Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Training for effective citizenship is a major challenge in most parts of the world in this twenty-first century. This study developed a participatory civic education package (CEP) for secondary school students in Ondo State, Nigeria. It also determined the effects of the package on secondary school students’ civic and political knowledge and attitude. The study adopted a pre-test, post-test, control group quasi-experimental design using a 2x2x2 factorial matrix. Four hundred and twenty-two Junior Secondary School 2 (JSS II) students from eight secondary schools in Ondo were purposively selected for the study. Four instruments were used for the study: Focus Group Discussion Guide (FGDG), Students’ Civic and Political Knowledge Test (SCPKT), Students Civic and Political Attitude Scale (SCPAS), and Conventional Teaching Method Guides (CTMG). Two research questions were raised and answered. Also, two research hypotheses were generated and tested in the study. Students’ responses during the development of the participatory civic education package were qualitatively analyzed while the numerical data were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. Participatory civic education package was more effective in civic and political knowledge acquisition and attitude formation than conventional class teaching method. Students that were exposed to the CEP acquired and demonstrated civic values and skills. There was no significant difference in the civic and political attitude scores of the experimental and control group. However, the Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) indicated that students that were exposed to the CEP had higher adjusted post-test mean score than the control group. There was significant main effect of treatment on the knowledge scores of students exposed to the participatory civic education package. On the basis of the findings, it was recommended that Participatory Civic Education Package (PCEP) should be used in the Nigerian secondary schools and that participatory action research should be incorporated into Teacher Education Programme (TEP) in Nigeria.