Analysis of preferred teaching styles used by History tutors 1
Edmund Selorm Sosu
Entrepreneurial skills and farming performance: Implications for
improving banana farming in Sri Lanka
14
Dr. Shirantha Heenkenda and Dr. D.P.S. Chandrakumara
Effects of single parenting on student’s academic performance: A case
study at Amamoma Presbyterian junior high school
27
Simon Ntumi, Felix Larbi and Linda Adjeibea Yirenkyi
Hidden curriculum: Does it matter in a Ghanaian school setting 36
Edmund Selorm Sosu
Which Causal Relationship Established the Effect of the Control
Technique Contraceptives On Weight Gain Case Housewives
Newlyweds.
47
Dr. Zerf Mohammed
Spirituality, age, gender and academic self – Efficacy as determinants of
psychological well – being of secondary school students with hearing
impairment in Enugu state, Nigeria
59
Oyewumi, Adebomi (Ph.D) and Anieke, Lazarsus
National Morality and Government Openness: The Panacea to
Government Effectiveness
72
Dr. William DiPietro
The clash of two cultures: A historical analysis of social changes in the
gold coast in the twentieth century
80
Abdul Kuba
2. Vol 7, No 1 – January 2016
Table of Contents
Analysis of preferred teaching styles used by History tutors 1
Edmund Selorm Sosu
Entrepreneurial skills and farming performance: Implications for
improving banana farming in Sri Lanka
14
Dr. Shirantha Heenkenda and Dr. D.P.S. Chandrakumara
Effects of single parenting on student’s academic performance: A case
study at Amamoma Presbyterian junior high school
27
Simon Ntumi, Felix Larbi and Linda Adjeibea Yirenkyi
Hidden curriculum: Does it matter in a Ghanaian school setting 36
Edmund Selorm Sosu
Which Causal Relationship Established the Effect of the Control
Technique Contraceptives On Weight Gain Case Housewives
Newlyweds.
47
Dr. Zerf Mohammed
Spirituality, age, gender and academic self – Efficacy as determinants of
psychological well – being of secondary school students with hearing
impairment in Enugu state, Nigeria
59
Oyewumi, Adebomi (Ph.D) and Anieke, Lazarsus
National Morality and Government Openness: The Panacea to
Government Effectiveness
72
Dr. William DiPietro
The clash of two cultures: A historical analysis of social changes in the
gold coast in the twentieth century
80
Abdul Kuba
AAJHSS.ORG
4. 2 http://aajhss.org/index.php/ijhss
bidding to transmit instructional contents to learners (Blumberg, 2010; Carr, Eireann, Cliath &
Runai, 2007; Marble, Finley, & Ferguson, 2000).
Currently, teaching in any subject demands that tutors of instructions channel
instructions to meet learners‟ varied needs of which the teaching of history is no exception.
History teaching, according to Oppong and Quan-Baffour (2014) demands that tutors employ
certain models such as the line of development model, the colligation model, the covering law
model and narrative law model in their teaching with the intention of teaching the subject
effectively. Aside these models, teachers still go about the complex of way of teaching with
issues stemming from their understanding of the subject, availability of resources and lastly, the
understanding of their leaners. To this, the method in which they introduce a topic and pose
questions to their audience informs and reflects their orientations and make-ups (Genc and
Organ-Bekiroglu,2006). Hence, the latter denotes the source of teaching methods or teaching
styles used by teachers. Teaching styles are mediums employed to convey knowledge and skills in
order to enhance and guide successful learning (Mwathwana, Mungai, Gathumbi, &
George,2014). To Trowbridge and Bybee (1996), teaching styles are the most effective and
efficient means of presenting a subject to students in any given classroom. Thus, the aura of
understanding for a particular subject and the values relative to a particular subject is provided
through the medium of teaching styles. Appropriate teaching to Mwathwana et. al. (2014) is
characterized by narration, discussion, reciting, identifying, explaining, role playing,
dramatization, audio visual, and modelling.
