and the ways it is delivered do not adequately address the students’ needs and therefore is unlikely to enable them to become biologically literate. Rural schools are less well equipped than urban schools to deliver the curriculum and teachers and students face bigger challenges. A key finding was that Tanzanian young people have a strong desire to learn more about reproductive Biology and health issues but these are not prioritised in the current curriculum. In light of these findings, curriculum changes are recommended to provide learning opportunities for students to gain biological knowledge and skills that are relevant to their daily lives.</p>

Exploring the development of biological literacy in Tanzanian junior secondary school students

<p>Internationally, scientific literacy is a major goal of science education in the twenty first century. In Tanzania, where there is a widespread lack of public understanding about major health issues, biological literacy is needed so that people can make decisions about the socio-scientific issues that confront them. To that end, the Tanzanian school curriculum aims to connect students’ understandings of Biology to their everyday lives but few studies have been conducted that show whether these aims have been achieved, especially in junior secondary school. This ethnographic case study investigates the ways in which the junior secondary school Biology curriculum in Tanzania supports or constrains the development of biological literacy and how institutional context, particularly as it relates to urban and rural schools, influences the delivery of the Biology curriculum. Teachers’ and Year Four students’ of secondary schools views about school Biology were sought in the course of this study and the issues that emerged were analysed using social constructivist and social constructionist theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through student questionnaires, student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The research sites included rural and urban schools, and government and private schools. The findings suggest that the Biology curriculum and the ways it is delivered do not adequately address the students’ needs and therefore is unlikely to enable them to become biologically literate. Rural schools are less well equipped than urban schools to deliver the curriculum and teachers and students face bigger challenges. A key finding was that Tanzanian young people have a strong desire to learn more about reproductive Biology and health issues but these are not prioritised in the current curriculum. In light of these findings, curriculum changes are recommended to provide learning opportunities for students to gain biological knowledge and skills that are relevant to their daily lives.</p>

EMPLOYING SOCIAL STUDIES EDUCATION IN ACCOMPLISHING UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMME FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Most nations of the world are faced with the problem of minimizing poverty and other challenges and Nigeria is not an exception. Nations of the world have devised ways to end these challenges. And one of the ways out of these challenges is the introduction of sustainable development goals as organizing principles for meeting human development goals and to sustain the natural systems to provide natural resources and ecosystem services upon which the ecosystem and the society depend. Another major goal of sustainable development is how education can be used for national development. It is the focus of this paper to point out how social studies can be utilized in achieving the junior secondary school education program for sustainable development. The method used by this research is a theoretical framework.

The Impact of Indonesia’s School Operational Assistance Program on The Transition Rate from Primary to Junior Secondary School

This study investigates the impact of Indonesia’s School Operational Assistance Program (BOS) on the transition rate from primary to junior secondary school using data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) and the Difference-in-Differences method. The results showed that the School Operational Assistance Program (BOS) significantly increases the transition rate from Primary to Junior Secondary School. Meanwhile, the School Operational Assistance Program (BOS) is more effective in increasing the transition rate in girls compared to boys. When comparing rural and urban settings, the program is more effective in rural than urban areas. Despite results showing that the School Operational Assistance Program (BOS) has successfully increased the transition rate from primary to junior secondary school, the program still has several problems, such as inadequate management of the funds and the lack of quality control related to its usage. The three models tested in the study conclude that the School Operational Assistance Program (BOS) significantly improved the overall transition rate from primary to junior secondary school in Indonesia, particularly for girls and rural areas. Acknowledgments. This research is supported by DRPMI Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD) for Lecture Competency Research (RKDU) scheme. We thank our colleagues from the Department of Economics, who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research and we thank “anonymous” reviewers for their so-called insights.

Evaluating Environmental Contents in Comprehensive Passages in Junior Secondary School English Language Textbooks Used in Cross River State, Nigeria

Serious concerns have been raised by many stakeholders in environmental issues including Cross River State Government, educationists, non-governmental organisations and even, the international funding agencies, about the quality and level of environmental information that can be accessed in both print and electronic media. This has become imperative because proper understanding of the origin of the present environmental challenges is the key to minimise the on-going abuses in future. This study was undertaken to investigate the level of environmental awareness issues contained in comprehensive passages present in English Language textbooks used by Junior Secondary School students in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study involves counting and analysing the number of passages dealing with environmental issues in 27 textbooks based on the four types of environments: abiotic, biotic, neutral and social. Two research questions were formulated and used to guide the study. Observed data were analysed using simple percentage technique. Results show that issues concerning the environment were reflected in all the textbooks but sometimes in an undesirable proportion. It was concluded that the practice of emphasising social and abiotic environments issues at the detriment of others do not auger well for proper development and impartation of environmental awareness to students. Received: 28 July 2021 / Accepted: 30 September 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021