GENDER DIFFERENCES ON ADOLESCENT ATTITUDE IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGER STATE

Abstract

The title of this study is “Gender differences on adolescent  attitude in physical education at Senior Secondary School Level in Niger State.” The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of Gender differences on adolescent attitude in physical education of senior secondary school in Niger State.  In the course of the work, the researcher compared the attitude of students in single gender and mixed gender differences; male students in single gender and mixed gender differences; females students in single gender and mixed genderdifferences; male students single gender differences and female students single gender differences; and male and female students in mixed gender differences in Physical Education at senior secondary school level in Niger State. The population of the study was 53,468 from 248 schools of both single and mixed gender differencess. Out of this, a total of one hundred and fifty-nine (159) students were sampled from three senior secondary schools, all in Minna metropolis and the quasi experimental research design was used to conduct the study. A total of 300 students’ previous senior secondary school certificate examinations NECO results, spanning five years (2009-2013) from the same three senior secondary schools, all in Minna metropolis, Niger State, were used in an ex-post facto study in order to study the trend in students’ attitude by gender difference. To test students’ attitude, the NECO 2011 November/December past question papers was used, after treatment for 8 weeks, using Physical Education national curriculum content and prepared lesson notes. Frequency counts and Arithmetic means were used for descriptive analysis to answer the research questions. The t-test statistical technique was used for inferential analysis to test the hypotheses. This study is anchored on Bandura (1986)’s social learning theory. The theory emphasises on the importance of biological, social and cultural impacts on human behaviour, development and learning especially on gender and genders specific traits, bevaviour and roles.The results revealed that there was: significant difference between the attitude of single gender and mixed gender differences students; significant difference also existed between the male students in single gender and mixed genderdifferences; there was no significant difference between the female students in single gender and mixed differences; significant difference however, existed between the male and the female students in single gender schools; and no significant difference between the male and the female students in mixed genderdifferences. In all the cases, the male students outperformed the female students except for the mixed gender differences where the result was generally poor. It was therefore, concluded that the single gender differences instructional environment was found to be more effective in enhancing better students’ attitude than the mixed gender differences strategy especially in physical education in Niger State. Consequently, it is recommended that the Niger State Government lends more support for the single gender differences and improve in the provision of infrastructural facilities to enhance the academic attitude of female students in single gender difference environment. Equity should also be ensured between schools in the course of such provisions as this will ensure improved students’ attitude in NECO and WAEC, SSC examinations in physical educationin Niger State, Nigeria.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

It is obvious that inspirations ginger actions, counteractions and their directions. Therefore, a number of factors motivated this study. The first of such factors is related to gender inequity in education. Thus, the educational growth and development especially in the northern part of Nigeria, is suffering from the problem of educational inequity between females and males in terms of educational opportunities. Gender inequity is manifested in low level of enrollment, alarming withdrawal rate resulting in low completion rate, poor or lack of attention and support for the girl-child education by parents and lack of or inadequate attention being given to female students by teachers particularly in co-educational classrooms especially when taught by male teachers.

Another motivating factor for undertaking this research is the assertion that females have better aptitude and competence in learning language than their male counterparts. Closely related to this assertion is the desire to investigate and evolve a means of improving the poor attitude of students across gender in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE), conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) through empirical studies of this type. This is more desirous due to the availability of studies, especially outside the shores of Nigeria, which indicate that both female and male students perform better when they are separated wherever the former takes more advantage than the later.

One may not, however, be wrong to attribute the reasons for the gender disparities in educational opportunities to the historical development or evolution of western education itself.

The history of western education in Nigeria indicates that educating males only was the priority of the early civilized man. Later, due to the realization of equality of human creation and in appreciation of the economic and development roles females can also play, the need to educate them evolved though on separate grounds initially. With the complexity of our society as it develops, coupled with struggle for equality of gender, especially by women themselves and human right activists, the idea of co-education evolved and gradually became very popular and acceptable in most countries of the world (Wexler, 2009). In most cases, the advocates of mixed gender consider it as a viable means of ensuring inter-gender socialization, integration and enhancement of equity in human beings and it is believed to be highly cost-saving. They also argued that it enhances better academic attitude.

It is a fact that the dynamic nature of any given society and its challenges on educational development consequently, affects both the theoretical and practical aspects of the school curriculum implementation as a whole. This is due to the fact that, as the values of society change, so also does the goals and objectives of education. A formal education system necessarily reflects the values of society since its very purpose is to implement those things that the general community or society considers important and valuable, particularly for their development and survival. Therefore, if the general community changes with regard to what is and what is not appropriate, the educational system also must change. This seems to be vitally relevant to the question as to whether coeducational or single-gender schooling system is in the best interest of students, parents and the wider society.