In the field of history education, Nasibi and Kiio (2005) assert that the teaching styles
used in the history classroom are lecture method, discussion, narrating, reciting, identifying, role
playing, explaining, audio visual, visiting, modelling, dramatizing, note-making, practicing
observation, participating, reading and group projects, brainstorming, debates, panel discussion,
educational visits, imaginary educational visit and project method. These styles according to the
authors are alternatively employed by history teachers in their classroom discussion. But the issue
on board is what really influence history tutors‟ choice of the teaching styles? Is it solely the
pedagogical needs of the students that influence teachers‟ choice of their instructional method?
What are these hidden, uncaptured elements that really necessitate history teachers‟ choice of
teaching styles (Ruff, 2013)? Based on the aforementioned, this paper expounds on an analysis of
the preferred teaching styles used by history tutors.
Specifically, the following questions were addressed in the study:
1. What are the preferred teaching styles used by History tutors?
2. What factors underpin History tutors‟ choice of teaching style?
Review of Literature
This section looks into the available literature on the various issues regarding teaching styles
classification and the possible factors that could inform their preference. Though literature on
teaching styles and factors that inform their use are not much (Chapman, Hughes, & Williamson,
2001; Grasha,1996; Onstein & Miller,1980; Peacock,2001), it is necessary to consider them in
this study so as to help the researcher gain insight into fundamental issues underlying the study
and relate the findings to the existing literature related to the study.
5. 3 http://aajhss.org/index.php/ijhss
Teaching styles models
Though studies on teaching styles occur in many research works, Grasha‟s (1996) model for
teachers teaching style served as the circumference in determining history teachers‟ preferred
teaching styles. To Grasha (1996), the style in teaching can be catergorised as expert style, formal
authority, personal model, facilitator and delegator.
Expert style is highlighted by teachers who have the knowledge and the know-how in the
subject matter. Teachers who demonstrate this model teach into detail alongside their attitude of
always encouraging their students to excel in their studies. Teachers who practise this style
require their students to always prepare and emphasize the diffusion of information to the
maximum. The danger associated with this style are that the overt display of knowledge by
teachers to an extent intimidate learners and also the underlying thought process of teachers to a
lesser extent is not clear to students.
The formal authority style informs teachers to give negative and positive feedback to
students in their course of teaching. With this method, teaching is expected to be in an accurate
and standard form alongside with specific goal endorsed by a school. Teachers with this style go
about their delivery in a structured form. The flip side of this style is that it leads to rigid,
standardized ways of managing students concerns (Audette & Roush, 2013; Shaari et al, 2014).
With the personal model style (Coach style), teachers teach using personal examples that
is they „teach by example. Teachers tend to act as models to students on how to think and
behave. They tend to direct and guide the students to observe and imitate the method they show
to them. They go about this same style by giving guidance and direction through asking
questions, giving options to explore, giving recommendations for alternatives and developing
criteria for solving a problem. The overall goal of the style is to develop students‟ ability to be
self-reliant, creative and responsible. Teachers with this style prefer to teach using projects in
developing students. The flip side of this style is that teachers are tempted to believe their style is
the best way whiles students may feel inadequate if they are not able to meet teachers‟
expectation (Audette & Roush, 2013; Shaari et al, 2014).
The delegator style is concerned with students‟ ability to learn autonomously. Students
are encouraged to carry out tasks independently when implementing a project. Teachers assist
when the need arise. The approach aims at helping students to become self-reliant and self-
supporting. However, the dangers associated to this style is that teachers at times misread
students‟ readiness to work independently and also some students become anxious when given
autonomy to work on their own (Audette & Roush, 2013; Shaari et al,2014).
Aside Grashas‟ (1996) teaching model, Onstein and Miller (1980) have also classified
teaching styles as expressive teaching styles and instrumental teaching styles. Expressive or
dramatic teaching style refers to the emotional relationship created by teachers to the students as
a whole, including warmth, authority, sympathy, trust and some emotional aspect shown by the
teacher. The use of the expressive teaching style works in the area of controlling sand managing
classroom activities. The style imbibes a sense of confidence in students through their
understanding on the general purpose of education. Teachers who prefer the use of this style
serve as mentors and tolerate their students (Shaari et. al, 2014). With the instrumental style,
teachers‟ roles are seen in the assisting of students, planning of lessons and setting up classroom
activities according to an appropriate standard.
