Home Factors and Students Academic Performance in Social Studies in Secondary Schools Students
Home Factors and Students Academic Performance in Social Studies in Secondary Schools Students
Abstract
The study investigated the Home Factors and Students Academic Performance in Social Studies in Secondary Schools Students in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area. The population of the study consist of 1,873 students in SS2 class in all the six (6) public secondary schools in the study area. Three research questions were raised and three research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Literature related to the study was reviewed. A survey research design was adopted for the study.
A sample size of Two Hundred [200] respondents were selected from five [5] public Secondary Schools under the study area using stratified sampling techniques. The main instrument used for data collection for the study was Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT). The result from the instrument was analyzed statistically using independent t-test statistics at 0.05 level of significant. Findings from the study revealed that students whose parents are highly educated performed better academically than those whose parents are not highly educated, also students whose parent income is high performed better academically than those from low income parents, finally, students whose parents has better occupation performs better than students whose parents do not have better occupation.
Home Factors and Students Academic Performance in Social Studies in Secondary Schools Students
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education, in its broadest sense, is a process designed to inculcate knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to enable individuals to cope effectively with their environment. Its primary purpose is to foster and promote the fullest individual self-realization for all people. It is indispensable to normal living, without education the individual would be unqualified for group life.
According to Aremu (2000), education is the process of developing the capacities and potentials of the individuals as to prepare that individual to be successful in a specific society or culture. Notably, it is often said to be the powerful tool for developing intellectual abilities, shaping cultural attributes, acquiring knowledge and skills as well as a favourable tool to move a nation towards developing it scientific and technological culture.
A home is a place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a home or household. It is a place of residence or refuge. A home is not a mere transient shelter. Its essence lies in the personalities of the people who live in it. Home factors comprise of all human and materials factors that affect an individual development in the home where one live. According to Anene, (2005) home factors are the aggregate of all internal and external conditions affecting the existence, growth and welfare of organisms. It is an influence an individual came in contact with after the hereditary has been through the gene plasma. The home as a basic social unit of the society is the first social group that a child meets on earth.
A number of conditions prevailing in the home have some effects on child’s upbringing and his way of behaving. Hence, the social climate or environment in which an individual finds him or her to a large extent determines his or her behaviour and personality development. Home factors have been of a great important in shaping the performance of children in schools worldwide. This is because academic performance is usually as a result of motivation that children get from the people they interact with in their initial stages of life.
Home factors comprises of the level of education of parents, parental socio-economic status, home size and other factors which are essential aspects in development of student’s personality and academic function (Higbea & Thompson 2010). The socio-economic status of parents is capable of affecting the behaviour of the children and determines their aspiration.
Parents with high socio-economic status often have more success in preparing their children for school because they typically have access to wide range of providing their young children with high quality child-care, books and encourage children in various learning activities at home. They also have easy access to information regarding their children’s health, as well as social, emotional and cognitive development (Ojo and Yilma 2010), Ojo and Yilma also noted that in all socio-economic groups, parents face major challenges when it comes to providing optimal care and education for their children and these challenges are more pronounced in poor families. This, according to them, is because sometimes, when the basic necessities are lacking, parents must place top priority on housing, food, clothing and health care, regarding education materials and books as luxuries.
Parents’ education is another home background factor which influences the academic achievement of students. Students under motivated condition, exhibits purposeful behaviour aimed at achieving academic set goals. The achievement of these goals determines the motive. The situational perspective according to the scholars focuses on learning context. These scholars further identified to factors that greatly influence students’ motivation. These are: interpersonal factors such as curiosity, perseverance, and autonomy (intrinsic-factors) and environmental factors such as parents, peers and sibling (extrinsic factors).
Research shows the supportive and attentive parenting practices positively affect academic achievement (Eamon, 2005). In addition, high parental aspirations have been associated with increasing students’ interest in education (Majoribanks, 2005). The effect of parental motivation and involvement in their children’s school has on academic achievement is less clear (Domina 2005), parental motivation and involvement in school has been linked to both positive and negative influences on academic achievement (McNeal, 2001, Domina, 2005).
Explanations for this discrepancy are not conclusive. It is thought that the type of involvement and motivation may make a difference and that in some cases parents become involved after their child has already had academic difficulties (Domina, 2005). Parental occupation is also an important home factor that influences academic achievement of students. It is against this background that the study sought to investigate home factors influence students’ academic performance in social studies in secondary schools students in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area.
Home Factors and Students Academic Performance in Social Studies in Secondary Schools Students
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Despite the zeal of parents to send their children to school, most time cannot meet up with necessary support to accomplish it; academic performance of students varies from one individual to another. For example, some students withdraw from school without completing their course work even at the secondary level. This situation has attracted a lot of research work into the causes of differences in academic or school performance among students.
Generally, in the phase of educational system, success is measured by the learners’ performance or how well a child meets the standard set out by educational institution. The menace of failure among the young school pupils has stared the parent’s, government and other stakeholders in the face. There is a consensus of opinion about the fallen standard of education as a problem that is hindering the posterity of the Nigerian nation in terms of quality man-power resources.
