EFFECTS OF
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ON THE COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY ONE PUPILS
ABSTRACT
The
study attempted to investigate the effects of early childhood education on the
cognitive development of primary one pupils in Kosofe Local Government Area of
Lagos State. In this study, extensive and relevant literature review was
carried out under related sub-headings. The descriptive research survey was
used in this study in order to carry out the objective assessment of the opinions
of the respondents selected for this study. In addition, the questionnaire was
adopted for the collection of data necessary for this study, while the sampling
technique was applied in selecting the samples for this study. In total, four
null hypotheses were generated and tested in this study, with the application
of both the Pearson Product Moment Correlation and the t-test of independence
variable. At the end of the analyses, the following results emerged: that there
is a significant relationship between pre-primary school education and
cognitive development among children in schools, there is a significant
difference between pre-primary school education and children’s school
achievement in schools, that no significant difference exists between the speech
development of children taught by parents and those taught by teachers and that
there is a significant gender difference in cognitive development by children
due to attendance of pre-primary education. Based on the conclusions of this
study, the researcher recommended that the National Policy on Education should
be reviewed to include among others the education of the Nigerian child from 0
– 2 years.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Background to the Study
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of the Study
Research Questions
Research Hypotheses
Significance of the Study
Scope of the Study
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Language and Linguistic Development
Intellectual Growth and Potential
for Learning
Personality and Emotional Development
Early Childhood Education Curriculum
Objectives of Early Childhood
Education
Designing a Curriculum for ECE
The Philosophical Bases of
Pre-Primary Education
The National Policy on Pre-Primary
Education
Early Child Care Development and
Education (ECCDE) Project
Characteristics of Early Childhood
Development
Parental Role in Early Childhood
Development
Parental Education
Effect of Pre-Primary Education on
Speech Development of Children
Summary of Review
CHAPTER THREE
Research Methodology
Research Design
Sample and Sampling Technique
Population of the Study
Instrumentation
Reliability of the Instrument
Procedure for Data Collection
Method of Statistical Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR
Data Analysis and Results
Descriptive Analysis of Bio-Data
According to Sex, Age, Religion, Qualification, Marital Status and Experience
of Respondents
Description of Teachers’ Responses
to the Questionnaire together with the Research Questions
Descriptive Analysis of Bio-Data of
Students According to their Sex; Age, Religion and Class
Descriptive Analysis of Data
Collected from Students together with the Research Questions
Summary of Findings
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of the Study
Conclusions
Recommendations
REFERENCES
Teachers’ Questionnaire
Students’ Questionnaire
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction/Background
to the Study
A
baby is in the making as soon as conception takes place. Normally, it takes 9
months for a full grown baby in the womb to be born into the world, barring all
accidents and pre-mature delivery. A baby right from conception, is a unique
individual with his or her special characteristics, Caplan and Caplan (1995).
According to them, the nature of children is such that no two children are
completely the same or alike in everything not even identical twins. Thus,
there are obvious differences that differentiate one child from another.
Nwagbara (2003), the complexities in children result both from nature and
nurture. Children go through different stages of development that is, from
birth to young adults. This early years from 2 years to 6 years are critical in
their development. During this period, children’s physical, mental and
psychological development take a leap as they are in a constant state of flux.
They are in the process of undergoing great changes and making significant
development strides, especially in the area of language acquisition and
development.
It
is believed that children’s reading matter should be linked to their own spoken
language as well as to their interest and experiences for intellectual growth.
The focus on the cognitive growth of children is a welcome development
(Anyanwu, 1991). This is because the brain of a youngster is “tabula rasa”
ready to be occupied. Realizing that, educators go into searching for the
appropriate stimuli that can yield the best result for the children. Webber (1970)
opines that it must be recognized that something can be done about children’s
intelligence as a result of the type of experiences provided for them.
Aiyedun
(1984) is of the opinion that story books provide such experiences that can
make for the intellectual growth of children. According to him, stories provide
and improve reading, writing and thinking skills especially as they stimulate
the intellect. Stories foster understanding of human actions. Just one story
can form the bases for more detailed exploration of other actions. Selected
experiences as reflected in story books give children the opportunity to use
words that are familiar to them through their family life. Children are thus
encouraged to extend vocabulary appropriately. Not only that they learn the
vocabulary of colours, shapes, textures etc early in life as their story books
are almost always pictorial. For the intellectual development of children,
story books give the practice of the four language skills – listening,
speaking, reading and writing. They also help children to learn new words as
well as alternative meanings of words contextually. This is possible,
especially if the language of the stories is not too simple.
According
to Anyamelue (2003), it is important to give young children the quality care,
nutrition and stimulation they need for healthy growth and development.
Moreover, the holistic care of young children has been receiving recognition
both in Nigeria and internationally. This was prominent in the CRC and
re-echoed more recently at the Dakar World Education Forum, 2000. At the forum,
the goal of expanding and improving comprehensive early childcare and education
was re-affirmed.
One
of the main features of early childhood is the rapid development of the brain.
