University of Nigeria Virtual Library

Serial No

Author 1

NWAUBANI OKECHUKWU O Author 2

Author 3

Title

Evolving Integrated Instructional Approaches in Social Studies Classroom; some Pedagogical

Implications for Distance Learning in Teacher Education in Nigeria;

`

Description

Evolving Integrated Instructional Approaches in Social Studies Classroom; some Pedagogical

Implications for Distance Learning in Teacher Education in Nigeria;

Category

Education

Publisher

Publication Date

2008

Signature

Val. 6 - No. 2 hqa;r 2007

-

JOURNAL OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

'l'lic Wor-ltl Coi~ric-il lor ('11r.r-iculurii 2nd Iris~ruc.tion (\brCC1) N i p - i ; ~ Chapter- 1;olwm has been r.cn:~r~ictl .jou I-nil1 of Cu I-r-iciiltr ni i ~ n d Itislr.uctiori and i r is now pblishcd qu;~r-tcrly lo accomlnodatc I~cs nu~ncr-011s subscr-ibc1.s 1'1.0111

Nigeria and othcs couri~ric's 01' rlic woslti. Well-I-cscarclicd papc~s ~ I C S C ~ I C ~ i n rllc Association's biciiriial confcrcnccs. Any othcr wcll-scscarcliccl papers arc , also publisticd i n rhc joirrrial.

A~1r11or.s arc adviscd to adhcrc to thc cun-cnt Amcric:m I'sycholo$xl ,

Association's I-cfcrcncing stylc. which is rllc Association's prcfcr-I-ccl citation ,

Soniiat. Ar-ticlcs should not cscccd flfrccn (1 5 ) pagcs.

1 Iiopc you will crijoy rcadi~:g thc articlcs in this cdition. l'hc conrcnr of cacli .

u-!iclc is tilt vicw of rhc authos(s).

Prof GI-ace Chibiko Offormti. I

WCCI NIGERIA CIIAE'TER JOURNAL OF CURRICULUM AND INS?'RUCrI'ION

CONTENT VOLUME 6 NUMDEU 2

The Ncw 9- Year basic Scicnce and Tcchnology Curiiculuni and thc Challenges of its Implimcntatiori.

Cornbating Examination Mdpracticcs by tlic ~lsc of ~n'formation and Communication Tcch. (ICT) in Distancc Learning.

Utilization of Mcdia Facilities by Adult Lcar.ricl-s In an infomation and Communications Tcchnology (IC-1') E R A

Implementation of Social Studics Cunic~rlum in the Junior Secondary Schools In Owcrri Educational Zonc

Teaching I'racticc in Distance Leanling In ot~r- Modcrn ase of infor-xarion

Narnc of' contributor I ' i l f i ~ ~

E. 0 Akuczuilo Nnamdi Azi kikwc Univcrsity, Awl;a.

Dr-. .!. o Ajuoni~ma, 7 L?ep;i~~l;cnt of Mcas[~~micrit and Ewiuation i;;tcult y of' Edi,. lrno State Univcr-sity, Owcn-i.

Rosc Ifeolna, Ak;mc~bu 15 Unitcd Primary School, Nkpor. P .0 Box 871. Onitsha.

Assoc. 1'1-of. V.A. Obasi 6( 2 S Priscilla I. Ajcka M.ED, B.ED, N.C.E Department of Curriculum Studies and Educational l'cchnology lrrru Stmtc Univcrsity, Owerri.

Dr. h?.C OSocfuna 4 1 Nu,af'or Orizu Col legc of Education. Nsughe.

l{\~ol vi ng Intcgl-utcci ~ ~ , s t r w t ~ o n a l App~~o:~ctics I I I Soc1:11 Studies Classroom; Somc Pedagogical I~llj-dications for Distancc I,car-n~ng i n ?'c:~clics 1:tlucation i n Ni_ccria.

. Inf'ormat~on m d C'ornmunication Technology 111 Distancc Learning

"1';111irnc 1 '1.0~

I

C'un-iculum and Instr-uction 111 D~stancc Eclircation:

I . I'hc caw o f I'rcnch I Imguagc Teaching

. . b Tcaching the Enzlish

Imgilage Via Learning .S~I - : I~C~ICS . I-Ic Ni~cr-i:~n I imgiiagc Teac hcr- for- IXstancc 1~:trning.

