ABSTRACT

This research project investigate Poultry Farming and Effects on Development: A case study of Ibarapa Region. The chapters are divided into five chapters.

The first chapter contains background of the study, scope, purpose of study, hypothesis and definition of terms.

Chapter two contains literature review and Historical of study area. This section provides information on works, which has been done on the topic.

 Chapter three deals with Research Methodology while chapter four deals with analysis of data collected through questionnaire to test for the hypothesis.

          Chapter five contain the recommendation, summary and conclusion.

CHAPTER ONE

1.1    THE HISTORICAL TRENDS OF GEOGRAPHY TEACHING IN NIGERIA

          In Nigeria, the teaching of Geography in the school curriculum could be dated back to the colonial era when western education was introduced in the country. Geography as a discipline is the study of man and his environment that is physical, political, economic and socio-cultural environments. However, Geography teaching in Nigeria is discussed in this context from the historical perspective and in chronological order from colonial era when formal education was introduced to the post colonial era and even to the present time.

          The introduction of the Western education in Nigeria brought in the teaching of Geography in the country. The teaching of Geography during this time was based merely on memorization and mainly on description.

          According to Mayasan (1969) the teaching of geography in Nigeria during this time was christened “Cupes and Bays” geography because emphasis was on the memorization of the names of places, capes and bays of the world, population of important towns and cities among others. He opined that infact, geography teaching only reflected the emphasis on the memorization of mountain, major capitals of the world, rivers, oceans etc. without any means of the verification of the facts. Question such as, what is the lake? differentiate between a lake and an Island? What is the highest mountain in the world? Who discovered America? How many continents are there in the world? Were asked the learners in school in geography examinations.

          Moreover, what learners learnt during this time had very little relation to their own immediate environments and facts given to learners were incoherent and disjointed. That is they were not sequentially and logically presented to learners, let alone been quantified. Geography teaching was therefore ill-organized, infact it was not fully developed into a well-recognized and respectable discipline with carefully organized knowledge and methodology as it is today. The facts supplied then were those collected from the navigators, travelers, explorers and voyagers such as mango park, Americo vespucci, Magellan, Sebastian Delcano among others.

          These had circumnavigated the then “globe” and they have discovered many features both on the land in the seas and oceans. They discovered the longitudinal profile of River Niger in Africa from the source in the Futa Jallon Highland in West Africa through in Nigeria where it enters the Atlantic Ocean with a deltaic mouth. American continent was discovered by Americo Vespucci from where the name America was derived while Mgellan discovered the strait in South America at the extreme Southern tip of South American Continent which he christened “strait of Magellan” Just to immortalize his name. Delcano was the one that discovered Indian Ocean and some other features in that area that is, “For East”. The Crisis in the teaching of geography was a global phenomenon then, it was not peculiar to Nigeria alone.

          Furthermore, during this era in Nigeria, the geography teaching was more of western oriented curriculum because the teaching was mainly based on “determinist” and “foreign regionalisms”. This connotes that “geographical determinism” was based on the idea that the destiny of man was irrevocably connected with the natural environment. That is, the environment where man finds himself, determines his ways of life, in terms of political, social, religious, cultural, economic and infact all his human endeavour. Hence, man lives in consonance with the environmental peculiarities of where he finds himself. Later geographers concentrated on the study of specific regions and the human inhabitants so as to fashion out a meaningful and organized discipline.

          This period witnessed the study of Western Europe and a couple of her overseas colonies or settlements, since little or nothing was known about other or parts of the world. This culminated in the study of foreign part such as Britain, Canada, United States of America, parts of India, France, New Zealand and Australia. These were incorporated into the geography curriculum for the Nigeria students. The learners in Nigeria knew little or nothing about their own country because the geography curriculum was more outward looking than Inward looking during this era.

          In 1960, when Nigeria was emancipated, the school subjects, including geography were reviewed in consonance with societal needs. The new school curricula reflected the needs of Nigerians in place of the colonial-oriented curricula. Infact, some subjects like Greeks and Latin were completely removed from the school system.