6. 4 http://aajhss.org/index.php/ijhss
Factors influencing teachers’ teaching styles
On factors influencing teaching styles usage, a study conducted by Peacock (2001)
unearthed that teaching styles used by teachers stem from their ethnicity of which he found out
that Chinese teachers avoided auditory style teaching to a more demonstrative style. In a
different study conducted by Chapman, Hughes and Williamson (2001), it was revealed that
gender, seniority at the workplace and time played major influence on teaching styles used by
teachers. To this, they observed that, teachers went about their approach of delivery as result of
the factors they were repressed with. To Zhorik (1990) teachers' teaching styles are also
influenced their personal ideology and beliefs accrued over years.
In a review conducted by Boz & Aydin (2009), it was highlighted that the motives that
prop up teachers style of teaching span across the following, that is, the subject-area taught, the
developmental ability of students, teacher relation with colleagues and school principals, teacher
current status and available teaching material. With this, teachers were of the opinion that
inasmuch the syllabus indicate the type of style to use for a particular content, they were also
influenced by other factors.
In a prior study by Shulman (1990), it was also established that teaching styles used by
teachers are influenced by their demography (immediate environment). To him new teachers
adopt teaching styles used by their training developers or teachers at the expense of the ideal
method prescribe from the syllabus. Thus, the orientation and the relationship new teachers
guzzled from their trainers affect their preference for a particular teaching style. Rotumoi and
Too (2012) also opine that the availability and adequacy of classroom space, teaching/learning
facilities and the number of children a teacher handled were also found to have had great
influence on the teaching methods the teacher adopted.
Methodology
The study adopted a descriptive research design, precisely a self-report survey to
elucidate the circumstances supporting the preferred teaching styles used by history tutors during
their teaching. The rationale for adopting this approach was that it helps researchers to retrieve
personalised statements from respondents after posing a series of questions and statements to
them (Hawton, Rodham, Evans, & Weatherall, 2002). By this, the researcher was able to set
aside his opinion and experience to retrieve information from respondents objectively
(Westerman, 2001; Harwell, 2011). Consequently, the approach enables the researcher to
quantify the responses of history tutors on the assumption underpinning the study (Driessnack,
Sousa & Mendes, 2007). The population for the study comprised all history tutors in the Central
Region of Ghana. The intention behind the choice of the history tutors was that the researcher
wanted to ascertain the medium history tutors employed in teaching. Again, the researcher chose
the history tutors in the region because they were convenient to him. The purposive sampling
technique was employed to reach out to thirty-two (32) history tutors in the region.
Since the study was quantitative in outlook, data was collected by the researcher from
respondent who were willing to partake in the study. The data collection instrument was a
questionnaire that was designed by the researcher, based on the key issues emerging from the
literature. The questionnaire was made up of two sections, section „A‟ addressing the preferred
teaching style used by history tutors and section „B‟ addressing the motives that prompts history
7. 5 http://aajhss.org/index.php/ijhss
tutors teaching style. The items on the preferred teaching style were ranked from one to five (1-
5), with five (5) been the highly preferred teaching style and one (1) been the not preferred teaching
style. The items on the factors underpinning the preferred teaching style used by history tutors
were made up of close-ended questions based on a four-point Likert-scale format ranging from
strongly disagree (SD), disagree (D), agree (A) and strongly agree (SA). In all, the data were
coded and fed into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to perform statistical
analysis of the data into percentages, means and standard deviations. The findings were
presented statistically by merging similar responses and discuss in relation to the theories and
studies circumventing the study.
Results
Research Question 1: What are the preferred teaching styles used by History tutors?
The views of history tutors were sought on the preferred style or approached adopted in
teaching history and the responses are presented in table 1.
Descriptive statistics
Table 1
Total number of participants was 32. From the table, 12.5% of the respondents stated
that they prefer the direct style of teaching whiles 87.5% of the teachers also put forth that they
least consider the direct style in their quest of teaching history. Similarly, 12.5% of respondents
prefer the use of the lecture style whiles 87.5% least consider the use of the lecture style. This
detestation of the lecture method highlights the dwindling fortunes of that method in the
teaching of History at the second-cycle level of education.