G.U Uju Depx-tmcrit of Education Founclat ions Nnarncli Aziki\vc LJni\wsity.

Dr. Okccli~~k\v~r. 0 Nwaubani, Social Scicncc [;nit Dcpal-tmcrit of Sc~cncc Eciucat~on Faculty of' Education University of Niscria. Nsukka.

Ogo M. Nwogugu, Depx-tmcnt of Scicncc Eclucation Cnivcl-sity of' Nigcl-ia, Nsukka. & Dr. Joscpl~inc limarnak:~ h r i ~ k i k j c

Departmcni of Cu~riculum mid Educationi~l Teclinology, University of Port-H:~~-co~~l-t.

Dr. Eliznbcth Nwa~nnkn Okafor School of Education Federal Collcge of Education (Technical), Umunzc.

Dr. Mary E. U. Ogah, Departmcnt of Education Ebonyi Statc Univcrsity, ~ b a t a l i k i .

Uche Lcbcchi Isbokwc, Depx-tmcrit of' Arts Educntion Univcrsity of NiFcria, Nsukka.

'I'cchnologists, Anarnbr~~ State Branch, UNN

il;joLu, J.1:. (1,002). Acqiri~iiiorr t ~ f l ~ ~ - c o p i r ~ g skills: Tllc futurc direction ~ I ~ C I - p~esen(ed at thc 15"' Annual conference of' CON held at AICE 1 1 7Ih - 2 1" Septcmhcr.

ih yckwcla, N . (200 1 ). Jrrrlioi- sccol~d~ry social strrt1icr.s irlstl.r~~tiomd r r : t r r c J r itrl: i~nplen?cnt;ltion for U B E . NJCS S ( 1) 1 14- 120.

JOI,VING IIVTEG IIAI'ED INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACIIES IN SOCIAL STUDIES CIASSROORI; SOME PEDAGOGICAL

IMPLICATIONS FOR DIS'rANCII= IXARNING IN TEACHER EDUCATION IN NIGERIA.

fir. Okcclrukwrr. 0 Nwaubani, Scxial Scicrwc CT~iit

I)cp:wtmer:t oi' Scic~~cc. !Mucation Faculty of Education

Uni\wsity of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Curriculum experts and ctfucalionist are il0Lt' becoming i n c r e a ~ i n ~ l y aware of the need to psomo[c and sustain tlic effective leaching of integrated social studies in Nigerian schools. Against this h:ichground, this papcs cxamines [he relevance of a n intcg-aced ins [I-uct ionnl ;~pproach to the teaching and Icasning of social studics. I t also esplains the concept of distance learning w i h i n the context of teaclicr [lainin: and ho\\ !his could be uscu to eilLilp trair~ces with l-,rz;J barn! ir~structional skills :ind cornpeter?c*cs, which ca!i help them to achievc thc intcgsatcd phi1osc;p'ny and objectives of social studies in the classroo~n The salient implic:\rlons of these to the cffcctive training process of social studies teachcrs in tI;c various cfisku~ce-lexning prograinrnes are discussed.

Introduction

The focus in learniny onico~~les i!: rwent is -. :yadualiy shifting fmr! the unidisciplinary al:pscsrtci; i.(i tiie ii:rl:~ration of experience (Okobia, 1991). The nccd for this dc..v.cIoj:t~lcrlt. dcr-iws largely from the changing nature and compiexity oi' rkr. ~ x ~ ~ : i - l i r ~ ! : ; . ; :lilt! i>si.:c.s. which ~onfr-oni iridlvid~~;lis in ri~sir c n \ ~ i ~ - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : , ! . I. I:, .:.: ;:,.,.> + , : I . , ; ; \ - :!i:\! L ! C ~ { ' : ; ? : ! - ! !hat ~01 .11~ />c i ~ l k ~ t l 011 :in)! aspect of h~ i ! r i ; i~ l p~-ui-\i~:i!: :;!ld c!:c.i!:;!\t~ui* l>ii>cci (:#!I iht. ii!~;itctl k~li.~;:,-icdge 21-d . - . . , ,. . . . I I I ~ [ ) I - ~ ; ~ [ ] ( ; ~ > ~<i-i\:c-;: ~.:,~:i.~; i';-i>[!i OIii.: L I : ~ ~ ~ ~ ? ~ : : : ~ ' .

