STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STUDIES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS ( A CASE STUDY OF ONITSHA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA)

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STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STUDIES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS ( A CASE STUDY OF ONITSHA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA)

ABSTRACT

Religious education is the term given to education concerned with religion. It may refer to education provided by a church or religious organization, for instruction in doctrine and faith, or for education in various aspects of religion, but without explicitly religious or moral aims, e.g. in a school or college. The term is often known as religious studies. This paper presents a contemporary issue in the teaching of Christian Religious Education in secondary schools in some African Countries especially in Nigeria. It shows the origins and development of the syllabi used. Their implications on the learner’s faith in the Bible. It also seeks to show the way these syllabi endeavor to undo some denominational philosophies and promote others. The paper goes farther by proposing ways through which the Seventh-day Adventist Church could preserve their philosophy of Bible teaching in Secondary School without necessarily avoiding writing government examinations in Religious Education. This paper attempts to find out the impact of teachers and students’ attitudes on the teaching of Christian religious education in Machakos secondary schools. The purpose of the investigation is to explain the attitudes of teachers and students with a view to drawing conclusions, which would be recommended for improving the status of Christian religious education (CRE) in secondary schools. This paper is based On study undertaken in Machakos secondary schools in Kenya. Sampling procedure in order to allow a regional representation of implementers and consumers of CRE in Machakos secondary schools. The study employed open and closed questionnaire administered to all the participants; an interview done in nine secondary schools among nine teachers and twelve students and an observation of CRE documents affected in eight schools. The attitude scores derived from the closed questionnaire were analyzed using factor analysis, descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and one and two analyses of variance. The open responses were subjected to content analysis and some chi-square tests for the categorized data. The attitude scale as the chief instrument in data collection had a high cronbach alpha of 0.9 a mean of 72 and standard deviation of 15.Based on the analysis, this paper contends that there are no significant differences among respondents of different backgrounds in their attitudes towards CRE. The respondents’ conception of the nature of CRE falls in two groups: a positive oriented group which contends that CRE has utilitarian value and the other group that view CRE as non-functional. In conclusion it is argued that any recommendations for improving CRE have to be directed towards clarifying CRE objectives. Thus, the key recommendation points for a need to have CRE as part of an integrated Religious Education (RE) programme whose main aim should be to lead students towards being religiously educated.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

During the colonial era CRE featured as a dominant school subject(Anderson, 1979: Ayot, 1986). Missionaries used it as a tool to win converts. Currently, the subject has an optional status for both teachers and students. It is also being challenged by socio-economic conditions which have consistently demanded a functional programme to meet the needs of a developing nation rich in religious plurality, diversity and secularity. Consequently, this raises concern on the future of CRE. One wonders whether CRE will survive the onslaught of modernization, religious plurality, and secularity and stiff competition from other humanities. This situation has necessitated the need to empirically search, review and evaluate the subject’s value and worth from the approach and undertaking of those implementing supervising and consuming it.

Religious Education (RE) is a compulsory subject in the state education system in England. Schools are required to teach a programme of religious studies according to local and national guidelines. Religious Education in England is mandated by the Education Act 1944 as amended by the Education Reform Act 1988 and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. It is compulsory in all state-funded schools. The subject consists of the study of different religions, religious leaders, and other religious and moral themes. However, the curriculum is required to reflect the predominant place of Christianity in religious life and hence Christianity forms the majority of the content of the subject. All parents have the right to withdraw a child from religious education, which schools must approve. Additionally, all schools are required by law to provide a daily act of collective worship, of which at least 51% must be Christian in basis over the course of the academic year.

However, this activity even if multifaith in nature is often meaningless to non Christians, particularly Muslims, who have specific protocols for prayer. Teachers’ organizations have criticized school prayer and called for a government review of the practice. Partly due to the lack of support from the teachers and partly due to the government’s unwillingness to attract controversy, only a quarter of secondary schools actually comply, according to education inspectorate Ofsted. The fundamental ideology of Christianity is based on the belief of Jesus Christ as the son of God and the fore seen Messiah. The word Messiah originated from the Hebrew word meaning „anointed one‟. The Greek meaning is the resource of the English word „Christ‟. (Wright, 1997) Christians accept the true that Jesus as the