Consequently, because the societal values today are not the same with those of several years back, a great number of people now believe that co-education is, by far, the best choice for students, especially in their teens. The two genders can easily live, work, and play together in the real world in preparation for future adult life. They can learn to appreciate and respect others of the opposite sex and see how men and women develop appropriate roles in society both as parents and as useful and productive citizens.

Yet, not everyone shares this point of view because many parents today prefer that their teenage children attend gender-segregated schools/classrooms because teen-age pregnancy is a scaring reality in co-educated schools. Undoubtedly, students make strong friendships at school with the opposite sex which is indeed, a great possibility for unwanted pregnancy which can, no doubt, be avoided when contact situation is totally disallowed. Equally too, they will be more likely to concentrate on their academic engagements since they will be free from the distraction of male-female relationships that inevitably, tempts adolescents for explorative reasons (Philiem, 2012 and Farley, 2012).

In addition, since moral values were clearly defined several years back, to most people, it was practically seen and acceptable to be appropriate to separate boys and girls in their formal schooling. The reflection of this way of thinking today is manifested in some Muslim communities in some parts of the world, particularly, in North America as well as in the Middle East and of recent, in many states of Northern Nigeria. Many traditional Christian communities also still retain the old values in their approach to education because they believe that segregation or differences by gender is morally safe and should therefore, be the norm.

From the discourse above, it is clear that, the gender differences factor in educational practice evolved from being initially more female exclusive than female inclusive (Wexler, 2009). Of recent, there seems to be a serious shift of attention again from mixed- gender differences back to single-gender differences, especially outside the shores of Nigeria. There is the need to mention that the shift, this time around, is not for moral and stereotypical or segregate reasons, but as a strategy for improving students‘ academic attitude (Lee and Bryk, 1986, Marsh, 1989, Lee and Lockheed, 1990, Mallam, 1993, and Sax, 2007). However, there are some researchers such as Gilson (1999), Pahlke, Hyde and Allison (2014), Rowe 1988 etcetera, who still reported that gender differences strategy makes no difference in academic achievement. Such scholars therefore, maintain null position (Ian, 2011).

This controversy and inconsistency on gender differences types has, consequently, attracted a number of renewed studies. Many of these reported research findings show that boys and girls are different in several respects such as hearing acuity, (John Corso in Algoe 2012),  the rate and sequence of brain development, (Dianne, 1999, and Lenroot et. al, 2007), language tasks execution (Burman 2008 Gomez, 2011), brain lateralization (Harriet, Robert & Marvin, 1999, Burman, Tali & James, 2008) and learning styles (Hodgins, 2011, Cook, 2012, Williams, 2012 and Algoe, 2012). Each of these research reports poses some pedagogical implications and challenges in the classroom.

One serious issue worthy of note at this point of discourse is that, in Nigeria, the issue of gender factor in placing/differences students is not considered seriously. During the placement of students into either schools or classrooms, the factors mostly considered are ability, aptitude, occupation or trade or career, science or arts inclination but always at the exclusion of gender differences factor. Today, students in Niger State, as well as those in most of other states in Nigeria, are haphazardly placed into either mixed-gender or single gender schools simultaneously but without any policy guideline or guiding instrument or research-supported reasons.

However, there are states such as Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara that are concerned about single gender differences/school now in Northern part of Nigeria. They became concerned as a result of the introduction and implementation of Shari‘ah law which concerns itself more about the moral challenges of mixed-gender differences/school. At the moment, the moral discipline advantage may not be the only benefit that this country stands to derive from single gender differences system. With the current alarming persistent mass high rate of students‘ failure in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination by West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO), the exploration of other advantages such as the academic attitude and its exploitation is a vital one if such a system proves to be so positively impacting. This is inevitably important, considering the important role that Physical Education plays in our educational institutions, in the general administration and business transactions in Nigeria. In Nigeria, for example, no student is qualified for admission into Universities and tertiary institutions unless he/she possesses the minimum number of credit passes including Physical Education. So also, at all levels of our educational institutions, Physical Education is used as the medium of instruction. This, therefore, serves as the source of aims and objectives of teaching and learning Physical Education in Nigerian senior secondary schools. Physical Education teaching focused on the inculcation and development of both receptive and productive aspects that are very much targeted at achieving effective communicative attitude in both spoken and written aspects of Physical Education.

This study, therefore, investigated the gender factor in differences students aimed at enhancing high academic attitude amongst the senior secondary students in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level, in order to curb the high rate of students‘ failure in West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations in Niger State, Nigeria.

