INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL SKILLS ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL BOARDING STUDENTS ION OGUN STATE

Date

2013-01-03

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Department of Educational Foundation, Nasarawa State University Keffi

Abstract

Successful learning requires students to interact closely with teachers and peers. In addition to their general importance for daily interaction, social skills can have a big impact on a child’s ability to succeed in an academic setting. The classroom, therefore, becomes both a training ground for development of social skills and an arena in which those skills are put to use. The study explores the teachers ’ perception of social skills of Junior Secondary School boarding students in relation to their academic achievement. The participants comprise 120 JS 2 boarding students selected from 6 schools across Ogun State using cluster sampling. Twelve homeroom teachers (2 from each school), who teach the students were also selected to assess their social skills. A 42-item questionnaire fashioned in line with MerrelTs School Social Behaviour Scales SSBS-2 was used to assess students ’ social skills while their academic achievement was measured by a multiple choice achievement test in English and Mathematics. The adapted SSBS-2 has high reliability coefficients, achieving internal consistency coefficients of 0.89 and 0.91 for the prosocial and the antisocial behaviour scales respectively. The achievement test has a 4-week test-re-test reliability coefficient of 0.83. Data were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistic and Independent t-test technique. The results show that prosocial behaviour has a significant positive correlation with students’ academic achievement (r = 0. 748, N = 120, p < 0.05) and that girls have more prosocial behaviour (mean = 67.27) than boys (mean = 63.06). The study recommends among others that teachers should provide instruction and modeling of appropriate behaviours and responses to help children who have social skills deficits.

Description

Keywords

Social skills, Prosocial behaviour, Homeroom teachers, School Social Behaviour Scales, Academic achievement test.

Citation

Oke, T.D. et. al. (2013). INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL SKILLS ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL BOARDING STUDENTS ION OGUN STATE

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