Messiah was anointed by God as a redeemer of humankind, and hold that Jesus coming was the accomplishment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. There is a significant difference between the Christian concept of the Messiah and that of the contemporary Jewish concept. The core Christian faith is in and recognition of the death of and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be prepared to accept God and thereby are offered salvation and promise of eternal life. (Wright, 1997)In the earliest centuries of Christian history, there have been numerous theological disputes. In general, Christians consider Jesus as God incarnate and true God and true man. They also see him as fully divine and fully human. Jesus having become entirely human, suffered the throbbing and temptations of a earthly man, but did not sin. As fully God he rose to life again. According to the bible, God raised him from the dead, and he ascended into heaven, for He is seated at the right hand of God the father almighty and will in due course revisit (Act 1:9-11) to accomplish the rest of Messianic prophesy such as the restoration of the dead, the final judgment and final establishment of the Kingdom of God. (Elliott, 1990)The bible teaches us according to the Gospel of Matthew and Luke that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Not much of Jesus birth and early days was documented in the canonical Gospels, though, early Gospel were popular in ancient times. In contrast, his adulthood, particularly the week before his death, are well documented in the Gospels contained within the New Testament. The Biblical accounts of Jesus ministry includes: his baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching and performance(Milton, 1974)

Our specialist area of study and in service work is in Religious and Moral Education. We find that the aspect of Religious and Moral Education that is usually at the centre of debate, and prominent in the concerns of teachers, education authorities and parents, is the question of how classroom teaching can bring about personal change in young people. It is expressed in terms such as promoting their faith development, deepening their spirituality, inculcating moral values, changing their attitudes, instilling a sense of religious identity and improving their Mass attendance.

The literature shows that the educational aim to promote personal change is now relevant across the whole school curriculum. The following statement is typical of what can be found in any state education authority’s current curriculum documents:

Schools must prepare students to accept their social responsibilities as members of a democratic society. Students must learn the knowledge and develop skills, values and attitudes which will enable them to contribute to society as active and informed and confident citizens.

In addition to providing a basis for personal fulfilment and positive citizenship, the curriculum must aim to prepare students for a changing society.

Generally, the aims for schools that go beyond the acquisition of knowledge and cognitive skills are expressed in terms of promoting the growth and development of the whole person – the idea of a holistic education. Since the genesis of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in the late 1950s and 1960s, aims are often written in the form of cognitive and affective. While this division has been useful for drawing attention to non-cognitive aims, it has some drawbacks that are examined briefly in the endnotes.

The relevance and the value of holistic aims for education are not in question. However, there remains considerable ambiguity about how it can be done appropriately and effectively, and about how there can be comparability and coordination in the way these aims are promoted in different school learning areas. A clarification of educational practice aimed at promoting personal change is one of the major tasks for educators over the next decade. If this is not done, then all the talk of holistic education will remain little more than ideological rhetoric covering up confused, patchy practice.

It is becoming more urgent for educators to articulate the possibilities and the limitations of the school’s role in promoting students’ full personal development. This is the area where we consider the experience of religious educators has much to offer education generally.

Because of the content of Religious and Moral Education at school, these areas of study have been subjected to greater pressure to resolve problems of education for personal change than have other subjects. We suggest that the answers that have already emerged and that are still emerging in Religious and Moral Education can be applied with advantage across the curriculum.

What follows is pitched at the level of philosophy of the school curriculum. It will attempt to use the theme ‘teaching wisdom’ as a way of giving perspective to diverse efforts of teachers to promote students’ personal development (including physical, cognitive, emotional, attitudinal, values, commitment and spiritual aspects.) As well as clarifying aims and teaching strategies, we hope that this approach will help give a sense of integration, coherence, direction and cooperation to teachers in diverse curriculum learning areas who share common aims for students’ personal development. We seek to address the problems associated with a relatively uneven movement across recognised key learning areas towards what might be called the personal domain. If moral/value issues are treated in a particular way in Religious Education, but quite differently, say, in Health, Australian Studies, English and Physical Education, and perhaps omitted or ignored in other learning areas, then a lack of coordination and vagueness of purpose may subvert the school’s efforts to offer a holistic education.

Our aim is not the introduction of new methods, but the proposal of an overview and interpretation that can enhance and integrate the teaching aimed at the more personal side of young people’s education; this may also help re-orient the educational process to highlight the dimensions of value, purpose and meaning. In addition, it may help students to look on their experience of education with a greater sense of its value; and thus help them develop as individuals who are proud of, and happy with, the knowledge and skills they have acquired and able to see the ways their school learning can be integrated into their lives.

