Attitude Of Working Class Mothers On The Learning Activities Of Pupils In Oshimili South Local Government Area Of Delta State

ABSTRACT

This study examined the attitude of working class mothers on the learning activities of pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. Three research questions guided the study.  A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of the one thousand and three hundred and fifty (1350) teachers in all the 23 public primary schools in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State while out of the 23 public primary schools in Oshimili North, 9 schools were randomly selected. In each school, 15 teachers were selected through balloting. A total of 135 teachers were sampled (Male and Female).  The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire, which was constructed by the researcher and validated by two lecturers; one in Primary Education Department and one in Educational Measurement and Evaluation. One hundred and thirty-five (135) copies validated questionnaires were administered on the primary four pupils in the selected primary schools in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State by the researcher with the help of 2 research assistants; 125 were collected and analyzed using mean statistics. Findings of the study revealed that working class mothers have positive attitude towards pupils’ study habit, participation in learning activities in Oshimili South which defines their attitude towards pupils’ learning activities and they believe that active participation in a child’s learning activities motivates him or her and they understand that assisting a child to learn especially at home makes them do better which positively influence their attitude on support for learning activities of their children in Oshimili South. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that working class mothers should be more involved in the learning activities of their children to enhance their study habit; school management should sensitize the working class mother to create conducive learning environment for their children to enhance class participation and primary schools should ensure that they involve working class mothers in educational activities in their schools to improve their attitude towards the learning activities of their children.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Home is the point of support around which the early years of a child revolve.  The central figures in the home are the parents, especially, the mother. The type of child upbringing has tremendous impact on the entire life of the child including his/her academic, social and psychological, even moral life on his/her entire life or career. As Adiele (2017) puts it, the social climate or environment in which an individual finds his/her self, to a large extent, determines his/her behavior or personality development, parental guidance and discipline he added, usually influence the behavior of the child. At the apex of this parental influence is the mother. Mothers’ love for their children is undeniable. Their feminine nature makes them wholesome, soft, passionate and sensitive to the plight of their children and a condusive atmosphere for problem-solving involved (Odomene, 2018).

Chukwuka (2014) opined that in this period of economic hardship, more women (wives or mothers) take up paid employment due to the fact that more women are exposed to the western education and their jobs or careers take them away from their matrimonial home and duties of taking care of their children and wards and the proper upbringing of these children. In effect, children are often left in the hands and care of the hired care-giver(s) and maids who do not possess the requisite experience to train the child and inculcate maternal-morality and good behavior in the child. In support of this statement, Uzor (2013), points out that children of these days lack adjustment, because, they are mostly brought up by others instead of their mothers. He went ahead to claim that even when these children know the right thing to do, they fail to do them because, their learning to do good from the family (especially from their mothers) is faulty due to mothers’ absence to direct and inculcate the right attitude of children from cradle.

Ayodele (2015), opines that, women in the contemporary society especially mothers, miss out in their daily routine and obligations to their families including the societal adjustment of their children, due to gainful employment either to augment the family’s income or to empower themselves economically in the society in order to be independent of their husbands. Anyanwu (2019) opines that most women who work usually leave very early in the morning and come back late at night, thereby leaving the upbringing of the child in the hands of the immature and inexperienced househelps in the home and in the day care centres. According to Ayo (2016) children left in the cares and upbringing of the inexperienced house-helps tend to grow up misbehaviouring and upholding the wrong tenets or values of the society due to non-inculcation of the basic motherly care, directions and role-modelling.

Most adolescents who are brought up by care-givers due to the absence of mothers who are in search of golden fleece in terms of gainful employment or business, grow up to lack etiquette and positive social adjustment (Uzodinma, 2016). No wonder, many children these days, lack good morals and positive values that are upheld in any given society. Most children these days have turned out to be disrespectful to parents and elders in their communities; some of them do not even know the cultures of their communities, not to talk of how to keep and respect them. And the society is at the brink of collapse, because the norms and values that make the society thick have been in constant disregard and violated due to lack of motherly upbringing of children.

As Epstein (2015) put it parents especially, mothers these days, do have the knowledge of child upbringing, but lack the time and opportunities in bringing these children up in proper ways. A situation where a mother wakes up early in the morning and leaves for work while the child is fast asleep and returns very late at night when the child has gone to bed, will cause most children not to even know their mothers, not to talk of having the mother-child bonds or relationships that transpires naturally between mother and child. Parents need to bring up their children and wards in a proper way, teaching them to observe the laid down cultures and traditions of the communities; instructing them to respect and value the societal norms and values, ethics and good moral behaviours that a child needs to imbibe in order to grow into acceptable adolescence and adulthood in the society (Mumonye, 2013).

Mothers’ employment has influence on the academic performance of their children especially when it is considered that mothers play significant roles in the education of their children, starting from conception, informal to formal education. Akogun (2017) stated that there is mounting evidence which indicates that, when malnutrition starts early in life, it becomes more severe in the impairment of the brain and may result in life-long reduction of intellectual abilities. Also, a mother who has consistently lived on poor nutrition is not likely to produce pupils with good intellectual abilities and may lead to poor academic achievement. In most homes, mothers take care of their children, preparing them for school, cooking their food, and taking care of their dresses and books.

The role of the mother is to ensure that children are well fed with nutritionally balanced diet and were necessary to ensure that the pupils go to school with a well packaged lunch-box. Where the employed mother is not always available to do this, the tendency is for the pupils to go to school with junk foods or money with which they buy junk food. This ultimately influences the mental development of the child and determines the level of academic performance.