          The teaching of geography this time was more inward inclined than outward-oriented as it was before. The teaching took into consideration the potentials, resources and immediate needs of the Nigerian learners and the people in general. It was realized in the teaching of geography during this period, that the learners must properly and comprehensively study their own local or immediate environment before being exposed to the study of the other parts of the globe; because as the aphorism states “charity begins at homes” which is in consonance with the pedagogical principle that teaching must start from known to unknown, from simple to complex and from concrete to abstract.

          Based on this principle, the teaching of geography after the independence in Nigeria emphasized the relevant aspects – local geography, field work and map work.

          This involves the teaching of the learners about their immediate environment. It exposes the learners to the systematic studies of their local environment. The identification and proper analysis of the environment, human and non-human resources, the assessment of the environmental potentials and challenges were also achieved. Therefore, the teaching of the local environments in geography was named “Local Geography” which formed the bedrock or foundation of the early training of learners in the geography teaching.

          Prior to the introduction of local geography in the Nigerian schools, learners were exposed to the study of foreign environments such as Britain, Canada, U.S.A., Australia, etc. For examples, Nigerian learners could talk emphatically and copiously on the Praire land of Canada, Pampas of Argentina, Greatlakes of U.S.A., Merino sheep rearing in Australia among others, with little or no knowledge about their own local environment.

          Pedestal academic foundation is established. Local geography inculcates in the learners such skills as critical reasoning, sound judgments, Keen observation data collection techniques and analyses which are crucial in the learners’ academic endeavours and infact in other human endeavour.

          Learners are more exposed and familiar with their immediate environment. Learners get to have comprehensive knowledge about their immediate environment and they could related what they have learnt to the environment outside theirs.

          Opportunities for employment are enhanced. Since local geography exposes learners to the political, economic and socio-cultural aspects of their locality, their productivity or efficiency are enhanced and thus prepared and made versatile for the labour market.

          Provision for training in good citizenship. Local geography exposes their learners to problems and challenges of their immediate environment and they find solution to them because they have been able to identify these problems. Hence, preparing them for good citizenship and worthwhile leadership.

          In conclusion, the teaching of geography in Nigeria has passed through different historical stages viz: era of capes and bays, determinism age and post independence era. Thus the making of geography as a well organized and meaningful discipline culminated in the introduction of local geography, fieldwork and map work which are now the bedrocks of the modern day geography teaching.

1.2    Statement of the Problems

          The major problems to address in this study are the various psychological factors that are inherent in the effective teaching of geography in secondary schools in Oyo West Local Government Area of Oyo State. The study intends to carry out research on the following questions among other things:-

-              What are the factors that hinder effective teaching of geography in secondary schools?

-              What are the factors that hinder effective learning of geography by students in secondary schools?

-              What are the factors for the low interest of students in choosing geography as a career?

-              What informed psychological factors against effective teaching of geography in secondary schools?

-              What informed poor performance in geography in both internal and external examinations in secondary schools?

-              Why are secondary schools students often desist from offering Geography as a course in secondary schools?

1.3    Objectives of the Study

          This study aims at considering a number of objectives which include the followings:.

-              Orientating teachers of geography in secondary schools in Oyo West Local Government Area on how to teach the subject in order to enhance effective learning on the parts of the students.

-              Addressing some of the psychological problems such as incompetent teachers to handle the subject, unavailability of resource textbooks and materials, wide course content on the subject, among others.

-              sensitizing both the teachers and students of geography in secondary schools in the local government on the importance of teacher-students relationships in order to improve performance in the subject.

-              orientating the secondary school students in the Local Government Area on how to develop more interest in the subject.

1.4    Significance of the Study

          The fundamental importance of this study is to use it as a medium of bridge to the wide gap between the teaching and learning of geography in secondary schools, particularly in Oyo West Local Government Area. In addition to that, the significance of this study is also to be used as a veritable medium of educating secondary school students in developing more interest in the subject matter.

1.5    Scope of the Study

          The study is intended to be completed within context of one month or there-about. In doing this, various materials such as internet materials, textbooks, journals and so on will be consulted. Also, a well structured questionnaire will be used for the collection of information from secondary schools in Oyo West Local Government Area.

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