SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AND ADULT LEARNERS CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Abstract

This study was carried out to examine the impacts of social interaction on the performance of adult learners in Delta State. It is obvious that society change the life of adult learners may be positively or negatively, two null hypotheses and two alternate hypotheses were drafted to achieve the purpose of this study which was mainly the topic of this work. Survey method was the research design adopted and questionnaire instrument for data collection in this study. Two hundred participant were randomly selected of adult learners from five villages in Delta State. The findings of this study depict that social interaction great influence in adult learner classes. The overall results shows that social interaction assist in adult learners class, as it helps to expose where learner is lacking and how the instructor can help.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page

Approval page

Dedication

Acknowledgment

Abstract

Table of content

CHAPETR ONE

1.0   INTRODUCTION 

1.1        Background of the study

1.2        Statement of problem

1.3        Objective of the study

1.4        Research Hypotheses

1.5        Significance of the study

1.6        Scope and limitation of the study

1.7       Definition of terms

1.8       Organization of the study

CHAPETR TWO

2.0   LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPETR THREE

3.0        Research methodology

3.1    sources of data collection

3.3        Population of the study

3.4        Sampling and sampling distribution

3.5        Validation of research instrument

3.6        Method of data analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 Introductions

4.2 Data analysis

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Summary

5.3 Conclusion

5.4 Recommendation

Appendix

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

Education is the industry that produces manpower for the economy of nations. Therefore, education enhances manpower development by improving the number and quality of human resource, Bareday in Afonja (2003) says that education is truly a mirror of the level of development and the aspiration of any people. Education in general and functional literacy programmes in particular are means of advancing people in terms of giving them knowledge, skills attitudes necessary for expanding their potentials. Akinpelu (2002) is the view that education programmes are organized for learners who have pre-occupation or jobs other than studying. Further words education is associated with vocational occupation or professional stills of development. Functional literacy one step further from elementary literacy. It refers to the ability to usethe stills of reading writing and computing in the acquisition of information as would make the individual function more actively and beneficially in the economics, social, politicalpsychological and cultural activities of the community whether or she lives. Essentially, for any adults to participate in any functional literacy programme there must be need for it. Need and motivation are two important things that guide the adult participants in functional literacy progrmmes. Literacy is seen as a tool for developing skill, knowledge and attitudes for the daily survival of human persons. Therefore, literacy is an educational process which aims at in calculating in the individuals the ability to read and write and to carry out basic calculations. Literacy could be seen as the ability to function better in one’s social context. Thus, literacy is aimed at enhancing one’s understanding of the society in which one is required to assume a functional role. UNESCO (2011) defined it as the ability to identify. Understand, interpreted create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continue of learning by individuals to achieve their goals to develop their knowledge and potential and to participate fully in their community and wider society. Oduaran (1991) defined functional literacy as one step further up from elementary literacy. It refers aptly to the ability to sue the skills of reading, writing and computing that would benefit the individual. Beder (1990) and Thompson (1992) identified self-improvement, family responsibilities, job participation, advancement, urging by other people, social expectations and relationships, escape from bore dome and stimulation and cognitive interest as a basic motivation. Needs attract the attach adults to take part in functional literacy programmes and Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, they are: Psychological; Safety, stability and security; Belongingness (social affiliation love); Self-esteem and Self actualization. Within the community framework, there is need for people to be educated. It is vital because without it, people may not function effectively. Community education is one form of education that will bring about positive change among the people in the community. Ezumah (2004) sees community education as a process aimed at raising consciousness, spreading understanding, and providing the necessary skills, including the human and material resources for the social, economic, political and cultural development. Findsen (2006) defined community education as an organized learning activity that groups or individuals undertake for the personal, community, cultural or economic development. It touches all other areas of learning but its primary focus is the adult as learner and the community as the context. Akande (2007) sees community education as the type of education needed to engender self-confidence, s 2 learn to help themselves and improve their lives. It is the need for improving the quality of life in the community that brought about the activities of community education. According to Anyanwu (2002), community education is not a new phenomenon of human living. For example, in Nigeria traditional communities, people had been practising indigenous community education before the advent of the early missionaries and the colonial administration. The traditional apprenticeship programmes were plausible forms of community education. Such programmes were run in the areas of health, agriculture, arts and crafts and constituted a recognized way of inducing enlightenment. In the area of health, community education tends to emphasize better sanitation and water supply, proper hygiene and housing, and improved infant and maternal welfare. In the field of agriculture, community education was in the area of sensitizing people on the methods of farming to improve their productivity, better care of livestocks. Anyanwu further stated that with the introduction and general acceptance of the Western system of education and culture, there was a gradual decline in enthusiasm for erstwhile indigenous community education with corollary problems of illiteracy, unemployment, underdevelopment, poverty, armed robbery, kidnapping, and youth restiveness in Nigeria. This indicates the inadequacy of formal school system of Western Education alone to meet the socio-economic and cultural needs of the Nigerian society. The social roles of education in every society are apparent in its contributions to human development. Education is very important in the training and development of human resources in any country through imparting the appropriate skills, capacities, values, knowledge and attitudes which can be used in the transformation of individuals, communities, nations and the world at large. According to Freire (1973) put it that education…is the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their worlds”. Despite the fact that Nigerian rural communities are bedeviled with high rate of illiteracy, poverty and ruralurban migration syndrome, there is still the existence of various indigenous skills, mostly inherited from generations. Each family or clan has been noted for particular traits transmitted from ancestors. The rural communities also provide lots of occupational opportunities to the local people, upon which they earn a living, support their families and contribute towards the development of the community at large. The urge to promote the living standard of the people has greatly inspired governments, institutions, organisations and private individuals to develop measures around entrepreneurship programmes to curb the high rate of unemployment and dependency syndrome among Nigerians. Shuman (1999) argues in this dimension that “a remarkable left-right consensus has emerged that one of the most promising ways to address poverty these days is through minority business development”. Politicians, policy makers, philanthropists, academics, corporate bodies and even activists are touting the virtues of entrepreneurship to improve the quality of live among Nigerians. (ibid) Community members at the local level are endowed with several entrepreneurial skills needed for the establishment of small scale businesses that can provide job opportunities to other members. But the lack of knowledge and adequate information on how to mobilise and articulate these potentials for the benefit of others had limited the development and expansion of their skills and capacities. Community education is a means through which desired knowledge and information can be appropriately disseminated because it is an embodiment of educational programmes aimed at empowering the people to appreciate the value of their social existence to tackle the problems and challenges affecting their communities (Shuaibu, 2005). Community education has been advocated as a way to respond to social exclusion and systemic inequalities…. The whole idea of community education and learning is rooted in a process of empowerment, social justice, change, challenge, respect and collective consciousness. It builds the capacity of local communities to engage in developing responses to educational and structural disadvantage and to take part in decision-making and policy formation within the community. It is distinct from general adult education provision, due to both its ethos and the methodologies it employs (AONTAS, 2000)