According to Godges (2001) “the last three months of prenatal life and the
first two years after birth have been termed the most critical period to brain
growth spurt”. This is because, during this period, more than half of the adult
brain weight is added. It grows tremendously in the first few years of life,
increasing to about 2/3 of adult weight by the end of the first year and to
about 7.5% by the age of two years and 90% by the age of five. Thus, a five
year old’s brain has developed almost to the level of an adult’s.
However,
because of the rapid growth of the brain, the child needs adequate nutrition at
this period. This is because, poor nutrition before and after birth and in the
first few years of life can seriously hamper brain development. This can lead
to neurological and behavioural disorders, which may manifest in learning
disabilities.
There
is research evidence to show that a baby’s brain is composed of trillions of
neutrons waiting to be woven into the “intricate tapestry of the mind”. The
experiences of childhood determine which neutrons are used, that wire the
circuits of the brain. According to Hodges (2001), Begley observes that “the
experiences of childhood determine whether a child grows up to be intelligent
or dull, fearful or self assured, articulate or tongue tied”.
As
Munonye (2002) puts it, there is also scientific evidence on the importance of
adequate stimulation during early childhood period, necessary for the child’s
cognitive development. There are definite periods in childhood development when
the environment can influence how the brain is “wired” for certain functions
like language, music, physical activity and even mathematics. It therefore
means that the brain must receive the appropriate stimuli at the crucial time
to perform these functions, else it may be impossible for it to “re-wire”
itself later in life. Early childhood period therefore is a period that should
be handled with utmost care.
Statement
of the Problem
Most
children these days do not develop cognitively due to lack of early childhood
education which is mainly given to children firstly by their parents and
secondly by their teachers who are also regarded as surrogate parents in the
school. Majority of pupils in primary one in the Nigerian school system, did
not pass through the pre-primary schools where children are taught basically
through the methods befitting to the children’s learnability and comprehension
in the early stage of life. Because of this lapse, most children in the primary
schools fail to grasp the content of their lessons due to the fact that they
started their early education from the stem instead of from the root.
Also,
most of the teachers who are employed to teach at the primary one schools, do
not apply the correct teaching methods that are comprehensible to the child,
hence most children do not have high academic achievement in the early stages
of their primary school education. Due to low cognitive development of the
children, there has been poor academic performance virtually at all stages of
our educational system. This is because what a child could not achieve during
the early education, will be difficult for him/her to achieve at the apex stage
of his/her educational life.
This
study sets out to examine the effect of early childhood education on the
cognitive development of primary one pupils.
Purpose
of the Study
The
specific objectives will include the following:
(1) To examine whether there is
relationship between primary school education and cognitive development among
children in schools.
(2) To investigate whether
there is a difference between primary school education and speech development
among children in schools.
(3) To differentiate between
the cognitive development of children who were taught by their parents and
those who were taught by teachers.
(4) To
investigate whether there is general difference in the cognitive development of
children who had pre-primary education and those who did not.
(5) To
find out whether there is gender difference in the cognitive development due to
pre-primary school education.
Research Questions
The following research questions will be asked in this study
thus:
(1) Is there any relationship
between primary school education and cognitive development among children in
schools?
(2) To what extent can there be
any difference between pre-primary school education and speech development
among children in primary schools?
(3) How
can we differentiate between the cognitive development of children who were
taught by their parents and those who were taught by their teachers?
(4) How
can we investigate whether there is general difference in the speech
development of children who had pre-primary education and those who did not?
(5) Will
there be any gender difference in the cognitive development of children due to
pre-primary education?
Research Hypotheses
The
following research hypotheses will be formulated and tested in this study:
1. There
will be no significant relationship between pre-primary school education and
cognitive development among children in schools.
2. There
will be no significant difference between pre-primary school education and
children’s school achievement in schools.
3. There
will be no significant difference between the speech development of children
who were taught by their parents and those who were taught by teachers.
4. There
will be no significant gender difference in the cognitive development of
children due to pre-primary education.
Significance of the Study
The study will be of great benefit to the following
individuals:
(1) Children will benefit from
the findings and recommendations of this study because it will help their
teachers and parents to be in good positions to help in teaching or instructing
them on the appropriate language to be learned in their communities.
(2) With the recommendation of
this study, teachers would be exposed to know how best to go about teaching or
handling children at the lower level of our school system, the primary school.
Not only that, they would be exposed to the appropriate methods to be used in
teaching language to the child in school, especially at the primary school system.
(3) Parents would have a better
insight on the essence of teaching the child to gain mastery of the language of
his/her environment. Most parents do not know that they are the first teachers
of the child at home. This study will expose them to the knowledge that they
should be the first people to impart knowledge to the child, especially
concerning children’s language development. With this study and its
recommendations, parents would be able to know the best techniques to be always
used in teaching language to the children.
(4) The society will be exposed
to the proper knowledge of language acquisition to the child in the society.
With the recommendations, the society will be able to know how best to assist
the child in the area of acquisition and mastery of language.
Scope
of the Study
This
study will cover all the schools (primary) in Kosofe Local Government Area of
Lagos State. Its main focus will be on the investigation of the effect of
primary education on cognitive development of the child in the primary schools
in Lagos State.
TOPIC: EFFECTS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ON THE COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY ONE PUPILS
Format: MS Word
Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email
Delivery: Email
Number of Pages: 65
Price: 3000 NGN
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