On the preference of co-operative style of style of teaching, 75% of history tutors prefer
to use a community base approach in teaching history students whiles 25% of them least
consider that. Also, on whether history tutors prefer the inquiry-base style of teaching in their
Teaching styles Not-
preferred
F (%)
1
Less-
preferred
F(%)
2
Preferred
F(%)
3
Higher-
preferred
F(%)
4
Highly-
preferred
F(%)
5
Direct style 16(50) 12(37.5) 4(12.5) - -
Co-operative style
Inquiry-base style
-
-
8(25.0)
1(3.1)
1(3.1)
3(9.4)
5(15.6)
13(40.6)
18(56.3)
15(46.9)
Lecture style 13(40.6) 15(46.9) 4(12.5) - -
Coach style 4(12.5) - 4(12.5) 24(75.0) -
8. 6 http://aajhss.org/index.php/ijhss
quest of teaching history, 96.9% history tutors rank the inquiry approach to teaching as the
preferred style whiles 3.1% mildly prefers it. Finally, on the issue of coach style of teaching, that
is history tutors directing students with what they think they should learn, 87.5% history tutors
emphasise on preference of the coach style in teaching history whiles 12.5% least considers it.
In effect, the critical thinking component to historical teaching is gradually shaping and
undergirding the preference of teachers in choosing the modern day way of teaching.
In all, the results shows that the preference of teaching styles used by history tutors in
teaching is in the following order, that is, the inquiry-base style, the coach style, the co-operative
style, and finally, the direct and lecture style of teaching respectively.
Research Question 2: There was the use of means and standard deviations to ascertain the
summary of factors underpinning history tutors choice of teaching style. Results are shown in
table 2.
Table 2 shows that a considerable number of factors underpin history tutors‟ choice of
teaching style and this is indicated with a mean of means score of 2.82, which indicate that
majority of history tutors agree to the posed statement personalised to them. In detail, it can be
gathered that history tutors are in consonance with some of the statements. Statement like „my
personal orientation, believes and values influences my style of teaching‟, the purpose and design
of the course‟, „the norms of the institution I teach‟, „class size‟, „developmental abilities of
students‟, , „available teaching materials‟, „presence of the school principal‟ „interaction with
fellow teachers‟, „duration on timetable and class space‟ were the factors underpinning history
tutors teaching style. These factors were indicated with mean scores of 2.88, 3.38, 2.38, 3.38,
3.50, 3.38, 2.38, 2.50, 2.80 and 2.88 respectively. On the flip side, the only factor that seems not
having any relation to the choice of teaching styles adopted by history tutor was „the current rank
or status of tutor‟ and this was indicated with a mean score of 1.63.
In all, results from table 2 shows that the most emerging issues underpinning history
tutors choice of instructional style are the purpose and design of the various history courses,
teacher immediate class size, and developmental abilities of history students and lastly, available
teaching materials and these were indicated with mean scores above 3.10.
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Discussion
Preferred Teaching Styles Used By History Tutors
The results indicate that history tutors have preferred teaching styles they use during their
instructional process. The styles to an extent deviate from the prescribed activity stipulated in the
history programme. The results further shows that teachers do not tightly follow already
prescribed activity in instructional outline whenever they attempt to bring a change in behaviour
in learners. To this, it is obvious that the „what’ (preferred teaching style) and „why’ (reasons behind the
teaching styles) aspects of history tutors teaching styles practices should not be left unexamined.
On the ‘what’ aspects, history tutors preference for the inquiry based style compared to
teacher-centered approach of teaching, shows that history are employing Grashas‟(1996)
delegator style in teaching history. The rationale behind the style according to Grasha (1996) is to
make learners seek and construct knowledge independently so as to become self-reliant and self-
supporting. With this, history tutors give students tasks to do independently whiles they act as
shadows or coaches or experts behind what they see appropriate for learners to construct. Thus,
history tutors do not leave the inquiry approach of teaching learners to chance, but still ensure
that they act to students what to think and the approach to use for a problem. In doing this, they
provide directions to students by asking questions, giving options to explore, providing
recommendations on alternatives and also develop a criteria for selecting an apt method to a
problem.
