AN INVESTIGATION ON THE USE OF LOCALLY MADE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE USE OF LOCALLY MADE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

According to one story, man arrived on Earth in much the same way as the wild animals that surrounded him, without weapons, buildings, or language. The history of this topic is not certain when man first occupied this world, but one story suggests it. Because man became more aware of his surroundings, he was able to distinguish between foods that were safe to eat and those that should be avoided. The educational pursuits of the time were straightforward yet useful in that they focused on preparing students to contribute to the community’s many needs.

According to the previous investigation’s findings, even though early man was not as evolved as we are now, he had a tremendous potential, which was determined by circumstances, to learn a large number of things for the survival and for the welfare of his surroundings. As a result, man is fundamentally an animal capable of learning, and his education should provide him with the challenges that he requires. Humanity and education are inextricably linked, which should come as no surprise. The English word “education” is derived from the Latin word “educare,” which means “to draw forth.” As a result, education can be defined as the process of bringing out and developing a person’s potential. To put it another way, education is the process by which an individual is exposed to and given the opportunity to learn.

acquiring knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that develop over time with the goal of: 1. adequately preparing him to integrate effectively into society; 2. pursuing a career; and 3. sharpening his quest for continuous learning. Education is a systematic process in which a person is exposed to and given opportunities to acquire knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that develop over time (Ekwueme ,2020)

Education serves several functions. It enables economic, social, cultural, political, and scientific development, among other types of progress. Education is more than just passing on information and cultural traditions from one generation to the next; it also entails providing individuals with the knowledge and abilities that will allow them to succeed.

to analyze, diagnose, perform, question, and ponder. According to the World Forum on Education (2015), the processes of industrialization, migration, and urbanization have had a significant impact on the fields of early education and early childhood education. These have an impact on changes in the structure and composition of the family, as well as a decrease in infant motility, necessitating attention to the education and development of children who are now surviving despite possibly engaging in developmental-detrimental behaviors.

No country can afford to ignore the importance of education for its own children because children are the future leaders of their respective civilizations. The future belongs to children. Every civilization, according to Wheeler (2021), teaches its own children in order to survive. Those youngsters conform to the society’s expectations. Stenhouse (2020) asserts that society determines both the curriculum and the expectations for an individual’s educational experience. This type of education begins in the early years of a child’s life, and its overarching goals stem from society’s desire to assist, stimulate, and direct the child’s developing processes in the direction of competence. Nigerian educators have realized that laying a solid foundation for children in their early years of life is critical to the future of the Nigerian society. As a result, it is critical that children receive early educational experiences that are both appropriate and meaningful to them.Early childhood education, whether it takes place within four walls or outside of any educational institution at all, is a legacy left by the country’s colonial rulers, as are the other educational systems in place. There was a significant increase in missionary activity between 1842 and 1848. When the men first arrived, the colonial masters’ ladies were left behind in their homes. The women eventually made their way to be with their husbands. The necessity of enrolling their children in their own school. The name “nursery of the baby church” was given to Nigeria’s first school, which was founded in the 1840s by missionaries in Badagry. Regardless of Despite the fact that its name suggested otherwise, the establishment was a primary school. During that time, the colonial ruler paid little attention to children’s education in pre-primary schools. Every primary school usually has a nursery attached to it. The nursery classes established in this manner were safeguarded and converted into feeder schools. Children aged three to five were not included in the national curriculum conferences held in 1969 for the first time. These meetings took place in 1969. One of the options is a daycare center, which provides care for children as an alternative to home care and is available to children whose parents or the children themselves are deemed to be in particular need of such assistance.

Pre-primary education is made up of three fundamental components. Children aged three to four years old are encouraged to enroll in kindergarten. The nursery school accepts children aged four to six years old and helps them develop their linguistic and mathematical skills in preparation for entry into primary school. In addition, the nursery school serves other purposes, such as assisting children whose homes are socially or educationally unsatisfactory; assisting children whose mothers must work; and assisting as a location where early diagnosis of individual handicaps can be made and paper remedial treatment gi can be given.