The Nigerian child therefore rcquires an all-sound intcgr arcd cducatio,, tc~rns of knowledge, skills, values and attitudes ro grapple ,, contemporary social problems and prepares sufficiently for the challcn posed by his environment. Attcnlpts at carving out nen. parh and focui cun-iculum os~anization and imple~ncntation i n Nigcsia educational sysi started with thc 1969 National Curriculum C o n f c r c ~ ~ c . Thc conferc, among othcr things strongly reconmended the integratcd social studicl one of the cose school offerings at the pri~nary and ju111or Scco~ldary 1~~ of education in Nigeria (Obebe 2005).

The need to emphasize the integrated approach to social srudics teacl schools has received considcrablc attention in educational lit( (Adeyemi, 1989: Mpka, 1989 and Udoh, 1993). Tiesc scholars 11s "

variously a ~ y e d that integrated social studics suifcl i~istructional ~legl~ largely because of the failure or inability of ieachcrs to mcci [he - p u l l pedagogical demands of the subject. This trend they SLII t11c1- argue could I attributed to the fact that both trained and untrained tcac1ie1-s te subject especially those of them who by virtue of their acader orientation are not sufficiently grounded in the philosopl~y, goals, and methodology of social studies (Okam, 1994).

Indecd a common qucstion which is usually raised by s o ~ n e practitic F O C ~ ~ ! st~:dics (; Aderalegbe, 1980; Akinlayc, 1980) is how integrate integratcd Nigerian social studics? More oftcn than not, instr methods, materials and resources utilized by tcacl~crs of the subjec classroom hardly reflect the necds of the Nigeria pupils whosc imtr intcrcsts the National Policy on Education sought to protect (Fcd. Nigcria 2004).

The general tcndency therefore was for social studies tcache spccializcd the separate discipline like History, Geography, I Science, Anthropology, Sociology and other relatcd areas to ernphasi rcspected ascas of specialization. This trcnd n o doubt scclnc- . ,

detrimental to integrated instructed instn~ction approach \vhicli is the cent[ focus or 11aIlma1-k of Nigerian social studies.

This paper, therefoi-c cxamincs rhc nccd for PI-c-scrvicc and in-scrvicc social sttrdics tcachcrs \\rho arc involvcd in Distancc Learning teachci- ec!ucation progralnmes to cvolvc m c i use cffcctive instriictiona1 slrategics in rc?ching integrated social stuclics in the classrooms. Specially i t attcmpls to address ~ h c following issucs:

1. The logic of inlcsrlition as a concept in the organization of content and instruction i l l social studics;

3. Tllc conccpt of Dislancc learning within the context of tcachcr training in Nigcr~a; and

3. 'I'hc teaching of intcgralcd social and how i t could be nude much more responsi~c to the inst~.uctional interests and nccds of Distancc lcar~ling teacher- educalion prograrnmcs i n Nigcria.

The Coricept of 1ntegr;i:ion :~nd tile Instructional Nature of Socinl St~rtlies

other approach, e ~ n l h s i z e s integration r111-ough the fusion and synthesj knowledge, concepts and generalizations derived from diversc subject a Integralion, with scfercnce to Social Studies, is the blending of con co~lcepts, generalization with teachin_r inctliods drawn from inter-re1 subjects ~nainly from witl~in the broad-fields of the Social Sciences 11~11nanitics. Si~nilarly, Udoll (1993) pa-cciws inlegratio11 as the psoces which various co~lccpts and methods rclating to all kinds of knowledge bsought togcthcr to enable one e f f e c r i ~ ~ l y study, analyze and unders human prob1e1-n~.