Still on the ‘what’ aspect, history tutors aside preference for the inquiry-base and coach
style of teaching, give premium to the co-operative style of teaching. With this approach, history
tutors create a communal approach in efforts to engage students‟ emotion and mental faculties
through real life experience which to Young (2002) enables learners relate personally to the
experiences they receive from classroom discussion.
The focus on the inquiry-based style, coach and co-operative style of teaching indicate
that history tutors are coping with a student-centered approach in teaching students than the
teacher-centered approach (direct and lecture style). Thus, the direct and lecture style which
Goby & Lewis (2000) and Wilson (2011) asserts as making history tutors final authority in
classrooms is fading away and premium is now given to the inquiry and coach style of teaching
which to Alesandrini and Larson (2002) make learners explore and discover knowledge with or
no assistance from tutor.
Factors underpinning History Tutors’ choice of Teaching Styles
The teaching styles aspects of history tutors do not just happen in a vacuum. With this, history
tutors are influenced by certain personal and external factors that exert pressure on what
approach to use in teaching history. The internal factors are what Chapman et. al (2001) and
Zhorik (1990) postulates as stemming from tutors gender, ideology and beliefs. With this, history
tutors exemplify what they teach from their personal orientation, belief and values.
External factors repressive on history tutors teaching style stem from a micro and macro
level perspective. On a micro level, history tutors are influenced by their institutions when it
11. 9 http://aajhss.org/index.php/ijhss
comes to what teaching style to use in the classroom. This, according to Peacock (2001), has its
basis from the immediate environment a tutors teaches which tells that the rules in some
institution do not only end at teachers and students conducts but also at the type of teaching
styles adopted by a history tutor.
Still on the micro-level, history tutors seemed to be influenced by what Rotumoi and Too (2012)
discovered as the exerting influence on the teaching style used by history tutors. To them, it was
discovered that the art and style teachers used in class delivery props from the class space
available which to a degree is in congruence with the finding of this study. This indicates that
class size do not only inform the approach adopted by history tutors on the micro level but also
tells that a tutor‟s teaching style is likely to change when exposed to a larger or small class space.
In relation to the fact that history tutors approach to teaching are susceptible to external micro
factors, it can also be established that teacher relation with colleagues, presence of school
principal during tutors instructional delivery and available duration for instructional deliver all
play roles on the „why‟ aspects behind history tutors instructional style. With this, what
Goodson (cited in Harris-Hart, 2002) refers to as the middle ground curriculum, that is the
subject department and teacher-culture (collegiality) do come to play in the relation to the
influence from the history department and fellow colleagues in the same field of teaching.
On a macro-level, in terms of external factors repressive on history tutors teaching style,
what Boz and Aydin (2009) stressed as motives that informs teachers‟ teaching styles also fall
under the purview of possible factors influencing history tutors‟ teaching style. To this end, what
the authors hinted as the possible factors, that is the purpose and design of the course, teacher
immediate class size, developmental abilities of students and available teaching materials are in
congruence with the macro or major possible factors established by history tutors as
underpinning their teaching style. Thus, it is obvious that student characteristics, structure of a
course coupled with the available teaching materials acts as shadows behind the styles a history
tutor employ to teach the subject.
Conclusion
The study gives backing to the assertion that the conditions surrounding individuals influence
their choice (De Melo, Denizer, Gelb & Tenev, 2001). Thus people‟s choices are likely to change
based on certain irrepressible situations they face. In effect, teachers‟ methods of teaching are
susceptible to change based on pressing issues they face in and outside their classroom. The
preference for the inquiry base approach shifts the focus of transmitting historical contents from
a subject base approach to an activity and integrative method in learning. This direction by
history tutors would de-emphasis the memorization of facts as demanded by the direct or lecture
style but to a modern way that makes learning meaningful to learners.
12. 10 http://aajhss.org/index.php/ijhss
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Appendix
A. Preferred styles used in teaching history
Kindly rank the following teaching style as often used in teaching of History using the scale of 1-
5, with 5-Highly preferred teaching and - not preferred teaching style.
