ABSTRACT
The study examined the problems militating against effective teaching and learning of history in senior secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. Four research questions were raised while two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study.
Descriptive survey research design was employed. The population of this study consists of six hundred and twenty two teachers in public secondary schools in Oredo local government area of Edo State. A total number of seventy eight teachers were randomly selected for the study. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the respondents’ demographic variables while the inferential statistics employed to test the research questions and hypotheses were Pearson Product Correlation Coefficient and t-test respectively. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.
The results showed that factors such as unavailability of teachers, inferiority complex, lack of instructional materials, unseriousness of the students, no effective methodology, misconceptions about history and so on were the factors which affect effective teaching and learning of history. Government policy on history affects effective teaching and learning, there was no significant difference in teaching and learning of history based on teachers’ qualification, there is no significant relationship between teaching and learning of history based on teachers’ teaching methods.
It was therefore recommended that government should include history as a subject in the curriculum and make it compulsory for all students in secondary schools as other core subjects such as Mathematics and English Language, government should employ well-trained History teachers who can teach the subject and make it interesting to the students, there is need for consistence in government policies that will cater for students needs in History as a subject in Nigerian secondary schools.