1.2 PROBLEM OF THE STUDY

Defining the word religion is a difficult task. There have been many attempts and there is little agreement. Definitions that try to include all faiths (e.g., “religion is love” or “religion is a means of coping with life”) are often criticized for being meaningless and may offend those who do not regard themselves as religious. On the other hand, definitions that are more specific (e.g., “religion is the service to and worship of a god”) often are more appropriate for some religions than for others; such definitions may offend those who see themselves as religious but who do not believe in a god or belong to a religious organization.

The word religion conveys dramatically different meanings to different people. The definitions of some are informed solely by their own religious heritage; for example, a Christian might define religion as “personal relationship with Christ”. Others’ definitions reflect their personal experience with religion; for example, some might say that “religion is a feeling of security”. Some definitions reflect the individual’s positive or negative biases towards a particular religion or religion in general; for example, Karl Marx called religion “the opium of the people”. Still others limit religion to what has been in the past and exclude emerging forms; such definitions do not recognize that there was a time when the religions known today did not exist, and that even religions with a long history and a strong sense of continuity have undergone important changes during their histories.

Generally, religions are seen to have personal, organizational, and cultural dimensions. For the purpose of his ministerial inquiry, Watson defined religion as “those beliefs which guide and determine an individual’s attitude and behaviours regarding the value, purpose and meaning to life.” (Footnote 10) In contrast, Streng, Lloyd, and Allen defined religion as a means of ultimate transformation – personally, socially, or cosmologically. They saw religion as defining problems and providing both answers to those problems and the means by which answers can be internalized and expressed (Footnote 11).

There is a common tendency to distinguish between two different kinds of religion and to see a fundamental tension between them. The first kind is seen to distinguish between what is religious reality and what is non-religious reality. There is the concept of a transcendent, all-powerful God. God, and all manifestations of God (such as sacred sites, religious practices, religious language) are seen as separate from the rest of reality. The word sacred tends to be used to denote something set apart, separate from secular life. Definitions of religion based on this view may make reference to such things as doctrines, rituals, festivals, clergy, scriptures, places of worship, and groups of adherents. The second kind of religion is seen to view reality as an indivisible whole. There is no fundamental dichotomy between the sacred and the secular. The religious is an integral dimension of everyday life, and almost every aspect of daily life may be seen as endowed with religious significance. Followers seek enlightenment through spiri-tual discipline; the concept of a transcendent deity may be an alien one.

It is important not to assume that faiths like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam represent the first kind of religion, and faiths like Buddhism and Taoism, or aboriginal spiritual traditions, such as those of the Native peoples of Canada, represent the second. This view is overly simple and stereotypical. While there are dominant traditions in every religion, most religions comprise a tapestry of themes. This richness of belief and practice must be recognized and respected.

Moreover, the place and influence of religion in a society may look very different to a member of that society than it does to an outside observer. Someone who has grown up in Nigerias may think of churches and synagogues as separate from the rest of daily life. When visiting India, he or she may see that religion there pervades all aspects of life. On the other hand, a native of India may perceive his or her own society differently, and, on visiting Canada, may be sensitive to the many ways in which the Judaeo-Christian tradition influences everyday life here.

Religions have developed within certain cultural, social, economic, and historical circumstances, and have, in turn, influenced those circumstances. Religion may thus be studied from the point of view of the historian, the anthropologist, the sociologist, the psychologist, and so on. Yet, no matter how helpful such analyses of religion may be, they are not in themselves sufficient to explain the unique character of the religious phenomenon in any of its manifestations, whether it be called the “sacred”, the “other”, the “ground of being”, or “God”.

In short, religion is not a uniform concept. In order to develop an idea of what it is, many different aspects must be considered. They may include the traditional doctrines of various religions, their myths and symbols, their sacred writings, their religious communities, their religious experiences, and their mysticism. Within the context of a classroom and school that promotes mutual respect, programs in education about religion need not be based on a single definition. Instead, they should emphasize, in a manner that is appropriate to the age and level of maturity of the students, many aspects of religion in Canada and other parts of the world.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1. To know the teaching strategies that can be adopted to enhance teaching and learning of Christian religious studies in secondary schools.

2. To evaluate students attitude towards learning of Christian religious studies.

3. To ascertainthe impact ofteacher/students relationship on academic performance in Christian religious studies in secondary schools in Nigeria.