Teaching styles Rank
1. Direct style: Using a strict styles that give students the
knowledge and information they need to succeed.
2. Inquiry-Based style: Allowing students to explore and actively
participate in learning by given assigned tasks through careful
support and guidance..
3. Cooperative style: Teaching students in as in a community and
also making them responsible for their own learning and
development.
4. Lecture Style : Acting as sage in teaching students on stage in
delivering instructional content without implicit active
participation from students.
5. Coach Style: Demonstrating expertise to showing students
what they need to learn.
B. Factors underpinning History tutors’ choice teaching style
Kindly tick [√] the factors that influence your choice of the teaching style you preferred above.
NB: SD- Strongly Disagree D- Disagree A- Agree SA- Strongly Agree
Statements
Extent of
agreement
SD D A SA
7. My personal orientation, beliefs and values influence my
teaching style
8. The purpose and design of the course influence my teaching
style
9. The norms of the institution I teach in influence my teaching
style
15. 13 http://aajhss.org/index.php/ijhss
10. The class number/class size influence my teaching style
11. The developmental abilities of my students influence my
teaching style
12. My current rank or status in the school influence my
teaching style
13. The availability of teaching materials influences my teaching
style.
14. The presence of the school principal influences my teaching
style.
15. My interaction with fellow teachers/head of my department
influences my teaching style.
16. The duration on the time table for teaching influence my
teaching style.
17. The classroom/ lecture theatre space influence my teaching
style.
17. 15
being allocated to the banana sub-sector so that it will contribute to the GNP and employment
of the country significantly. Thus, in order to convert the traditional farmers into such
commercial entrepreneurs they must be trained with new skills to engage in farming more
competitively. In a word, to build up agro-entrepreneurs is the need for the success of this
process.
In Sri Lanka, banana production provides an alternative avenue to add to GNP, create
employment and uplift the livelihood of people in the rural areas. According to available
statistics, 56216 ha of land in the country are under banana cultivation and it produces about
44177 bunches (,000) of annual production (DCS, 2015). However, Kudagamage, Chandrasiri,
and Razmy (2002) highlighted a declining trend in the productivity of banana in relation to land.
Sri Lanka government policies and strategies of agricultural development have focused
on crop diversification and facilitating the creation of self-supporting, self-reliant and prosperous
transformation of the rural sector subsistence agriculture into profitable commercial ventures.
Under the programs initiated with that purpose, the farmers are encouraged for banana farming
in some areas of the country. ‘Udawalawe’ irrigation scheme in South Sri Lanka is one of these
areas. The Government has taken policy steps in transforming conventional agricultural
production into commercial cash crop production. In this irrigation scheme, banana crop was
initially cultivated in the lands where the water supply was sufficiently available for the rice
cultivation. The process of agricultural modernization in the area has been an important
influence to increase the farm productivity, increase income of people and their living standards.
Above all, in the banana development process, the entrepreneurship can be hypothesized as the
most important factor that use achieves the objective. Some authors also agree with this idea and
mention that the farmers should be strengthened with entrepreneurship skills in order to
perform better in their ventures (McElwee, 2006).A substantial amount of banana harvest is
wasted due to the lack of post harvest management skills. It has been estimated that the
postharvest loss of banana is about 28.5% from the farm gate to the retailer (Wasala, et al., 2014
p.087). Information asymmetries or gaps are also hypothesized to be obstacles to this post
harvest wastage. Considering all these developments, this study focuses on the analysis of the
association between entrepreneurship skills and farm level performance of small scale banana
farmers in Sri Lanka.
Literature review: Importance of entrepreneurial skills of farmers
It is argued that implanting entrepreneurial skills in people increases their productivity and also
the income. The theoretical basis for this argument is strongly provided by the human capital
theory initiated by Schultz (1961) and many others developed that theory after Schultz. In short,
the human capital theory says that since education and training embedded in humans increase
their productivity, such people can be considered as valuable capital assets that increases the
productivity similarly to physical capital assets (Schultz, 1961). As such, having entrepreneurial
and other necessary skills in farmers should necessarily increase their productivity than those
who are not having such skills.