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The non-performance of the community based organizations leaders has led to slow pace at which different communities in Delta State are developing. The decline in their roles is more pervasive in rural communities than their urban counterparts. This can be evidenced by the high rate of illiteracy, poor leadership, embezzlement of public funds, disputes, and ignorance of community education programmes such as health, economic, political and environmental programmes. The truth remains that inspite of the numerous community education programmes that have been introduced by the government, the rural dwellers, including community leaders have not availed themselves of these educational opportunities to improve their lots. Could it be that the community education programs did not receive adequate publicity or could it be that there were some educational deficiencies that deprived them of access to information about community education programs? Moreover, the irony is that, it is not even certain that community leaders know their basic education needs, social education needs, political education needs, economic education needs, and cultural education needs. In fact, it is not clear if at all any community education programmes targeted at the rural populace have been contributory in improving the roles of community leaders in the area despite the rapid increase in their expected roles. It is in view of the above that the researcher intends to investigate the the efficacy of social interactions and adult learners civic engagement in rural communities.

• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of the study is to examine the efficacy of social interaction and adult learners civic engagement in rural communities in Delta state. But to aid the completion of the study, the researcher intends to achieve the following specific objective;

1. To examine the extent to which community based organizations leaders need basic education
2. To ascertain the extent to which community based organizations leaders need social education

• To examine the extent to which community based organizations leaders need economic education.

1. To examine the relationship between social interaction and civic engagement of adult learners in Delta state
   • RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

H₀: community based organizations leaders do not need basic education

H₁: community based organizations leaders do need basic education

H₀: there is no significant relationship between social interaction and civic engagement of adult learners in Delta state.

H₂: there is a significant relationship between social interaction and civic engagement of adult learners in Delta state

• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study will be of great importance not only to the community leaders who are the pillars in community, particularly in this dynamic world of 21st century but also to adult educators and community development officers, policy makers and state government. Firstly, the implementation of the findings will enable community leaders to identify the needs and problems of the community and means of satisfying them. It is only when they know what their needs are that they know how to tackle them. The findings will equally give the leaders clue on how to influence and direct the people in order to achieve communal goals be it social, political, economic, and otherwise. Secondly, the findings of the study will serve as a guide for adult educators and community development officers on what programmes to be developed for community leaders. It will give them insight on the desired roles of the leaders and how to develop programme to reflect such roles that will bring about positive changes in the community. Thirdly, the findings of the study will as well serve as a guide for policy makers in formulating policies that will guide the selection of leaders in different communities. The findings will also give the policy makers idea on how to reflect the expected roles of community leaders in their policies. This is to streamline the leadership pattern of the leaders in different communities. Finally, the findings and recommendations of the study will serve as a reference point through which the state and local governments can address some developmental programme issues of rural communities. That is, it will serve as a date bank that can be used as guide by the government in dealing with developmental issues.

• SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers social interactions and adult learners civic engagement in rural communities, but in the cause of the study, there are some factors that limited the scope of the study;

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

Inadequate Materials: Scarcity of material is also another hindrance. The researcher finds it difficult to long hands in several required material which could contribute immensely to the success of this research work.

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

1.7 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Social interaction

Social interaction is any relationship between two or more individuals. Social relations derived from individual agency form the basis of social structure and the basic object for analysis by social scientists.

Adult learners

An adult learner or mature student is a person who is 25 years and up who is involved in forms of learning. Adult learners fall in a specific criteria of being experienced, and do not have the high school diploma

Civic engagement

Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is presented in five (5) chapters in accordance with the standard presentation of research work.

Chapter one contains the introduction which include; background of the study, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of study, research questions, significance of study, scope of study and overview of the study. Chapter two deals with review of related literature. Chapter three dwelt on research methodology which include; brief description of the study area, research design, sources of data, population of the study, sample size and sampling technique, instrument of data collection, validity of instrument, reliability of instrument and method of data presentation and analysis. Chapter four consists of data presentation and analysis while chapter five is the summary of findings, recommendations and conclusion.

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