Most pupils in primary schools experience academic problem that manifest itself in the form of poor academic performance mostly in their subject in schools. The government, parents, teachers and pupils blame one another for pupils’ poor performance in schools. Parents blame teachers for lack of dedication to duties.
The teachers blame government for poor salaries hence they are poorly motivated, parents also accuse government for not equipping the schools with learning materials, government blame parents for not doing good home work and the pupils are blamed for lack of discipline and dedication to their studies. It was on this background that the researcher was interested to examine home variable and academic performance of primary school pupils in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
Studies have shown that factors like home factors, the environment, hereditary, the school itself and other factors could be held responsible for this. Hence, there is need for this study to find out how home factors influence students’ academic performance in social studies in secondary schools students in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to investigate Home Factors and Students Academic Performance in Social Studies in Secondary Schools Students in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area, specifically, the study sought to:
- Examine the influence of parental occupational background on students’ academic performance in social studies in secondary schools.
- Assess the influence of parental socio economic status on academic performance of students in social studies in secondary schools.
- Ascertain the influence of parental level of education on students’ academic performance in social studies in secondary schools.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The study will be in of great benefit to many people in different ways with reference to parents, teachers, students, educational planners, lecturers and nation at large.
Through the findings of this study, parents will realize the importance of improving their educational standard so as to influence their children academic performance. Parents will also understand the need for them to improve their socio-economic status so as to be able to provide the necessary motivation in form of learning materials and other things necessary to enhance their children’s learning and their academic performance.
The findings will be of immense important to the teacher. The teacher will realize the necessity of individualizing the teaching by structuring their teaching methods and instructional resources to take care of the divergent parental backgrounds of the students.
The findings of the study will help the educational stakeholders in identifying how home variables such as parent’s level of education and parents’ income influence on academic performance of students.
The study will help the parents to realize how high, average or low income can affect the academic performance of their children either positively or negatively.
The study will also help parents to yearn for higher educational attainments that will enable them to get better paid job, raise their status in the society and assist their children in their educational problems.
The findings of this study will serve as a source of knowledge and information to other researcher who will conduct their studies on related areas.
Home Factors and Students Academic Performance in Social Studies in Secondary Schools Students
1.5 Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated to guide the study:
- To what extent does parental occupation background influence students’ academic performance in social in secondary schools?
- How does parental socio-economic status influence students’ academic performance in social studies secondary schools?
- How does parental educational background influence students’ academic performance in social studies in secondary schools?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study.
- There is no significant influence of parental occupation on influence students’ academic performance in social studies in secondary schools
- There is no significant influence of parental socio-economic status on students’ academic performance in social studies in secondary schools in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area.
- There is no significant influence of Parental level of education on students academic performance in social studies in secondary schools in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area
1.7 Limitation of the Study
There are number of problems in the course of this study. The greatest being finance which limited the study to specific secondary schools in Etim Ekpo local government area. Another constraint was time as the researcher was combining the academic activities with research study which demanded the maximum attentions. Transportation difficulties were another factor which contributes to limit the study
1.8 Delimitation of the Study
The study was delimited to home factors and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area and would be inappropriate to draw conclusion in this study elsewhere. Among other variables linked to this study are parental educational background, occupation, and parental socio-economic status were considered in the study. Finally, only five (5) public secondary schools in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area were considered in the study area.
Home Factors and Students Academic Performance in Social Studies in Secondary Schools Students
1.9 Definition of Terms
The following terms are operationally defined as they are used in this research study.
Home: This refers to the primary social group of the individual responsible for this upbringing and socialization.
Income– refers to wages, salaries, profits, rents and any flow of earnings received. Income can also come in the form of unemployment or workers compensation, social security, pensions, interests, royalties, trusts, other governmental, public or family financial assistance.
Parents – this refers to a person’s mother or father, biological parents of a child. One, who begets, gives birth to or nurtures and raises a child.
Level of education: This means the stage one reached educationally from primary level, primary level, tertiary level/ college or university stage.
Economic status: This refers to individual’s/group’s demographic, social and economic position in relation to others. In this study, economic status was measured in terms of parents’ level of income, level of education, and occupational status.
Occupation: Is an activity that serves as one’s regular source of livelihood. In this study, occupation was measured in terms of parents’ work content, occupational prestige (formal or informal occupation), occupational class and occupation as an indicator of education/skills and income.
Family size: the type of family a child comes from which could be either polygamy or monogamy, which is reflective of the number of pupils available in such family which affects pupils’ performance academically.
Parental educational level: This is defined in the study as the level of education obtained by the parent in the home or whether the parent is literate.
Parental socio-economic status: This refers to the amount of income a parent receive and class of citizen he belongs which can be help in financing a child’s education.
Socio-economic Status: this refers to the amount of money, materials, goods one possesses.
Academic Performance: Academic performance refers to the level of performance in school, accomplishment or success in school.