'I'llc knowlcdge, skills, attitudes and values nVc export pupils to acquir Social Studies can only be achieved thl-ough co~?tact with Social Stu content. Social Studies content, herc, refcrs to the body of kno\\llcdge (fi

ini'ormation, conccpts and generalizations), skills, values and desir attitudes, a tmciier is expected to tcach xid foster in p l i ~ i l ~ iil!-~figh Sc studies. This integrated social studies co~iient is derived from In-oad-fie1 discipline - Geography, Political Scicncc, Economics, Socioiogy, His! and so on. The essential elements derived from the Social Sciencc- fuscd through the process of integration to form an entirely new cc called integrated Social Studies. In thc erncrging content from this proc~ fusion or integration, the identities of the former subjccts are comp blu~red. T1:cr.e are sevesai possible ways of organizing social studies contents. ' include the separate subject approacl~c t l ~ c multi-disciplinary approacl , thematic, spiral and integrated approaches. Each of these represent as ir ! were distinct opinions on the patterns of t l ~ c structure of social studies Adedoyin, Obilo & Ahmadu 1982).

mtcn i ess 01

(Aina: j

1'1-oponents of thc scparate subject approach use the term of social st1 generally identify the term subject but reflcct the identity of each separate disciplines making up the contcnt of thc subject in actual cla tcacliing. To them (and they are many) social studies content i s o x :~morphous with bits and pieces drawn mainly from sllIcd echo! s likc History. Government, Economics. and so o n (Omolcwa, i(?87::

Tile Multi-disc.iplinq; approach is a conscious cf!'ort to rnovc fr si:o~-tcomirqp of !hc sub-ject centrcci approach. liere, coiitent

o m t h r ! (facts,

sin1il3~-ly, this approach is ccrltrcd on societal thcmcs which bccomc rcfc~-cncc points in thc organization of social studics content. Thus, in the ~l~cmatic approach, concepts. gcncr:llization and ides which arc bascd o n inllc~clit s o ~ i c t d 131-O~ICIIIS ;111d ~ S S L I C S 2nd derivcd from other subjects or disciplines arc hannoni;.cd and intcgratcd to form an cntircly new cori tent called intcgi.;licd social studiek. <Q:manya, 1984).

Bmncr (19G3) observes that cvcry discipline has a structurc which is madc up of the fundamental conccpts, generalizations and principles which constitute tllc contcn t of a disciplinc. Bruner, (1 963) furthcr agucs that while it is not possible to tcach all thc facts, it is possible to tcach al thc fundanm~tal conccpts or structures o f subject. This observation is gernmnc to Social Studies content m d rncthodology in many respects.

First, thc trcnd in Social Studics structurc is towards integration based on conccpts and generalization gcncrated from identified societal thcmcs- issue and problc~ns. Thc implication of thc concept of integration is that no onc single subject enough for adcq~~atc understanding of interaction betwcen man and his environmcnt. Sccond. thc integrated approach to Social Studies help to avoid' or minimizc thc fraginentation of knowledge into numerous aspects.

Third, integration encourages and promotes unity of knowlcdgc, general education and flcxibili!y r-cquirccl hy students to understand thc complcxity of social nrobIems and issues.

Concept of Distance Learning

r . .

'I'ili: is! Century in which wc arc: nfi-iv. is undisprli;;l;ly :tn cra cvhcre ~ i ~ l s c 7 - , ~ , ~ - ~ ~ . . . . . ....,., :::, are becorning increxingIj; Icss p~0111i1i~i;i i r i i k x q ~ i s ~ t l o n of fi~!c;\i.ledg~ (Aji; 2000) Distance education has ovcr time providcd education on nun-residential basis to leaners who arc 1;~sgcIy adult wol-kcrs (Jegede 2090).

'I'cacher education is very vital to the cducatio~ul systcrn of any nation. This opinion is bascd on the fact that quality of tcx11e1-s detcmiine to a large extcnt how robust a1:d qw.!i!ativ~ a11 cduc:~t i~rd . s y ~ t ~ ~ ~ i will lie. (Fed. licp. of Nig. 2004). This opinion is even morc gcsmanc at this time whcn the full and effective irnplemcntation of the Uni\lcrs;d Basic Education (UBE) in Nigcria is dependent among othcr factors on thc production of quality tcschers for different schooI subjects incltding social srudies which incidentally is a recognixci cr:se o f f c r i ~ ; ~ at h t h thc primary and junior secondary school levels (Obanya 2000).

Invariably, one of the issues which distmcc education can solvc both o n short and long term basis is that of ~c~~ichcl- shorragc (Jcgede 2000). According to him, Nigt-rlri cxcects a to;ti1 oi 27.5 inillion chiIdrc:: in its jxi~nLtry schcol sy~tcnr bj 2WG. iiuivc\u-, as at 2001, Nigc~ iLt had i i h ~ t

i20,000 prilnary school ieaclxrs, a figi!~.c- \\ iiicli was considucd below the aliliual primary school tcacher recjuircnicnt ol 003,000.

