CULTURALLY-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY AND PRE PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN’S SOCIAL COMPETENCE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Pre-primary education lays a foundation for the formation of competence in every domain of a child’s development including social competence. Social competence is culturally linked and might not be achieved when a culturally-based strategy is neglected in the classroom. Most of the strategies adopted in the Nigerian classrooms have less touch on relevant culture. This study, therefore, determined the impact of a Culturally-Based Instructional Strategy (CBIS) on pre-primary school children’s social competence. Two pre-primary schools (public and private) from two Local Government Areas (LGAs) with a large number of pre-primary schools in the Ibadan metropolis were purposively selected. An intact class of Nursery III was selected per school and randomized into CIBS and conventional groups. 74 pre-primary school children participated. Children’s Social Competence Rating Scale (r=.80) and CIBS Instructional Guide were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. There was a significant main effect of treatment on pre-primary school children’s social competence (F(1,65)=24.57; partial ῆ2=.27). The children exposed to CBIS had a higher social competence mean score (107.14) than their counterparts in the control group (80.41). Pre-primary school teachers should adopt this strategy to facilitate pre-primary school children’s social competence.