1.2        Statement of the Problem

Nigeria as a country, has been suffering from a disgustingly high rate of students‘ failure in key subjects (Eze, 2011) among which is Physical Education, the language of administration in government and medium of instruction in Nigerian schools. The Principal Assistant Registrar of West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC), Uduh, cited by Eze, (2011) reveals that the results of West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASCE) of candidates who obtained credit passes in, at least, five subjects, including Physical Education and Mathematics over a period of five years, show that for 2005, it was 27.53 per cent, 15.56 per cent for 2006, 25.54 per cent for 2007, 13.76 per cent for 2008 and 25.99 per cent for 2009. This failure rate has attracted the attention of educators, educationists and educational researchers in investigating its causes

Unfortunately, not much consideration has been given to the gender factor in differencesstudents as a possible vital variable that can impact on students‘ academic attitude in

Nigeria‘s educational system. This factor is often conspicuously absent in such enumerations. Consequently, of recent, a deliberate and drastic shift from coeducation, much more to singlegender education is fast gaining ground and has prompted several studies, especially outside the shores of Nigeria. This shift to single gender system today in other parts of the world is attributable to a number of research findings that that male and female genders are different in several respects such as the rate of brain development (Lenroot  et. al. 2007), brain lateralization

(Harriet, Robert & Marvin, 1999, Burman, Tali & James, 2008),  brain tasks execution strategies (Gomez, 2011), seeing and hearing endowed capabilities Corso in Algoe 2012), and activeness in the brain. Other differences reported include learning strategies or styles (Vernon-Gestenfeld, 1989 & Hodgins, 2008); and classroom learning climatic conditions (Hodgins, 2008). Each of these poses some pedagogical challenges and consequently, constraining students‘ academic attitude if not addressed.

This research, therefore, investigated Physical Education academic achievement benefits derivable from differences students according to gender at the senior secondary schools level in Niger State. In other words, the researcher investigated the academic attitude of mixed gender and single differencesed students to find out the most effective differences type that can be used to improve the academic attitude of students at the senior secondary school level particularly in Physical Education in Niger State.

1.3        Objectives of the Study

The study setout to find out the impact of gender differences on the academic attitude of:

• single gender differences students (SGDS) and mixed gender differences students (MGDS) in

Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state.

• single gender differences male students (SGDMS) and mixed gender differences male students

(MGDMS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state.

• single gender differences female students (SGDFS) and mixed gender differences female students

(MGDFS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state.

• single gender differences male students (SGDMS) and single gender differences female students

(SGDFS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state.

• mixed gender differences male students (MGDMS) and mixed gender differences female students

(MGDFS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state.

1.4        Research Questions

This study sought answers to the following questions:

Research Question 1: Is there significant impact of gender differences on the academic attitude of single gender differences students and mixed gender differences students the students in Physical Education at senior secondary school level in Niger state?

Research Question 2: Is there significant impact of gender differences on the academic attitude of single gender differences male students and mixed gender differences male students (MGSS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state?

Research Question 3: Is the academic attitude of single gender differences female students (SGDFS) and mixed gender differences female students in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state significantly different due to gender differences?

Research Question 4: Does gender differences result into a significant difference in the academic attitude  in Physical Education between the single gender differences male students (SGDMS) and single gender differences female students (SGDFS)at the senior secondary school level in Niger State?

Research Question 5: Does gender differences result into a significant difference between the academic attitude of mixed gender differences male students (MGDMS) and mixed gender differences female students (MGDFS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state?

1.5        Research Hypotheses

In this study, the following null hypotheses were tested:

(HO₁): Gender differences has no significant impact on the academic attitude of single gender differences students (SGDS) and mixed gender differences students (MGSS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state.

(HO₂): Gender differences does not result into a significant difference in academic attitude between single gender differences male students (SGDMS) and mixed gender differences male students (MGDMS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger

state.

(HO₃): The academic attitude of the single gender differences female students (SGDFS) and mixed gender differences female students (MGDFS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state is not significantly different due to the impact of gender differences.

(HO₄): Gender differences does not result into a significant difference in academic attitude between single gender differences male students (SGDMS) and single gender differences female students (SGDFS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger

state.

(HO₅): Gender differences does not result into a significant difference between the academic attitude of mixed gender differences male students (MGDMS) and mixed gender differences female students (MGDFS) in Physical Education at the senior secondary school level in Niger state.