Even 31 tl~al. liiLtn)r of thcsc tcachcr-s arc still untraincd. undcr-qualified and prof~ssionnil!~ u11qu:tlificd ( K ~ ~ ~ I - L I 2000). Significantly, thc shortfall in tcachcr psocii~ctio~~ ca~ulot bc addrcsscd through thc forrnal t cxhe r trainin: i n collcgcs of. cclucation, fxulties of cducation and institutes of education in Univcr-sitics alonc.

Indeed. i l l rcccr~t timc thcrc has sccn a shift from fol-ma1 education to infon~ld t y x . ?'his i n part could bc Iar-gcly attributed to thc fact that millions of Nigerians no\\: pussue education while retaining their jobs. Thus, in responsc io tllc xtrono~nical demands for education, a numbcr ot' univcrsitics, polytechnics coIlagcs 01' education and other relatcd institutions no\il I-1111 cducntion programmes which fall undcr thc broad definition of Distullcc cciucatioll or learning.

I-Jov:c~~cr, 'Ilc National Teachel's Institute (NTI) Kadu:::: :zd more rcccn:!!? thc Natlo~lal O p c ~ University of Nigeria (NOUN) reriiain tile only ski$._. rnodc of Distance Education institutions in Nigeria today. The NT1 was establishcd in 1976 to provide in-service education for tcachers of different categories using thc Distancc learning system (DLS).

It \ilould he I-ccallcd that in 1988, gow-nrnent decision to make the Nigeria ccriificatc in education (NCE) the minimum qualification for teaching In Nigeria, necessitated the nccd to upgrade the qualification of primary school teachers. Undoubtedly, this task could not be through thc conventional rnodc of dclivel-y alone considering the problcrns existing schools will face during the pcriod of retraining. This ncw challenge in Teachcr education is handled through the Oistnncc learning system by NTI and other rclated institutions.

MTiint is Distance Education?

Distrncc education according to Holmberg (1989) is a special kind of adult educatio~~ which includes all conucnlional ieac!llng mctttods, thc interactive as w l l as thc prc-bascd self-instructional materials. 'l'lius, thc basic aim of distalice cducation is to faciIitatc access to cducation.

Similarly Ozigi (1992) dcf'irics distnncc cducntiorl as a scvolutionary co~lccpt or innovation in education n41icl1 is in linc with thc gl-oning dcmand to make education rnore liberal and dc~uocratic. This opinion supports very stro11gIy Verdun & Clark's (1991) c:l~licl vic3~i.s ol' thc corlccpt of distance education, According to them, distance cducation is dcfincd wit11 1.cspcct to four- key elenlcnls namely:

(a) Separation of teacllcrs and Icar-ncrs di~rin: :I[ I C x t :i ~najorily 01' rhe lcarning process.

(b) Use of learning tcctinolo~ies to dctcrrninc contcnt and connect teacher and learncr

(c) Provision of two way ir-itcrnction bct~vcen teacher- or tutor and learncr; and

(d) Introduction of a n educalional 1 organi/ation i n rIlc Icarning proccss including studcnl cvali~atio~l.

Distance education is d s o i;riown vnrious!y 2.1: correspondence study, 1 ' h m e study off-campus s i ~ i u y , :ridepcndcn~ SIUCIV. , , G:SIZICC study, cxrl-a-

mural system and so on. Thus, nccording to Jegcde (2000) Distance education is the provision of cducation by mode other than the conventional face -to-facc rnctllod but wl~ose goals arc similar to and just as noble and practical as thosc of on-campus. full-time, face-to-face cducation.

By and large, the basic ;2i!oscphy 01- aim of distnncc cducation is to increase access to education Sol- :i iargc nu~nbcl- of qualified people who arc interested in improving tlicmsclvcs cclucationally and professionally (Fagbarniye 2000). It is tliercforc not only innovative but also very functional especially for adults who by implication of age, family responsibilities, need k r w!l"-impovemcnt co~iibinc work with study. Incidentally, social ctticlIcs ~ ~ c - s e r ; ~ l c e m d in-service reacher belong to this category of ad!~I! :ca:-!li!-s w!losc ins!ructional skills and compctcnces need to be cnhanccd for e S S d v c rccid:ing in the classroom.

