EFFICACY OF SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM IN PROMOTING DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AMONG JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
The study investigated the Efficacy of Social Studies Curriculum in Promoting democratic values and political participation among Junior Secondary School Students in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study was guided by three objectives, three research questions and three hypotheses. Descriptive survey method was employed with total population of 9995 out of which a sample of four hundred and fifteen (415) respondents were randomly selected from nine (9) selected Junior Secondary Schools across 26 Junior Secondary Schools in Giwa Educational Zone. The Social Studies Curriculum for democratic values and political participation Questionnaire (SOSCDVPPQ) was used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used for descriptive analysis, while Independent t-test was used for inferential analysis. The three (3) null hypotheses formulated for the study were all rejected. The result revealed that, there was significant difference between the mean opinion scores of JSSII and JSSIII Students on the efficacy of Social Studies Curriculum in the development of democratic values and political participation in Kaduna State (t(401)=2.357, p=.019<.05); significant difference exist between the mean opinion scores of male and female Students on the efficacy of Social Studies Curriculum in promoting democratic values and political participation in Kaduna State (t(401)=1.958, p=.05=.05) and significant difference was found between the mean opinion scores of Urban and Rural Students on the efficacy of Social Studies Curriculum in improvement of democratic values and political participation in Kaduna State (t(401)=
-2.472, p=.014<.05). This implied that, significant difference between gender, class level and location of Junior Secondary School students on efficacy of Social Studies Education Curriculum in promoting democratic values and political participation in Kaduna State. Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that, Social Studies Education Curriculum content of JSS II should be given more emphasis on Issues of democratic values and political participation in order to boost students‟ morale on politics, Social Studies teachers should make special consideration on female JSS Students on how to participate in political activities in their respective communities as their male counterpart participate, and also Social Studies teachers should be encouraged to use various methods and strategies to teach citizenship and political contents of the curriculum at both rural and urban areas of Kaduna state.