Nigeria, in the National Policy on Education, affirmed that education is the cornerstone for development, and has adopted education as an  “instrument per excellence” for effective national development (FGN, 2014). Thus, education opens access for employment, notwithstanding gender or circumstances of birth. Oyetunde (2014) noted that examination and education are inseparable, for the efficiency and quality of an educational system is usually determined through performance of its products in an examination or a set of examinations. Examination, according to him, therefore influence what is taught and learned in schools, especially when the results of the examinations are used to make important decisions (such as awarding certificates to graduating students, promoting students to higher classes, or selecting students for higher levels of education).

Igube and Ejaro (2003) argued that working mothers contribute in no small way towards juvenile delinquency and poor academic performance of their pupils. They noted that, the working mother phenomenon could also contribute to marital conflict and may lead to increase in the divorce rate among dual career families.

The employment of mothers (whether on shift basis, part time employment or full employment), to a large extent determines how successful or unsuccessful their children would be in their academic performance. This is attested to by Mustapha (2018) who observed that child training is a neglected area in most families and women are no more devoted to the up keep of their pupils. According to him, when mothers work, they spend the whole day at their places of work, especially if they occupy top positions at work, and have little or no time for their pupils and family. This neglect of family responsibilities may result in pupils who are ill-cultured and whose moral and academic performance leaves a lot to be desired.

Statement of the Problem

Most men are of the view that women’s place is in the kitchen. Women are to cook the family’s food, give birth to pupils and nurture them. This trend is fast changing, because men are no longer ready to shoulder the responsibilities of the family alone, rather they want it to be a joint venture. Even though men are ready to be the sole bread winner, the economic situation of the country (Nigeria) is not making it practicable. For most families, the bread the man brings home can no longer meet the family needs; hence mothers have to be engaged in paid employment outside the home to make ends meet.

Most mothers are ‘working mothers’ and earn income to supplement that of the father. Instances also abound where the woman is a single mother or single parent, and has to shoulder the responsibility of training the children through all the stages of schooling. Her social status as determined by her income level will determine how well fed the pupils would be. It is significant to note that, the extent to which the pupils feed well also influences their performance in school.

The issue of working mothers and its effects on the academic achievement of the child has been a heated-up debate among Nigerians. Due to the economic down-turn in the country and the world in general, which has caused high inflationary trends and problems, the men have failed in their bid to win bread for the family. This is as a result of general unemployment and harsh business environment in the country today. This in turn has caused the women to go out in search of gainful employment in order to support the dwindling financial up-keep of the family. According to Alfred (2013), most mothers work these days and these has made them to leave their children at home at the mercy of care-givers and house-helps, who often maltreat the children and bring them up in the way devoid of society’s moral values and positive adjustment and norms. This is the reason why few children in Nigeria today turn out to be area boys and wayward girls simply because they lack home training as a result of the absence of mother-care and guidance. For these reasons, prostitution, disrespect to the rules and regulations governing the society and disobedient to parents, significant others and school authorities are the order of the day. The fact that most children have lost the opportunity of being reared by their mothers, has led to moral decadence and adolescents’ delinquency. This has also seemed to affect their interest and achievement in academics. It is against the light of the above that this study is carried out to examine the attitude of working class mothers on the learning activities of pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to examine the attitude of attitude of working class mothers on the learning activities of pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. Specifically, the study seeks to examine:

1. The attitude of working class mothers towards pupils’ study habit in Oshimili South.
2. The attitude of working class mothers towards pupils’ participation in learning activities in Oshimili South.
3. Factors influencing working class mothers’ attitude on their support for learning activities of their children in Oshimili South

Research Questions

The following research questions were raised for the conduct of this study:

1. What is the attitude of working class mothers towards pupils’ study habit in Oshimili South?
2. What is the attitude of working class mothers towards pupils’ participation in learning activities in Oshimili South?
3. What are the factors influencing working class mothers’ attitude on their Support for Learning Activities of their Children in Oshimili South?

 Significance of the Study

The study of this nature could be of benefit to the pupils, teachers, parents, government, field of Primary Education, researchers and scholars as a whole.

The study could enable the pupils to understand the attitude of their mothers towards their interest and achievement.

It could be an eye opener to the teachers because it could enable them to know how working mothers attitude affects children’ interest and achievement. This could enable them talk to the mothers and advise them on the way to be more involved in the education of their children for better performance.

The study could also help the parents understand the effect of working mothers attitude on the interest and achievement of their children at the primary school level which could make them adjust for being more involved in the learning activities of their children, particularly at the primary school level.

Findings of the study could be a wake-up call to Government on the ways working mothers attitude affects their children’ interest and academic achievement at the primary school level which could motivate them to invest in the areas of skills acquisition and women empowerment for better involvement in the education of their children.

Finally, the study could add to the literature in the field of Primary education which could also serve as a reference material to researchers and scholars as a whole.

Scope of the Study

This study is delimited to attitude of working class mothers on the learning activities of pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. With particular emphasis on the attitude of working class mothers towards pupils’ study habit, participation in learning activities and the factors influencing working mothers’ attitude towards their support for pupils’ learning in Oshimili south. The study is further delimited to only primary school teachers in public primary schools in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State.

Pages:  50

Category: Project

Format:  Word & PDF               

Chapters: 1-5                                          

Source: Imsuinfo

Material contains Table of Content, Abstract and References.