1.6        Basic Assumptions

In this study, the researcher makes the following basic assumptions:-

1. Consideration of gender difference in students‘ placement into senior secondary will impact and improve on their academic attitude in Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations in Physical Education in secondary schools in Niger State.
2. Lack of consideration for gender difference in placement of students in senior secondary schools has contributed to the high rate of failure in their Senior Secondary Certificate (SSCE) Examinations in Physical Education in Niger State.
3. Gender differences of students into senior secondary schools without policy guidelines is the practice currently in Niger State.
4. Lack of consideration for gender factor in Physical Education teaching in senior secondary schools has contributed to the high rate of poor attitude of students in Senior Secondary

Certificate (SSCE) Examinations in Physical Education in Niger State.

5. Male and female students perform equally well in single gender education system.

1.7        Significance of the Study

In Nigeria, it is clear that the government does not give much attention to the issue of gendertype when it comes to the matter of differences or placing students into senior secondary school level or when allocating classes to them in schools. In most cases, government‘s concentration is on career/professional predictions such as arts, science, technical or vocation aptitudes, and day or boarding variables. The exploitation of gender differences strategy for academic attitude implications is never viewed with much seriousness. Therefore, since this study is designed to investigate whether or not differences students according to gender composition can significantly impact on senior secondary students‘ academic attitude particularly, in Physical Education, its findings may help teachers, school administrators and managers, school counselors, curriculum specialists, teacher trainers and teacher retrainers. The impact on all these stakeholders will result in ameliorating the alarming failure rate in Physical Education in SSCE results in Niger State.

First, this study will be useful to Nigerian teachers in improving their instructional strategies to enhance learning through their better knowledge and understanding of the impact of gender differences. Secondly, this study will help in guiding teachers in students‘ sitting arrangement in the classroom, bearing in mind the seeing and hearing differences in males and females. This is of particular relevance in mixed gender learning environment. In addition, the knowledge of the fact that males and females learn differently, will positively influence the decision of teachers on the instructional strategies to adopt to cater for the differences in the students.This can be facilitated through their knowledge of the impact of some vital gender differences derivable from the results of this research.

In addition, the result of this study will be useful to teachers in enhancing effective classroom organization and management. Knowledge on the importance of basic differences between males and females will assist teachers while planning their lessons and during teaching, they will be able to make positive concession and consideration for gender differences. This way, the result will, no doubt, help improve the students‘ attitude in their senior secondary examinations.

Furthermore, considering one of the roles and functions of Physical Education in Nigeria as the language of education (medium of instruction) in our schools, if the results impact on students‘ attitude in Physical Education, it will in turn enhance their effectiveness and proficiency to learn other subjects in the schools.

The result can also be helpful to school administrators and managers in becoming more efficient, tactical, considerate and effective in the administration and management of their schools with the foreknowledge of gender differencesas it may impact on students‘ academic attitude. The study will also be useful to school guidance and counselors in guiding and counseling students in the areas of career choice and professional callings. Equally too, in terms of inter-gender and intra-gender crises, the counselor can help make the students understand themselves better by recognizing that some of the things that happen to them can be explained because of their gender differences. The understanding and acceptance of what oneself is will help in their social adjustment through the guidance of the teacher who has the knowledge and implication of gender difference in students.

Furthermore, curriculum planners and ministry of education officials may also find this study significant to them when considering policy issues that will enhance students‘ academic attitude. This is particularly so when they think of issues relating to gender-stereotype and gender-sensitivity in the area of Physical Education subject curriculum content, organization/sequencing, methods, instructional materials and evaluation technique recommended for use by teachers when planning and reviewing the curriculum.

It is also believed that the findings of this study will be significant to the teacher trainers by including in the curriculum those basic knowledge of gender differences that can be useful to student teachers, when they qualify and go into practice. In the same vein, organizers of workshops, capacity building, seminars, on service training and refresher courses for teachers will, no doubt, find the findings of this study significant to them.

There is no doubt that parents are often confused about the choice of school-type for their children. Hence, the result of this study could clear parents from being skeptical and or confused about which gender composition (mixed or single gender) is more helpful to their children.

1.8       Scope of the Study

This study investigated the impact of gender differences on students‘ academic attitude in Physical Education in senior secondary schools in Niger State. In the study, the sample size was 159 students sampled out of 53,468 senior secondary 3 (SS3) students from 248 senior secondary schools (SSS) in Niger State.

Secondly, this study involved the gender composition in differences students to see how it impacts on the academic attitude of students. There are several other aspects of the impacts of gender differences on students‘ academic attitude that are equally important, but were not

covered by this study.

Thirdly, this study focused on only Physical Education out of several other subjects students take at the senior secondary school level. Finally, the study used only public senior secondary schools in Niger State.