ABSTRACT

The study investigated children’s theatre and the education of Nigerian children. The population of the study consisted of all secondary school students in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State. The research study was carried out using descriptive survey design. T-test statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 23.) was used for the analysis. A total number of 200 copies of questionnaire copies were administered to respondents during the study. Among other things the result of the study revealed that children’s theatre has a significant impact on teaching and learning among secondary school students in Ojo, Lagos; children’s drama has a significant impact in promoting active learning among secondary school students in Ojo, Lagos, and there are pedagogical benefits of using children’s drama as instructional tool. The study recommended that schools in Lagos State should adopt children theatre in its teaching and learning process.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

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Much attention has not been given to children’s theatre in secondary school in Lagos State. Hence, teaching in most secondary schools in Lagos State today still largely follows the traditional pattern such as lecture method which is identified as being ineffective in ensuring students active participation in lessons.

According to Udoh (2017) a close look at the 2016-2017 SSCE result records show that student’s performance has been very poor generally; failure is a great problem as it will affect the students’ performances in senior secondary school. Moreover, this is an indicator that the current teaching and learning strategies are deficient in nature and practice.

In corollary to the above, it may now be of a general concern of every Nigerian including educational administrators, planners, Ministries of Education, educational research institutes, policy makers and the researcher to view this backwardness in education with some insight on children’s theatre in secondary school in Lagos State as having the likely prognosis to promote active learning in students.

It is on this premise that this research study seeks to examine children’s theatre and the education of Nigerian children with a particular reference to secondary schools in Ojo Local Government Area, Lagos State.

1.3       Purpose of the Study

The main objective of this study is to investigate children’s theatre and the education of Nigerian children. The specific purposes are:

        I.            To investigate the relative impact of children’s theatre in teaching and learning among secondary school students in Ojo, Lagos.

     II.            To examine the impact of children’s drama in promoting active learning among secondary school students in Ojo, Lagos.

   III.            To evaluate the pedagogical benefits of using children’s drama as instructional tool.

1.4       Research Questions

The research will be guided by the following research questions:

1.      What is the impact of children’s theatre in teaching and learning among secondary school students in Ojo, Lagos?

2.      What is the impact of children’s drama in promoting active learning among secondary school students in Ojo, Lagos?

What are the pedagogical benefits of using children’s drama as instructional tool?