EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF ELEMENTS OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONCURRICULUM IN NCE-AWARDING INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The need to empower teachers with knowledge and skills for teaching exceptional learners led to the introduction of "elements of special education programme" into the Nigerian teacher preparation programmes. The extent to which the curriculum is being implemented towards the achievement of its objectives has, however, continued to raise concerns among educators which calls for a review of the programme. This study therefore, evaluated the implementation of Elements of Special Education Curriculum in institutions that award the Nigeria Certificate of Education (NCE). The study adopted the expost-facto type of the descriptive survey design with the Context, Input, Process and Product (CIPP) model of curriculum evaluation. One thousand, three hundred and seventy-five students from fifty-five NCE-awarding institutions in Nigeria were selected through the proportionate stratified random sampling technique. Two hundred and seventeen lecturers teaching the course ("Elements of Special Education") in the institutions were purposively selected for the study. The instruments used were: Students' Questionnaire on Curriculum Objectives (r = 0.83); Lecturers' Questionnaire on Curriculum Objectives (r = 0.79); Students' Questionnaire on Content Coverage of Elements of Special Education (r = 0.72); Lecturers' Questionnaire on Content Coverage of Elements of Special Education (r = 0.78); Facilities, Equipment and Resources Inventory (r = 0.77); Questionnaire on Problems of Curriculum Implementation (r = 0.88); Strategies for Teaching Special Education Content (r = 0.79); Observational Schedule for Classroom Teaching of Elements of Special Education (r = 0.82); Test of Students' Knowledge of Special Education (r = 0.82) and Students' Attitude to Special Education Scale (r = 0.76). Eight research questions were answered and four hypotheses tested at the 0.05 level of significance. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and t-test. Each of the institutions had an average of four experienced lecturers who were academically but not professionally qualified to teach elements of special education. Both students (weighted mean = 3.53) and lecturers (weighted mean = 3.68) had a good perception of the curriculum. Most of the required facilities were not available (X < 1.50), not adequate (X = < 1.50) and not utilised (X = < 2.00). Most lecturers (57.5 to 96.3%) did not teach some of the specified content areas while the lecture method was predominantly used (X = 3.40). Also, various aspects of classroom teaching were ineffective (means range from 2.08 to 2.63). Students possessed an average level of achievement (58.45%) and positive attitude to special education (X = 2.77). Females obtained significantly higher positive attitude score (X =29.61) than their male (X = 28.86) counterparts (t = 3.07; df = 1373; p < 0.05). Lecturers' qualifications and experience did not significantly affect the effectiveness of their teaching. The elements of special education curriculum in NCE-awarding institutions in Nigeria have been poorly implemented. To achieve effective special education teacher preparation in Nigeria, government should employ professionally qualified personnel and ensure that the specified content areas are taught, and adequate facilities are provided towards achieving the objectives of the curriculum.