ABSTRACT

COIP4C is an educative approach that helps to stimulate the thinking capacity of children and motivates them in reasoning. With P4C method, everybody is an inquirer or philosopher. The main goal of P4C is to seek for truth and clarity of ideas. No truth is the absolute and this method of educating children in the classroom is what will help to bridge the missing link in the chain of education and that is reasonableness. . The instruments used for the study were questionnaire and interview. Data collected were analyzed and results presented on tables using frequency distribution, percentage and mean score to determine acceptable and unacceptable responses and a simple percentage of data analysis was also employed. The findings of the study showed that; COI P4C plays a vital role on the affective development of the learners as COI P4C assisted them learn to manage their emotions; COI P4C influenced the cognitive development of the students by building new knowledge from prior knowledge; COI P4C can improve the affective and cognitive growth of the learner by providing a unique arena of human behavior and increasing the learners interest for learning; the evidence of COI P4C on the affective and cognitive domains of development of the learners include problem solving and attitude. The study concluded that, the value of COI P4C lies in its great potential to help learners experience learning as a holistic endeavor that connects their personal feelings with intellectual and physical skills.  As a result of the findings, it is suggested that, the teachers must understand child‟s psychology and appropriate teaching strategies and choose appropriate COI P4C activities for the effective development of the learners according to their various stages of development. Arts-based teaching and learning should be encouraged so that the learner will experience the development of skills such as ability in the area of creativity, self direction and complex thinking. The COI P4C teacher requires motivation, positive disposition, a strong knowledge base, possession of adequate skills and competence. Finally it is suggested that the Federal Ministry of Education and all stakeholders should adopt workable policies which will revive the educational sector.

 

CHAPTER ONE

      1.1        Background to the Study

There is a popular saying that no nation can rise above its level of education, if Nigeria wants to achieve greatness, and if she wants to build a solid foundation for her children, it is time to seek for appropriate solution to her existing problem.It is a well known fact that Nigerian’s education suffers functional stagnation because of the static and passive method of administration in formal education. The Nigerian education negates and neglects those for whom the curriculum is meant for. There is always over concentration on the educator, the teacher instead of the students is always fixed at the centre of the curriculum. This research work seeks to inform people on how “COIP4C can be used to rebrand the problems in Nigerian system of education.

While learning, development occurs naturally in young children, they will not occur automatically without conscious contributions from adults either as parents or as teachers (Lansky and Mukherji, 1980). Development according to Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) is related to the gradual increase in skills and abilities that occurs over a lifetime. It is comparing students prior and post knowledge experience and ability to perform, problem solve and understand ideas, concepts in many areas of life. While each person progresses as an individual, the stages of development are similar for almost everyone.

Every learning environment, class or COI P4C lesson requires different teaching strategies and tactics. Hence, it is desirable that the COI P4C teacher knows something of the various instructional methods, their advantages and limitations. These methods are the technique or approach the teacher adopts in trying to impart knowledge to the learner. Robert (1971) in Uzoagba and Ogboji (2008) made it clear that there is no one method of teaching COI P4C and craft and superior teachers use many methods and combination of methods.

If the learners are taught with the community of inquiry and philosophy for children (COI P4C) putting in mind their stages of development, creative abilities could be fostered correctly. According to Uzoagba and Ogboji (2008) to be a good COI P4C teacher, it is necessary to posses essential qualities to facilitate effective teaching. Douglas and Schwartz (1987) suggest that when the COI P4C teacher uses a carefully structured, inductive and in-depth approach to teaching, motivation will be stimulated; provides opportunities for discussions which attract attention to the complexity of COI P4C and thereby arouse curiosity; and helps children to identify the criteria by which they can evaluate themselves as they work and thereby serve as a stimulus for accomplishment.

Also the child‟s feelings of curiosity, sight, thoughts and attention span should be aroused. And suitable opportunities should be provided for training his senses. These are the means by which the child relate to the outside world, and also recognize the world. DankoMcghee and Slutsky (2003) suggests that one way to nurture child development is through COI P4C because the arts if properly taught are basic to individual development since they more than any subject, awaken all senses. However, children lose interest in COI P4C because of lack of motivation, non-conducive environment, poor instructional style and lack of qualified teachers among others.

