Influence of Home Environment on Academic Achievement Among Secondary School Students
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To investigate the relationship between a child home environments, level of parent’s educational attainment, learning materials a child’s academic performance in school
- To ascertain the relationship between home environment and academic performance of student in secondary school
- To ascertain the influence of teachers and academic performance of student in secondary school
- To suggest possible ways which these problems can be solved.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
The home environment is considered a powerful influence on the child. A home environment is viewed as consequential for child developmental outcomes such as cognitive ability, school readiness, academic achievement and emotional adjustment (Fantuzzo el al., 2000). Historically, examinations of the influence of home environments on developmental outcomes have focused on distal variables as the primary measures of home experience, such as the family income, parents educational level, parents occupational status, parental involvement and parenting styles of (authoritarian, demanding and permissive parenting styles). For researchers, Ekanem (2004), Collins (2007), framing their investigations of the influence of children’s home environments from an ecological perspective, however, the primary focus on static, contextual settings and variables omits the possibility of examining the dynamic influence of process variables that are found in the child’s context of the home setting The academic performance of any child cannot be separated from the home environment in which the child grows up (Fantuzzo et al., 2000). Numerous studies revealed that various factors are responsible for scholastic failure of students, such as low socio-economic background, student’s cognitive abilities, school related factors, environment of the home, or the support given by the parents and other family members (Khan & Malik, 1999; Fan, 2001; Gonzalez-Pienda et al., 2002). Parental socioeconomic characteristics to a greater extent determine student’s performance in school and their adjustment to life (Aikens et al., 2008). Family financial resources, which are associated with parents ‘occupation and educational attainment, often imply increased learning opportunities both at home and in school. Indeed, family background is the foundation for children’s development, as such family background in terms of family type, size, socio-economic status and educational background play important role in children’s educational attainment and social integration (Ushie et al., 2012). The home has a great influence on the child’s psychological, emotional, social and economic state. In the view of Ajila & Olutola (2000), the home affects the individual since the parents are the first socializing agents in an individual’s life. Socio-economic background may affect learning outcomes in numerous ways. For example, parents with higher socio-economic status are able to provide their children with the (often necessary) financial support and home resources for individual learning (Asikhia, 2010). They are also more likely to provide a more stimulating environment to promote cognitive development. At the level of educational providers, students from high-SES families are also more likely to attend better schools, in particular in countries with differentiated (or “tracked”) educational systems, strong segregation in the school system according to neighbourhood factors and/or clear advantages of private over public schooling (Schulz, 2005). Asikhia (2010) further opines that par- ents’ socio-status could be defined more objectively by using such indices as occupation, income and education. Chen (2009) also studied the effects of family background, students’ abilities and achievement in rural China. He found that parental education is key determinants of students’ academic achievement, but the roles of father’s education and mother’s education differ across child gender and levels of ability. For example, father’s education has significantly positive effect on academic achievements for both boys and girls, while mother’s education only matters for girls. The effect of father’s education matters for lower ability children, while mother’s education matters for higher ability children (Chen, 2009). UNESCO4) alleged that family characteristics are a major source of disparity in students’ educational outcomes. More family financial resources, which are associated with parents’ occupation and educational attainment, often imply increased learning opportunities both at home and in school. Bettereducated parents can contribute to their children’s learning through their dayto-day interactions with their children and involving themselves in their children’s school work. Parents with higher occupational status and educational attainment may also have higher aspirations and expectations for their children’s occupation and education, which in turn can influence their commitment to learning. According to Caro (2009), socio-economic status (SES) of parents is an important explanatory factor that influences students overall performance in school, as students who have low SES earn lower test scores and are more likely to drop out of school. Low SES negatively affects academic performance because it prevents access to vital resources and creates additional stress at home.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought the influence of home environment on the academic performance of senior secondary schools students
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information the influence of home environment on the academic performance of senior secondary schools students. 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Egor local government of Edo state was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the influence of home environment on the academic performance of senior secondary school student. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of home environment on the academic performance of senior secondary school student
Summary
This study was on the influence of home environment on the academic performance of senior secondary school student. Four objectives were raised which included: To investigate the relationship between child home environments, level of parent’s educational attainment, learning materials a child’s academic performance in school, to ascertain the relationship between home environment and academic performance of student in secondary school, to ascertain the influence of teachers and academic performance of student in secondary school, to suggest possible ways which these problems can be solved . In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Egor local government of Edo state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made principals, vice principals administration, senior staff and junior officers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
As was pointed out earlier, good education does not happen by chance. It is a product of effective teaching and learning coupled with the conscious effort of the teacher, the school, the students, parents and their various home environments. Therefore, a child for excellent academic performance requires in addition to other factors a good home environment. Children vary in their ability and attitude to learn, parents should therefore recognize this and attend to their children as an individual. They should also try to establish and maintain a good home environment where love, hardworking and excellence are encouraged in order to bring out the children’s best academic performance.
Recommendation
Based on the result of the findings of study, the following recommendations among others are made:
- Parents should provide their children/wards with essential materials that will help them improve on their academic performance.
- The principals of post primary schools in the state should discuss/educate parents on the importance of providing adequate learning materials as well as creating learning environments in their homes to their children. This could be discussed in the Parent/Teachers Association meetings.
- The three tiers of government in Nigeria should establish and equip more adult education centres for the training of illiterate parents; this will improve the academic level of some illiterate parents so that they will know the necessary roles they should play in the enhancement of their children’s academic performance.
- Parents should endeavor to encourage and give their children/wards adequate time to read and do their home works at home rather than engaging them with domestic works and watching of no educational movies most of the time.
- Literate parents/busy parents should squeeze out time out of their tight schedules to stay with their children and check their academic progress.
- Parents should make out time to reach out with their children’s teachers from time to time to update them with their children’s academic progress. This will help identify the student’s academic problems so as to handle it promptly before it affects the students
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