Tllc implicalion of the abovc is that tcachcrs' oricnr~ition to i~ltcgl-ated Social Studics is g e r ~ n m c 10 their utilization of cffccrive i1:tegrated instsucliond str:~tc$es in the classrooms. I n other \\lc~~xis. teachcls should tcxh in such a n.ay tlic objeclivcs behind thc integra(cti contcnl in Social Strtdics arc achici-cd through appropriate ~nctllodolo~y.

'I'llc crucial qucslion, however, is how? The firs1 b x l c considcl-;1:ion i n acliicvi~~g cffccti~ e ~eaclling of Social Studies is i:~idcl.st;~~~di~ig of tllc p c c ~ l l i ~ naturc of Social Studies which are derivccl fsom olhcr suhjecls cspcci;~lly those of Social Sciences and I-Iumanities. Conccpts rcfcrs to a class of objects or abstract idcas which scnle as focus around ~vhich intcgr::tcd meaningful 1c:tlning is organized.

I-cf'lcctivc thinking i n pp i l s . I3;1sically, tlic ter~clic~' should a i ~ n at integrating various skills dcrivcd from dif'fercnt instructional mcilio,ls and tcc1miquc.s in ordcl- to cnl~:~ncc comprchcnsivc undcrstrmling 01. issues by Icasncr-s. Instruction:~l mcthods which arc charactcri~iicall~ innovative, prohlcn-sol\,inp and inquil-y-oric~itcd shol~ld bc ~iscd cIar-ily and explain l;~cts, int'osrnatio~~ and \;alucs i11 ;I lcsson topic. For instance, in a topic co-opesation, a tcachcr can usc instructional skills dcsivcd from discussion, solc-play, questioning, illustrative pic[ures, c11a1-1s. values c l ~ i f i ~ i ~ i , incluiry/problcm-sol\,i~lg mctl~ods stl-atcgies to illu!?~ix!e and dcmonstratc ihe meaning of co-opcratio!! rind

how i t works ir? t ! ~ C x ~ i l y , cc\mnczity 22? sncicty at largc.

The next issuc is Iiou instructional skiIls derived from many teaching methods are to bc integrated and used functionally. First, i t must bc stressed that no teaching mcthod is thc bcst or utterly uscIess in absolute terms. The appropriateness 01- otl~crwise of a method dcpcnds on what is hcing taught and who is bcing taught.

What the abovc in~plics is [hat the teacher must delibcratcly tcach to deepen knowledge in a comprchcnsive manner. That is, pupils must bc cncouragcd to acquirc and unticsstand concepts and above all, use thcm in confronting daily problelns in their envisonmcnt. To achieve this, facts, skills, valucs and attitudes should not be Icasnt i ~ ? isolation, Appropriate cxpcricnces must bc created through relevant activities during the Icsson. Thc teacher should encourage permissive classroom intcraction, intcraction and dialogue bctwccn himself and pupils. This is thc whole idea behind ;I functional and I-csoi[rce-bascd tcacliing m*hich can only be skillf'~11ly utilizccl if a teacher wants to achicvc the aims of integrated Social S t ~ ! d i ~ s

To promotc scsousce-hascd and effcctivc intcgsatcd teaching, the teachcr accordi~ig to Mkpa (1997) should ensure thc following:

1 . Plan hislhcr lesson clnt~oratcly; 2. Identify the particular contcrit appropriate for ttic Icsson;

Thc next issue is hou. instl-uctional skills dcrived from many teaching rncthods are to bc intcgr-ated and used functionally. First, it must bc strcssed that no teaching method is thc best or utterly useless in absolute terms. ?'he appropriatcness 01- otherwise of a method dcpcnds on \\+at is being taught and who is being taught.