COI P4Cs advocates and persons concerned with healthy child development have tried to spell out the uniqueness of the child and the need to have him treated with that in mind. However, the various experiences children are introduced into in the process of educating them are capable of greatly influencing them during adulthood. That is why in COI P4C teaching care must be taken in the selection of appropriate methods which will suit their interests, ages and capacities. Nkom (2002) stated that learning experiences provided in any COI P4C area is aimed at or intended to contribute towards the objectives of the school education which must be relevant to student‟s developmental needs. Olalere (2006) asserted that COI P4C assist in the intellectual, emotional, physical and social growth of the learners according to the needs and capacities. Uzoagba (1978) sees COI P4C as a means of self-expression.   Huitt stated that each of which is organized as a series of levels until those below them have been covered (it is thus effectively serial in structure). As well as providing a basic sequential model for dealing with topics in the curriculum, it also suggests a way of categorizing levels of learning, in terms of the expected ceiling for a given program.

This taxonomy of learning behaviors according to Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) may be thought as the goals of the learning process. That is, after a learning episode, the learner should have acquired a new skill, knowledge and/or attitude.

      1.2       Statement of the Research Problem

Nigerian system of education is in shambles because of inappropriate approach towards solving educational problems. Valuable democratic principles are not practiced in our educational system. People no longer live with the spirit of brotherhood. Many people want to become noticed, nobody wants to listen and care for his brothers’ ideas and existence. In other words, the affective and cognitive development of the Community of inquiry and philosophy for children learners has not been determined in Educational system of Nigeria. There are clear indications that the value of Community of inquiry and philosophy for children is not clearly understood by students, parents and the administrators. Few secondary schools teach COI P4C in Educational system with few COI P4C teachers and very few students also offer the subject. COI P4C materials and facilities are not provided by schools.   The problem of the study therefore is the issue of  The point of inquiry is ‘if everybody is talking who critically analyzes, evaluates and understands his neighbor?.

      1.3                 Purpose of the Study

This study seeks to look into the problems devastating Nigerian educational system and how COI P4C can help in re-branding. The specific objectives are to:

1. Document the influence of Community of inquiry and philosophy for children on the affective and cognitive development of students.
2. Find ways to improve the affective and cognitive development of the learners through knowledge application.
3. Stimulate research activity in Community of inquiry and philosophy for children in secondary school educational and curricula development and to advocate for increased involvement in Community of inquiry and philosophy for children research.

1.4       Research Questions:

Research questions were developed to guide the study. They were:

1) In what ways can we implant the spirit of caringness, belonginess, cooperation and collaboration in classroom activities?

2) How can build good teacher-student relationship?

3) Can the principle of COI P4C improve teacher’s effectiveness?

4) Can the principles of COI P4C improve student’s effectiveness?

5) To what extent can COI P4C values help to improve teaching methodology in various schools?

      1.5       Justification for the study

There are no evidences in Educational system that COI P4C encourages or promotes affective and cognitive growth. There is need to provide concrete evidences to support such domains. Stakeholders will be convinced if such claims are justified through research. The teacher‟s attitude to COI P4C can have an immense influence on the learners hence affecting their attitude to Community of inquiry and philosophy for children. The need for this study is more apparent because when the COI P4C teacher is exposed to various instructional styles and stages of children‟s artistic growth; it will go a long way to affect not only the teachers but the children they influence.   

      1.6       Significance of the Study

The outcome of this study will not only advance knowledge in the academia, but will be of value to educational practitioners, the education system and broader community. It will also make valuable contribution to the body of knowledge as it examines the operations, performance, and failures of the educational systems in Nigeria. It will serve as a guide to the Ministry of Education in Nigeria, policy makers and schools in the formulation of policies, programs and implementation that will encourage students to learn.

The study will also help COI P4C teachers choose the appropriate COI P4C activities for the development of affective and cognitive domain of the learner. They will know which activities are appropriate for students at the different stages of development.

The findings examined in this research will form a basis to stimulate further research, organizing conferences, seminars and workshops on related issues.

The study will be of enormous benefit to the students by promoting their selfimage, increase their academic success and sharpen their critical and creative skills.

      1.7       Scope of the Study

The study examined the affective and cognitive development of secondary school students in Educational system of Nigeria. The focus was on practical, observable evidences of influences on the activities of the learners. The study involved one hundred and forty (140) COI P4C students and fourteen (14) COI P4C teachers in fourteen (14) selected secondary schools out of the fifty six (56) registered secondary schools in Educational system.