However, the human capital theory does not say that what kind of skills the different
kind of entrepreneurs including farmers should have. This problem should be addressed only by
empirical studies conducted targeting on the particularly sector or sub-sector crop which is in
question. Again the empirical studies which have been directly focused on the effect of
entrepreneurial skills of farmers on their farmer and farming performance are infrequent.
However, the studies focused on the effects of entrepreneurial skills of farmers on their
performance are to a certain extent available in both developed and developing countries other
than Sri Lanka. As such, the review of empirical literature on this issue covers the studies done
18. 16
with regard to the entire agricultural entrepreneurial activities or the sub-sectors of the
agricultural sector.
Siriwardene and Jayewardene (2014) conducted a research on socio-demographic factors
contributing to the productivity in paddy farming in Sri Lanka. They found that innovation and
adoption of new practices as the major contributing factor of paddy productivity. This finding
shows an association with the entrepreneurship of farmers since generally the innovations and
adoption of new practices are remained among the basic attributes of successful entrepreneurs.
Weir (1999) studied the effects of general education on farmer productivity in the rural
sector in Ethiopia. According to him, the education system in Ethiopia is characterized with very
low rates of participation in rural areas. The empirical analysis employed in studying the effect of
education on farmer productivity found that farmer was benefitted by their education in terms of
efficiency gains. However, in order to make that effective, they found that a minimum of four
years of education was required for a farmer. This is in a traditional society where the majority of
people were not educated. However, in the case of Sri Lanka, almost all the farmers at present
have completed the primary education and they are in a position to get advantages of additional
skills if they are provided with.
Hanf and Muller (1997) as cited by McElwee (2005) suggest that in a dynamic world that
the technical progress is fast, only the open-mined farming entrepreneurs are able to recognize
more problems. As they mention, an agro entrepreneur should create and maintain the cognitive
side sufficiently for problem solving by allocating time to management, decision making tasks,
etc.
Anglo et al (2014) conducted a study on the influence of the entrepreneur and enterprise
characteristics on the success of cage fish farming in Ghana. They found that technical
knowhow, attitudes towards work and managerial skills had significant association with the
profitability and the customer satisfaction as well. They recommended encouraging the cage fish
farmers to invest more in their technical education.
Mbam and Nwibo (2013) conducting a research on entrepreneurship development as a
strategy for poverty alleviation among farming households in Igbo-Eze North local Government
area of Enugu state, Nigeria. Having analyzed the data collected from 120 respondents, they
revealed that development and acquisition of entrepreneurship skills among the farmers were
limited by inadequate power supply, high taxation, poor access to credit, high taxation and the
poor government policies on entrepreneurial development. Furthermore, they found that
entrepreneurial development had contributed to the poverty reduction in the area.
Titianne (2013) also conducted a study on the entrepreneurship and the effect on small
dairy farming in Kenya. He mentions that smallholder activity is the backbone of the agricultural
sector in Kenya. Since, donors and different development agencies attempted to develop the
agricultural sector mostly through the intervention of adopting the value chain approach. The
study aimed at understanding whether entrepreneurial value chain drivers such as access to
finance, training, resources, etc. had an influence on the performance of smallholders within the
dairy value chain. The data suggested that training and also the access to incentives and resources
had improved the performance of smallholders in Kenya. A larger impact had been reflected on
the quantity of milk which was followed by increased revenue, herd and also the quality of milk.
This means that training provided to farmers in combination with other services and resources
significantly affect the farmer performance.
19. 17
Noor and Dola (2011) studied the impact of far training on farmers’ perception and
performance regarding Malaysian livestock farmers. A total of 323 farmers and training
personnel had been participated as respondents in this study. The findings revealed that there
was a positive trend had been emerged due to the training of farmers. The perception of the
farmers also was that the training had been contributed to change them and to make them better.
The impact could be seen in the increased quality of work, farm products, income and
networking while the cost and time were decreased.
Feder, Murgai and Quizon (2004) reveal that better knowledge of farmers reduces the
use of pesticides in farming while trained farmers were more successful in that attempt.