What the above i~nplies is that the teacher muit dclihcratcly tcach to decpen knowledge in a comprchcnsive manner. That is, pupils must bc encouraged to acquire and understand concepts and above all, use tImn in confronting daily psoblenls i l l their environment. To achieve this, facts, skills, values and attitudes shouid not be learnt ir? isolation, Appropriate experiences must bc creatcd through relevant activities during the lesson. The teacher should encourage per~nissivc classroom interaction, intcraction and dialogue bctween himself and pupils. This is the whole idea behind a functional and rcsoirscc-based tcacI:ing \I-hich can only be skillf'~11ly utilized i f a teachcr wants to achicvc the a i m of integrated Social S t ~ ~ d i e s

To promote rcsouscc-lmcd and eff'ccrivc intcgratcd teaching, t l ~ teacher according to h/I k p a ( 1997) should ensure the following:

1. Plan hidher- lesson elatlo!-atcly; 2. Identify the particular c-ontent appropriate POI- the Icsson;

I-Io\vcvcr, i t must bc bomc in mind that Incrc kno\vlcd_ec of instr~ictional strategies and skills 01- compctc~~ccs is not synonymo\ls wit11 tlic pl-opcr acquisition and usage of such skills ~cquired for cffcctivc social s t ~ ~ d i c s tcxllirlg. Thus, wrhilc i t mny be asgucd [ha( prc-scrvicc tcachcrs do indccd undergo coui.scs on ~ n c r h o d o l o ~ ~ d u r i ~ y training, efforts should be gcnrcd towards helping tlic~n to gain

fund:uncntal objectives which are very crucial to tllc cffcctivc teaching of the subject in Nigerian schools (Fed. Ministry of Education, 1983).

3. By virtue of its integrated nature and philosophy, social studics is highly affective and valuc-ladcn. By implication, its instructional task is not mercly to tcach facts and information but i t promote simul~aneously the thrcc domains of lcarning na~nely cognitive, affective and psychornotor domain. This if properly doric could cnhnnce thc education of thc complete man (Obcmcata, 199G). This role differentiatcs social studies from othcr sul3jccts and by implication imposes on its tcaching and learning those instl-uctional methods, activities and experiences which provide social and intellectual skills, positive attitudes, valucs and cognitive devclop~ncnt (Lucan, 1931: Mkpa 1997). Thus, bcaring the above in mind, curriculum and instruction within the context of socid studies Teachcr training Distancc learning programmcs should bc geared towards the following:

a. Assisting teachers to integrate skills from various tcaching methods in ordcr- to deepcn pupils knowledge and exposc them to problem-solving skills.

practicai cxpcricnccs ncedcd ro sustain tllosc skills iong afici- training, j Social siudies teachers iiicrefore need to be traincd to achicvc these

b. Encouraging teachers to pso~notc pcrmissivc classroom which ultimately enhance pupil-oriented activities, cxpcricnccs and world-\views.

c. Motivating teachers to c~lqhasizc thc thrcc domains of ler~rni~ig-cognitive, affective and psychornotor i r r classroom. By implication teachers sllouId be effectively trained i o act as facilitato~.~, resourcc persons and not necessarily autlloritarian figuses i n the classroom.

d. Helping teachers to update their instnlctional skills and knowledge of integrated social studies in order to inculcate the right orientation a~ld attitude i n pupils.

4. Distance-leasnin programme should be utilized by both prc-service and in-service social studies tenchcrs. It is strongly bclievcd that this will cncouragc proper sus!cnance of compete!lcc through cxposurc of i-ofi..ics~lcd teacl~ers seminars, conferences and workshops organized by relevant distancc learning institutions. This will aIso assist in making them continuously relevant and receptive to new ideas, education polices, instructional dclivcry system and knowledge.

This paper has reflected on how integrated social studies can bc taught to chiev eve its fundamental objectives within the context of thc distancc- iearning Teacher Education pr-ogsammes in Nigeria. The concIusion or position of this paper therefore is that social studics by virtuc of its philosopl~y, nature and content is integrated and by implication involvcs nliilti-instriictio~lal media and nlultiplc resources which promote eclcptism in the teaching-lcarning process. It is tl~crcfore the position of this paper tha: social studies teachers who are involved i n thc distance learning prograrnmcs should bc continuously repositioned to evolve integrated instructional approaches in the classroom. his task calls for both formal prc-scrvicc and in-service training for social studies teachcrs especially with rcspcci to innovati1.e instructional skills and compctencies which arc capable of promoting effective teaching of the subject in Nigcria school in rhr, 21st Ccntury.

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