ABSTRACT
Amongst the predictors of students’
academic performance and self-esteem is the degree of comfortability and
conduciveness of school environment. The study examined the impact of
school environment on students’ academic performance and self-esteem of
secondary school students in Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The survey design in collaboration with the purposive sampling
technique and simple random sampling technique was used to select 180
secondary school students from four selected secondary schools in the
study area. The instrument used for data collection was the
questionnaire, which was administered to the respondents. The data
obtained was subjected to descriptive statistics technique and the
analysis of variance. The results revealed that physical school
environment (p<0.05); school location (p<0.05) and school
facilities (p<0.05) significantly influenced the academic performance
of the selected students. Also, school environment (p<0.05), in its
entirety significantly impacted on the self-esteem of the students.
Based on these findings, the study recommends that modern and functional
educational facilities such as libraries, laboratories, ICT centers,
health centers, sport centers, toiletries and other instructional
materials should be provided and made accessible to the students and
teachers should be friendly and courteous towards their students so that
they- the students, can consult them whenever they have any disturbing
issue(s).
Keywords: School, Environment, Academic Performance, Self-Esteem
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Education is very essential to all
countries of the world both developed and developing. Education is the
process or art of imparting knowledge, skills, facts, judgment and
either formally or informally. It is the channel through which human,
physical, social, emotional and intellectual abilities are developed.
Education to Kneller (2000) is the process by which individuals go
through schools, colleges, universities and other institutions of
learning for transmission of values and knowledge. Education in the
assertion of the 1st black president of South Africa, Nelson
Mandela, is the most potent weapon to fight poverty, ignorance and
provoke positive reforms in the world. Quality education allows for
acquisition of skills, technology, progress and creates an avenue for
the exploration of human resources towards the attainment of economic
development.
School, colleges and universities -have
no worth without student. Students are most essential asset for any
educational institute. The social and economic development of the
country is directly linked with student academic performance. The
students’ performance (academic achievement) plays an important role in
producing the best quality graduates who will become great leader and
manpower for the country thus responsible for the country’s economic and
social development (Ali et.al, 2009). Student academic performance
measurement has received considerable attention in previous research, it
is challenging aspects of academic literature, and science student
performance are affected due to social, psychological, economic,
environmental and personal factors. These factors strongly influence the
student performance, but these factors vary from person to person and
country to country.
School environment: Quality assurance is
the systematic management, monitoring and evaluation procedure adopted
to ensure that the learning environment and the curriculum program of an
educational institution meet the specified standards to achieve the set
goals and produce outputs that will satisfy the expectations of the
institution’s customers (society). Quality assurance oriented schools
are characterized by core values and elements which were identified by
UNICEF (2000) as: quality learners, learning environments, curriculum
content, teaching and learning processes, and learning outcomes.
The societal expectation of quality
outputs from the training institutions makes the students the primary
focus of attention in any instructional program, and the better the
school, the better it can meet the goals that include equipping the
students with desirable skills, knowledge and attitudes that enable them
to work and live in the society of knowledge. The teachers are expected
to make teaching the learners’ centered and create enabling environment
for the students to interact with learning materials in order to
concretize their knowledge and skills so that they can become
self-confident and self-reliant, and contribute meaningfully to the
socio–economic development of the society.
There is actually a general belief that
the condition of school’s learning environment including infrastructure
has an important impact on teachers’ effectiveness and students’
academic performance. The facilities that are needed to facilitate
effective teaching and learning in an educational institution include
the classrooms, offices, libraries, laboratories, conveniences and other
buildings as well as furniture items and sporting equipment. The
quality of infrastructure and learning environment has strong influence
on the academic standard which is an index of quality assurance in the
school. For instance, Earthman (2002), reporting on California, revealed
that comfortable classroom temperature and smaller classes enhance
teachers’ effectiveness and provide opportunities for students to
receive more individual attention, ask more questions, participate more
fully in discussions, reduce discipline problems and perform better than
students in schools with substandard buildings by several percentage
points. Ogundare (1999) and Olagboye (2004), viewed utilization of
school infrastructure and learning environment as the extent of usage of
school buildings, laboratories, library, assembly-ground, flower
garden, school garden, volleyball field, chairs, desks, chalkboard, and
so on. However, too much pressure on their use could result in over
utilization, a situation that could lead to rapid deterioration and
breakdown. For instance, when a classroom built to accommodate 40
students is constantly being used for 60 students then the returns from
these facilities may not be maximized in terms of teaching and learning.
Comfortable learning facilities will not only boost the morale of
teachers and students but will also ensure the realization of the set
educational objectives in secondary schools.
Self-esteem: The concept of self-esteem
is omnipresent in contemporary life. In classrooms and workplaces,
sporting events and music recitals, people generally assume that high
self-esteem is critical to success in that domain. Indeed, the promotion
of self-esteem, and the prevention of low self-esteem, is widely
perceived as an important societal goal that merits widespread
interventions to boost self-esteem levels in the population. Yet until
recently, the scientific literature provided few insights into the
nature and development of self-esteem. In the past several years, a
large number of longitudinal studies have significantly advanced the
field. What is the typical, or normative, pattern of self-esteem changes
from adolescence to old age that is, at which stages of life do people
typically show increases or decreases in self-esteem? How stable are
individual differences in self-esteem across long periods or, put
differently, is self-esteem a stable trait like shyness and intelligence
or a transient state like feelings of fear and embarrassment? And
finally, is self-esteem truly consequential does it influence important
life outcomes? Self-esteem refers to an individual’s subjective
evaluation of his or her worth as a person (Donnellan, Trzesniewski,
& Robins, 2011; MacDonald & Leary, 2012). Importantly,
self-esteem does not necessarily reflect a person’s objective talents
and abilities, or even how a person is evaluated by others. Moreover,
self-esteem is commonly conceptualized as the “feeling that one is ‘good
enough,’” and consequently, individuals with high self-esteem do not
necessarily believe they are superior to others (Rosenberg, 1965, p.
