ASSESSING CURRICULAR REQUIREMENTS FOR PROMOTING ETHICAL AND VALUE-BASED EDUCATION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL PROCESSES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DELTA STATE

Abstract

This study assessed the curricular requirements for promoting ethical and value-based education in the management of instructional processes in public secondary schools in Delta State. The purpose of the study was to ascertain extent of the current status of curricular requirements, teachers’ ethical and value-oriented competencies, adequacy of the existing curricular strategies and instructional resources mobilization for the management of instructional processes in public secondary schools in Delta State. As such, four research questions guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Population for the study comprised all the public secondary school administrators and teachers across the three educational zones of Delta State: Delta North, Delta Central, and Delta South from 450 public secondary schools estimated at 12,000. From the total population, a sample size of 400 respondents (teachers and administrators) were drawn proportionally across the three educational zones based on school and staff distribution using a stratified random sampling technique. Data was collected using a 38-item structured questionnaire rated on a 4-point scale and developed by the researchers titled: “Curricular Requirements Promoting Ethical and Value-

Based      Education      in      the      Management      of      Instructional      Processes      Questionnaire

(CRPEVBEMIPQ)”.Both validity and reliability of the questionnaire were established. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, mean statistics rated at 2.50 and standard deviation statistics were used to answer all the research questions regarding the extent of curricular integration, teacher competencies, adequacy of curricular strategies and resource mobilization. Findings of the study indicated that the extent to which the current curricula integrated ethical and value-based education contents relevant for the management of instructional processes in public secondary schools in Delta State was to a low extent. It was recommended among others that there is need for curriculum enhancement by educational authorities through curriculum planners and developers such as the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to revise and enrich the secondary school curricula to explicitly incorporate comprehensive ethical and value-based education contents to a high extent, which is relevant for the management of instructional processes in the public secondary schools in Delta State. This should include practical guidelines and case-based scenarios that align with instructional management to ensure that ethical and value-based principles are effectively taught and internalized by students and teachers alike