Nursery education was developed in the Western world. where it was reserved solely for the infant children of wealthy parents. This remained true until the masses achieved a breakthrough through government decrees making kindergarten or nursery school mandatory and free in many parts of developed countries. The importance of early childhood development was recognized in a proclamation signed by 38 African countries and presented in 1990 at the international conference on education for all (EFA) in Jomtien, Thailand. In 1993, the EFA summit was held in New Delhi, India. It saw basic education as the foundation for lifelong learning and human growth, on which a nation could build other levels and forms of education and training methodically. The United States Department of Education shares this viewpoint. As

As a result, it strongly advised expanding early childhood development activities, as well as exploring all available instruments of information, communication, and social action, with the goal of assisting people in acquiring the minimum amount of basic learning required for a better life.

The ultimate goal of any instructive endeavor should be learner learning if it is to be considered successful. The term “change in behavior” is used to describe the impact of learning. This helps to explain why “change in behavior as a result of or as a result of experience” is a common definition of learning (Akande, 2019). A man with a lot of learning is also a man with a lot of understanding, and vice versa. is a well-educated man. Teaching, on the other hand, is a set of activities and expressions that occur in a classroom and involve an exchange of ideas and materials between a teacher and students with the goal of developing cognitive, psychomotor, affective, and aesthetic goals in the students. Teaching can be viewed as a collection of actions and expressions that occur in a classroom. According to Ekwueme (2020), it is the teacher’s responsibility to provide experiences that will aid, excite, and organize the children’s education in order to bring about a development or comprehension that is appropriate to the child’s specific capabilities and requirements. As a result, it is critical for the educator to use instructional materials or resources.

Assist in the creation of teaching and learning experiences that are straightforward, engaging, methodical, constructively interactive, and meaningful for students.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of instructional resources and tools in the learning process. It has been suggested that using materials made locally is beneficial to the development of children who attend a nursery. Although these resources may be available, it is possible that the instructor is not taking advantage of them. Either that, or the teacher lacks the necessary skills to use them. During the process of training a child’s senses, the child will gain experiences that will later serve as the foundation for their knowledge. It’s important to remember this when teaching anything.

It is critical to engage as many of a student’s senses as possible in order for them to get the most out of the experience (Akande, 2020).

The goal of educational activities is to help the child become aware of his or her human nature, to provide the child with basic knowledge, and to establish a connection between the child and the natural world. According to UNICEF (2018), “concern for comprehensive child development naturally includes concern for the survival, health care, and growth monitoring of children, as well as attention to the learning and stimulation required to help them realize their full potential, the intellectual, social, and emotional aspects of the child’s development.” In relation to A stimulating environment should be created with careful consideration and attention to detail for a young child’s mental and social growth. The activities should be tailored to the local conditions, with the goal of utilizing and supplementing the resources already available in the family and community. To ensure that programs for children aged 3 to 6 years old address a wide range of urgent developmental needs, particularly those of children living in poverty and negatively impacted by forces or social-economic change, special attention should be paid to the needs of the mother while she is pregnant, as well as the needs of children aged birth to two years of age. Furthermore, special attention should be paid.

to the requirements of children aged birth to two years.

The environment has either a direct or indirect impact on man in a specific location, as defined by this phenomenon. Human people, human behaviors, society law, values, and traditions, natural and physical elements, and preexisting sociopolitical conditions are all components of the environment. All of these factors have an impact on the subjects taught, when they are taught, how they are taught, and where they are taught. When certain academics (Smith, Stanley, and Shore) say that “the curriculum is intertwined with the social fabric that sustains it,” they correctly emphasize the importance of the environment. In this context, the term “environment” refers to society. The social fabric is a network of interdependent relationships. Factors that have an immediate or indirect impact on educational activities in a specific location. This could be positive or negative. The challenges and opportunities that exist in a specific area serve as the inspiration for educational activities. The environment serves as a source of educational resources such as learning experiences and audio-visual aids. Educationists have also discovered a subtle link between the environment’s influence on children and the environmental research that children conduct. This connection has been discovered between the two. In addition to the social environment, the context and content of the education received are deemed important in the classroom.

The educational institution itself is an important part of the community. As a result, when students are taught about the environment, they are also learning about themselves. Taking everything that has been said thus far into consideration, the use of teaching and learning aids and materials is recommended in order to produce educational experiences that are straightforward, fascinating, methodical, positively participatory, and meaningful.