31). Thus, self-esteem involves feelings of self-acceptance and
self-respect, in contrast to the excessive self-regard and
self-aggrandizement that characterizes narcissistic individuals
(Ackerman et al., 2011).
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
In Nigeria, many schools both primary
and secondary are situated at various places by private individuals,
government, corporate and religious organizations. Thus, the process of
teaching and learning takes place under different environment. Every
school possesses different kind of facilities and classroom structures
at divergent functional levels. All students are expected to sit for the
same examination at the final year of either their junior or senior
secondary school education (Junior Secondary School Certificate
Examination at junior level and Senior School Certificate Examination at
senior level). It is therefore expected to have a similar performance
from all students since they were taught with the same curriculum and
syllabus. In reality, some students in some schools perform better than
their counterparts in other schools. This indicates there are definite
determinants that influence the success or failure of students in
examinations. A particular example of such definite determinants is
school environment. Students taught in a conducive environment tend to
perform better than their peers taught in an uncomfortable environment.
To this end, it is apt to examine the impact of school environment on
the academic performance of students and on their psychosocial
development.
1.3 OBECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The main objective of the study is to
examine the impact of school environment on students’ academic
performance and psychosocial development in Nigeria using a case study
of secondary students in Ikenne local government area of Ogun-state.
The specific objectives of the study are:
- To ascertain the extent to which the quality of physical school environment influence students’ academic performance.
- Determine the effects of learning environment and infrastructure on teaching and learning in secondary schools
- To determine the extent to which school environment influences students’
Self-esteem.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The question of interest raised in the study include:
- What types of learning environment and infrastructure are available in secondary schools?
- What are the influence of learning environment and infrastructure on teaching and learning in secondary schools?
- How are learning environment and infrastructure being maintained in secondary schools?
- What are the influence of self-esteem on student academic performance?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation
about an observation made on the premise of limited evidence as a
starting point for further investigation. Four hypotheses relating to
each research questions are developed in the study.
- There is no significant relationship between learning environment and infrastructure in secondary schools.
- There is no significant relationship between learning environment
and infrastructure on teaching and learning in secondary schools.
- There is no significant relationship between learning environment and infrastructure being maintained in secondary schools.
- There is no significant relationship between influence on self-esteem and student academic performance.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings will be of immense benefits
to students, parents, guardians, teachers, principals, government and
relevant stakeholders in the education sector.
The findings of the study will help
parents and guardians in determining the choice of the type of school
for their children and wards. This is because, the children will enjoy
good school learning environment that allows for quality school
products. The study will inform teachers, headmasters (mistresses) and
principals about their readiness and strong-will to improve school
supervision and management methods to ensure quality teaching and
learning. It will help them appreciate the fact good school facilities
and equipment stimulates students’ academic performance. It will also
assist the teachers in the areas of their classroom delivery, teaching
effectiveness and increased productivity. The results of the study will
help the government and policymakers to formulate effective planning
policies and programmes to foster schools’ academic activities. It will
also provide policymakers with knowledge to identify and solve the needs
of the schools in terms of building and facilities. Lastly, it will aid
researchers in their future research undertakings in the aspect of
school environment, students’ academic performance and their
psychosocial development.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study attempts to cover the
influence of school environment on students’ academic performance and
self-esteem by prioritizing on secondary school students in Ikenne local
government area of Ogun state.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
STUDENT: can be define as someone who is learning at a school or in any teaching environment either formal or informal.
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT: Refer to the diverse
physical locations, contexts, and cultures in which student learn.
Since students may learn in a wide variety of settings, such as outside
of school location and outdoor environments, the terms are often used as
more accurate or preferred alternative to class room, which has more
limited and traditional connotation. And it has both direct and indirect
influence on student learning.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: measure of
knowledge gained in formal education usually indicated by test scores,
grade, grade points, average and degrees. Here, the achievement level of
the student is judged by the marks that the students have scored in the
quarterly examinations
SELF-ESTEEM? Self-esteem
is how we value ourselves; it is how we perceive our value to the world
and how valuable we think we are to others. Self-esteem affects our
trust in others, our relationships, our work nearly every part of our
lives. Positive self-esteem gives us the strength and flexibility to
take charge of our lives and grow from our mistakes without the fear of
rejection. And some sign of positive self-esteem are. Confidence •
Self-direction • Non-blaming behaviour • An awareness of personal
strengths • An ability to make mistakes and learn from them • An ability
to accept mistakes from others • Optimism • An ability to solve
problems • An independent and cooperative attitude • Feeling comfortable
with a wide range of emotions • An ability to trust others • A good
sense of personal limitations • Good self-care.
1.9 PLAN OF THE STUDY
The study is divided into five chapters.
- Ø Chapter one is the introductory aspect of the study that consists
of the general introduction, problem statement, research objectives,
questions and hypotheses that guides the study.
- Ø Chapter two contains the literature review, by delving on the
conceptual framework, theoretical review, empirical review and gaps in
literature.
- Ø Chapter three presents the research methodology adopted in the study.
- Ø Chapter four provides the presentation and discussion of results.
- Ø Chapter five gives the summary, conclusion, policy recommendation and suggestion for further studies.