ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study was to investigate
family background variables such as; family size, parents’ educational status
and occupation as a predictor of achievement motivation and self efficacy
belief of primary school pupils in Enugu Education zone of Enugu State Nigeria.
Six research questions and six null hypotheses guided the study. The study used
correlation research design. The population of the study comprised 6905 primary
five pupils. Multi stage sampling techniques was used to select 287
respondents. Two self-developed instruments titled Achievement Motivation scale
(AMS) and Pupils Self-Efficacy Belief Scale (PSBS) were used for data
collection. To ensure the validity of the instrument, the instrument was face
validated by three experts, two from the Department of educational foundations
and one from Science Education Department. The data generated from the trial
testing were analyzed using Cronbach Alpha statistics and the overall
reliability index of 0.77 and 0.86 were obtained. Pearson moment correlation
was used to answer the research questions while the null hypotheses were
analysed using regression at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study
revealed that number of children is the family, parents’ educational status and
parents’ occupation is not a predictor of achievement motivation of primary
school pupils in Enugu education Zone. The findings further showed that parents
occupation is a predictor of primary pupils self efficacy belief. Based on the
findings, some recommendations were made which include꞉ that the need for policy aimed at creating general
awareness among stakeholders in educational enterprise about the importance of
training teachers, parents and students for achievement motivation and self
–efficacy belief of the pupils since such training may facilitate students’
achievement motivation and self –efficacy belief.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The basic social unit of every group is the family. Family is a universal
institution bounded together by social and biological ties. Onyemerekaya,
(2002) sees family as a system organized around the support, nurturance and
socialization of its members. In the same vein, (Denzin, 2008) conceived the
family as a unit of interacting personalities living in a symbiotic manner,
which is made up of parents and children, where parents are responsible for the
psychological, social, educational and economic welfare of their children;
while children in like manner are responsible for good behaviour within and
outside the home. The family has the potential to influence a child’s academic
achievement. This is because it is the first environment of the child. The
initial experience that would mould the child’s values, aspirations, emotions,
interest and attitudes are offered by the parents/family (Okeke, 2009). What
the child learns at home and how his family motivates him towards education
contributes to the child’s success in school (Essien, 2002). Similarly, Obasi
(1999) observed that mere making sure that the children are prepared for school
in the morning is important for the children’s successful achievement at school
especially in primary school.
Primary education is the first level of education where most Nigerian
children come in contact with formal education and foundation for success of
other levels of education after the family (NPE, 2004). Primary education plays
a crucial formative role in the survival of the whole educational system. The
National Policy on Education (2004) refers to the education at this level as
the education given in institutions for children aged 6 to 11 plus. The
document added that since the rest of the education system is built upon it,
the primary level is the key to the success or failure of the whole system.
According to National Policy on
Education (NPE, 2004), the main goals and objectives of primary education are
to:
·
Inculcate
permanent literacy and numeracy, and ability to communicate effectively;
·
Lay a
sound basis for scientific and reflective thinking; give citizenship education
as a basis for effective participation in and contribution to the life of the
society;
·
Mould the
character and develop sound attitude and morals in the child; develop in the
child the ability to adapt in the child’s changing environment;
·
Give the
child opportunities for developing manipulative skills that will enable the
child function effectively in the society within the limit of the child’s
capacity; and
·
Provide
the child with basic tools for further educational advancement, including
preparation for trades and crafts of the locality.
However, in spite of the objectives of primary education in the survival
of the whole educational system and national development, the achievements of
pupils in internal examinations and the transition examination into junior
secondary schools in Enugu Education zone of Enugu State in the past four years
(2010-2014) have been declining steadily. Although many factors may be
responsible for the poor academic performance of students in primary school
level, but Hassan (2008) examined the causes of poor academic performance among
school students. Some of the factors identified are poor study habit,
achievement motivation, low self esteem and self efficacy, low socio-economic
status of the family which includes the family background.
Family background has been and remains an important variable in education
to explain variance in students’ academic achievement (White, Reynolds, Thomas
& Gitzlaff 1993; Sirin 2005). The question of how students’ family
background influences achievement is often seen as an issue of equality, and
believed to be of high importance. Family background is a collective
terminology comprising of social class/status, economic status, family size,
family structure, parents’ educational level and occupation among other factors
pertaining to family life. Family background plays
an important role in successful school outcomes. According to Astone and
McLanahan (1991), a variety of family features including structure, socioeconomic status,
parental school involvement, parental relationship quality, and parental school
aspirations have been found to predict academic achievement. Family background in the
context of this present study refers to family
size, parents’ occupation and parents’ level of education.
Family size is one of the factors that affect the academic performance of
students. According to Kalu (1980), children in large families feels frustrated
as a result of lack of child parental interaction, and parental care, they lose
hope of higher attainments in life or getting the better things of life and
lower interest for probable educational achievement or schooling. Duvall (1977)
also notes that children who come from small families are more likely to adopt
adult values and attitudes than those who came from larger families. Thompson
(1957) in his study, points out that parents who have fewer children tends to
adopts more time and attention to each individual child, they may also tends to
expect more from each child than to parents who have many children.
Harris (1989) argued that in a plural family, the two or three children
are faced with the responsibility of upbringing of their younger brothers and
sisters; this could hamper their academic pursuit. Daramola (1994) attributed
the downward trend in the academic achievement of secondary schools students to
the students’ background that is, the type of home environment where the child
is raised. They stressed of the environmental condition and the nature of
social interaction that goes on in the family may have some positive or
negative influence on the academic achievement of a child. Daramola (1994)
further stated that the factors affecting a child’s educational achievement
include the occupational status of the......
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