1.2 Problem Description

The educational activities, particularly those aimed at young children, are based on the challenges and opportunities that exist in a specific environment. Furthermore, educational materials for teaching are made up of learning experiences derived from the environment (Tomopoilous et al, 2007). Educators have discovered a subtle link between the impact of the surrounding environment on children and the way in which children learn. As a result, creating an environment that is both exciting and supportive of young children’s psychological and social development should receive a lot of attention. Activities should also be tailored to the local environment, with an emphasis on drawing on and improving the resources already available in the family and community (Tomopoilous, et al, 2020). Taking everything that has been said thus far into account, educational instructional materials for teaching and learning should be used to create educational experiences during the early years. Childhood educational encounters that are simple, interesting, systematic, positively interactive, and meaningful. It is impossible to overstate the importance of instructional materials and learning aids in the learning process, especially during the formative years of school. As a result, whenever these resources are unavailable, improvisation is required. There is evidence that using locally produced items is beneficial to the intellectual development of toddlers and preschoolers (Tomopoilous, et al, 2020). Some schools may have access to these resources, but whether or not they are used productively is ultimately up to the classroom teacher. They may not be available in some situations, in which case a teacher who is unfamiliar with improvisation should avoid using it.

When instructing and guiding students’ learning, use them. Otherwise, the educational process will be ineffective, and the child will not be able to develop their communicative skills to the fullest extent possible. When instructional materials are scarce, most teachers are unable to make do with what they have in order to effectively drive home lessons taught and improve communicative competence in early childhood learners. This is a problem because improvising can be an effective way for early childhood learners to improve their communicative competence.

1.3 The Study’s Goal

The study’s overarching goal is to look into the use of locally made instructional materials in the teaching and learning of primary school children. The study is specifically designed with the following objectives in mind:

i. Determine the effectiveness of locally produced instructional materials on student learning outcomes.

ii. Determine whether locally produced materials can be used in place of more expensive, standard instructional materials.

iii. Determine whether effective implementation of locally produced instructional materials promotes effective teaching.

iv. To assess the relationship between locally produced instructional materials and primary school students’ academic performance.

1.4 Research Issue

The following study questions have been prepared:

i. How effective are locally produced instructional materials in improving students’ learning outcomes?

ii. Can locally produced materials be used in place of more expensive, standard instructional materials?

iii. Does the effective use of locally produced instructional materials promote effective teaching?

iv. Is there a connection?

between locally produced instructional materials and primary school students’ academic performance?

1.5 The Study’s Importance

The purpose of this study is to identify the use of locally made materials in primary school classroom instruction as a distinguishing factor for school effectiveness and efficiency. However, this study will be useful to school proprietors and school heads such as head Masters/ Mistresses, head teachers, and so on in understanding that the use of locally made materials is a significant factor if the school is to achieve its goal of producing, breeding individuals who will be useful to themselves and to society at large. Furthermore, this study will help the government understand the importance of using locally made materials in nursery school teaching.

children in order to achieve the desired learning outcome in individuals.

The study will benefit the academic community because it will add to the existing literature.

1.6 The Study’s Scope

This study will determine the effectiveness of locally produced instructional materials on student learning outcomes. The study will also look into whether locally made materials can be used in place of more expensive, standard instructional materials. The study will also investigate whether effective implementation of locally made instructional materials promotes effective teaching. Finally, the study will assess the relationship between locally produced instructional materials and primary school students’ academic performance. As a result, this study will be limited to Ebonyi state.

1.7 The study’s limitations

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As with any human endeavor, the researchers encountered minor constraints while conducting the study. Inadequate funds tend to impede the researcher’s efficiency in sourcing relevant materials, literature, or information, as well as in the data collection process (internet, questionnaire, and interview), which is why the researcher chose a moderate sample size. Furthermore, the researcher will conduct this study alongside other academic work. As a result, the time spent researching will be reduced.

1.8 Definitions of terms

Locally produced: done, produced, or associated with a specific location.

The content or information conveyed within a course is referred to as instructional material.

Teaching: a teacher’s occupation, profession, or work.

Learning is defined as the acquisition of knowledge or skills.