Teachers’ Views on Utilisation of Discussion Method for Teaching History in Senior Secondary Schools in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

History teaching involves illustration, analysis and critique of issues which require teachers to apply appropriate teaching methods (such as discussion method) that suit specific goals and purposes. Thus, this study examined teachers’ views on the use of discussion method in teaching History as a subject in senior secondary schools in Kwara State, Nigeria. Descriptive research type was used in this study. The population of the study comprised all senior secondary school History teachers in Kwara State. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 210 History teachers from the 74 selected senior secondary schools that offered History subject out of 364 schools as respondents for the study. A researcher-designed questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents. The validity of instrument was established after corrections by the experts. A test-retest reliability method was used and a coefficient index value of 0.69 was obtained. Mean ranting, independent t-test and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that the discussion method makes teaching and learning of History interesting, easier, practical and appealing to the students. Also, there was a significant difference in the teachers’ views on the use of discussion method in teaching History based on gender, qualification and teaching experience, in favour of male. It was concluded that male teachers used discussion method effectively in teaching History than their female counterparts in secondary schools. The study recommended that government should employ more qualified History teachers to teach History in senior secondary schools to facilitate effective use of discussion method in teaching History.