4. To know the problems/challenges in teaching and learning of Christian religious studies.

5. To suggest possible ways of solving the problems and enhance efficiency in teaching and learning of Christian religious studies in secondary schools.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

1. What are the teaching strategies that can be adopted to enhance teaching and learning of Christian religious studies in secondary schools?

2. Is it possible to evaluate students attitude towards learning of Christian religious studies?

3. What are the impact ofteacher/students relationship on academic performance in Christian religious studies in secondary schools in Nigeria?

4. Are there problems/challenges involve in teaching and learning of Christian religious studies?

5. What are the possible ways of solving the problems and enhance efficiency in teaching and learning of Christian religious studies in secondary schools?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0: There are no teaching strategies that can be adopted to enhance teaching and learning of Christian religious studies in secondary schools.

H1: There are teaching strategies that can be adopted to enhance teaching and learning of Christian religious studies in secondary schools.

H0: It is impossible to evaluate students attitude towards learning of Christian religious studies.

H1: It is possible to evaluate students attitude towards learning of Christian religious studies.

H0: Teachers/students relationship has no impact on academic performance in Christian religious studies in secondary schools in Nigeria.

H1: Teachers/students relationship has great impact on academic performance in Christian religious studies in secondary schools in Nigeria.

H0: There are no problems/challenges involve in teaching and learning of Christian religious studies.

H1: There are problems/challenges involve in teaching and learning of Christian religious studies.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Generally this research work will be relevant to the teachers in various secondary schools especially those that teach geography .

It will also be beneficial to other public sector organization in Nigeria. It will also be of prodigious importance to government, academically potential and future researchers on the issue of professional secretary participation in managerial decision making.

This empirical study is also germane to the researcher since it is a partial requirement for the Award of Higher National Diploma in Business Administration and management.

SCOPES AND LIMITATION OF STUDY

This research work is on the strategies to enhance teaching and learning of christian religious studies in secondary schools using Onitsha North local government area as a case study.

This study was not carried out without some constraint. Many factors have handicapped and hindered the research from meeting up with the research among the factors are;

COST: For total accomplishment of the objective of the study to be achieved, the demand is much more costly than the researcher could afford.

TIME: While carrying out the study of this magnitude, it requires more time than that which was given to the researcher and this was serious limitation on the researcher work.

ATTITUDE OF RESPONDENT: The attitude shown towards scholars and researchers is discouraging. In the course of gathering data for this study, some responds showed great apathy in releasing information thereby reducing the possibility of eliminating bias.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMME AT THE TIME OF STUDY

A student researcher aimed this study out; following this at the time of this study, there was a lot of disruption of academic work and as a result, the motivating factors and joy that follow researching wasn’t there.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Existential”:“Existential” refers to the contention that, for religious education to be effective, it must have a connection with the students’ own interests, concerns, and developmental needs. This approach is currently reflected in the Children and Worldviews Project of Erricker et. al., and in the work of Michael Grimmitt.7 It is reflected in the attainment targets of many religious education syllabi. For example, the syllabus current in my local area, “Awareness, Mystery and Value,”8 requires pupils to learn from religion and human experience, as well as learn about Religion.

“Philosophical” refers to the opportunity for students to discuss the challenging questions that religions raise, as well as the opportunity to explore their own views and to criticise those of the religious heritage presented to them. In this connection, Andrew Wright12 talks of “religious literacy,” and religious education that is challenging and disturbing rather than an uncritical description of other peoples’ practices.

1. Metaphysics is the study of questions concerning the nature of reality. It seeks to ask and give answers to such questions as ‘what is reality beyond reality?’ What lies beyond what we see, hear, touch and taste? Is what we see real or a manifestation of reality? What is the nature of that Ultimate reality?

2. Epistemology is the study of questions about truth and knowledge. It also encompasses the area of ontology, which deals with how truth and knowledge come to be known. The study deals with such questions as what is truth? How do we come to know it? How can we know the Ultimate reality? This question of knowledge is the most important factor in the study of philosophy. It is what philosophers, educators, theologians, and clergymen always seek to explore. The Bible also seems to support this idea by stating that people are destroyed because they either lack or reject knowledge (Hosea 4:6).

3. Axiology is the study of questions about value and beauty. Philosophers ask themselves such questions as what is of value? Of what value is the knowledge of the Ultimate reality? Does that knowledge of truth have any beauty? What beauty are we looking for?

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