Background of the study
Economics is the study of production, distribution and consumption of money, goods and services. It concerned with human behavior such as how people earn their living and makes a choice between alternatives to satisfy their wants.
Economics focuses on the study of individuals, firms and the government whose activities are geared to the production of goods and services for the satisfaction of human want since Economics is concerned with human behavior. So Economics is a social science, and like any science subject, the reasoning procedure in Economics is methodological, its analysis is systematic, and the validity of its various theories can be tested. Thus, an attempt has been made to integrate the theoretical foundations of the subject with their practical applications (Yusuf, 2004).
Economics is one of the electives or group of subjects expected to be studied at the Senior Secondary School (SSS) level under the new National Policy on Education (Nwachukwu & Ayodele, 2001). The guiding principle of the Economics curriculum is need to equip graduates of the Senior Secondary School (SSS) with the basic knowledge and skills that will enable them to better appreciate the nature of economic problems in any society (Yusuf, 2009). This curriculum according to Osunnaiye (2005) has been designed by the Comparative Education Study and Adaptation Centre (CESAC) to meet the requirements of Economics in the new system. The underlying philosophy of this is to present Economics as a subject that has relevance to everyday life. This curriculum has been designed as a teaching syllabus with built-in teaching schemes and some suggested strategies to facilitate the teaching and learning process. This approach is expected to ensure the effective handling of the subject in the classroom by inexperienced or untrained teachers while reinforcing the knowledge of teaching methods of the trained teachers (Obemeata, 2003).
Before Economics became a secondary school subject, it was recognized that economic problems were at the heart of modern society and that it was desirable for every Nigerian citizen to know some economics. Since Economics was not taught as an organized discip1ine in Nigerian secondary school subjects such as geography, history, civics and current affairs. However, very little organized knowledge of Economics emerged from that form of teaching economics. Virtually all senior secondary school candidates in the West African School Certificate Examination offered English Language because it is mandatory for most courses in post- secondary educational institutions and for employment (Obemeata, 2003).
Obemeata (1980) in his findings reported that, in the early sixties, Economics was accepted in Britain as a secondary school subject because of the civic and intellectual value which came to be attached to economics. The acceptance of Economics in Britain led to its acceptance in Nigeria as a secondary school subject. After its acceptance, the popularity of Economics as a secondary school subject grew rapidly because the first few schools that entered candidates for Economics in the West African School Certificate Examination had good results in it.
In Nigerian education system, the subject of Economics was introduced in 1966 as an elective subject in senior secondary schools. At the earlier stage of it introduction, this subject is not considered as an important subject by the students as well as the teachers. Ever since Economics was first taken as a school subject in the West African School Certificate Examination in 1967, the number of schools that teach it, and the number of candidates that offer it as school candidates in the West African School Certificate Examination have witnessed a phenomenal increase (Yusuf, 2004).
Like all other academic subject, Economics has its philosophy and its methodology, which are peculiar to it. As a general principle, the teaching methods, which should be adopted for any Subjects, are usually, at least partly determined by the nature of the subject. Those who wish to specialize in the teaching of Economics should in addition to acquiring, mastery of the content of economics, be specially taught how to teach economics. It is suggested, therefore, that all University Departments of Education and colleges of education that offer economics, as a teaching subject should also provide courses in the teaching of Economics (Obemeata, 2008).
The teaching of Economics in Nigeria is characterized by many inadequacies. Nigerian secondary school teachers of Economics have few materials on the teaching of Economics to work with. For example, audio-visual aids for the teaching of Economics are either not available in sufficient quantity or what is available is usually inappropriate. With the exception of a few, the Economics textbooks written in Nigeria are badly written, sketchy, lacking an in-depth economic analysis and largely descriptive. They are poorly, if at all illustrated. They contain factual inaccuracies and they are on the whole badly produced. It seems they are nearly always written and produced in a hurry. Few researches have been conducted into the various aspects of Economics teaching in Nigeria. If the various Ministries of Education in the country do not seem to be interested in organizing vacation or refresher course, workshops and conferences for secondary school teachers of economics, then the teachers of Economics should do these themselves. It cannot be honestly disputed that they are essentia and should be provided in view of the large number of secondary schools and students that teach and learn economics.
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