However, they had also observed that there was no diffusion of the knowledge of the trained
farmers to those who were not trained. They may have got such a result because, under
competitive circumstances, farmers may be reluctant to pass the knowledge to the other rivals of
the same area.
The above review of the literature is sufficient to understand that the provision of
different kinds of entrepreneurial skills to farmers in whatever the field that they are engaged in
will generate important outcomes for the farmers themselves and also for the economy or the
society. However, it shows that skill types and the socio-economic variables involved in raising
the productivity are dependent on the type of crop, related farming practices and the socio-
economic-demographic attributes of farmers. When considering the banana farming in Sri
Lanka, no study has been conducted so far according to the review of literature. Therefore, this
review provides the basis for such a study.
Statement of the Problem
Banana farming in Sri Lanka have been identified as one of the alternative sectors which is
potential to generate multiple benefits to the society and the economy. However, this sector still
remains traditional with very low contribution in almost all aspects. It is assumed that in order to
make this sector dynamic, it is necessary to convert this sector from the traditional standing to
the commercialized farming. However, the commercialization is much dependent on the
possibility of increasing the productivity. As both theoretical and empirical literature suggest, the
productivity again largely dependent on the entrepreneurial skills of the farmers. However, again
the literature shows that the farmer productivity becomes a function of farmer entrepreneurial
skills which are associated with. Therefore, the study intends to solve the problem that how the
profitability, financial performance, marketing orientation and productivity are associated with
the entrepreneurial skills banana farmers.
Objectives
The main objective of the study is to examine whether there is a relationship between
entrepreneurial skills of banana farmers and the farmer performance which can be measured in
terms of profitability, financial performance, marketing orientation and productivity. The study
examines how the entrepreneurial skills are combined with the farmers each and every
performance variables related to the banana cultivation. Finally, it is intended to draw
implications for improving the banana farming in Sri Lanka.
Methodology
The study was totally dependent on the quantitative method of analysis which was designed
under the positivist approach. The study was conducted using quantitative methods under the
20. 18
positivist paradigm. The entrepreneurship skills of small scale farmers and their level of
performance were investigated through the study. It includes the variables of the study, methods
of analysis and the details about the data and collection of data.
Study Area and the sample
The banana cultivation in Sri Lanka has been largely concentrated in the Southern region. As
such, the study was carried out in the southeastern dry zone in the Hambantota district of the
Southern province in Sri Lanka. Multi stage sampling procedure was used to select sampling
units for the study. The first step was the selection of a Divisional Secretariat Division (DSD)
from the Hambantota district and it was the Suriyawewa DSD which was selected on judgmental
basis. Second step involved in selecting Grama Niladari (GN) divisions from the Suriyawewa
DSD and it was completed by selecting four (4) GN divisions on random basis. Step three was
the selection of 250 respondents randomly from the four DN divisions. Out of 250 banana
farmers 200 farmers had responded successfully for the questionnaire survey. The questionnaire
was formulated using both structured and unstructured open-ended questions. The survey
questionnaire developed basically based on the entrepreneurship skills section of a previous
questionnaire (European Certificate in Entrepreneurship – ECENT, 2006as cited in Morales, &
Marquina, 2012) as well as the logically developed questions. Data collection was carried out in
August, 2014.
Measurement of variables and methods of analysis
First, factor analysis was conducted in order to identify the factorable entrepreneurial skills of
farmers. Then, a canonical analysis was conducted for determining the association between
entrepreneurial factors and farm level performance related variables, profitability, financial
performance, marketing orientation and productivity. Farmers' entrepreneurship skills were
measured with the help of likert scale that varies from 1 to 5. Using a likert scale was appropriate
since it expected to have the advantage of allowing the farmers for degrees of their opinion
(McLeod, 2008).
In assessing the farm level performance, many researchers use different kinds of
variables. This study uses ‘profitability’, ‘financial performance’, ‘marketing orientation’ and
‘productivity’ as a set of farm level performance variables to determine the magnitude of the
relationships with farmers' entrepreneurship skills.
Profitability: Profitability variable is constructed by deducting the variable cost of production of
banana farming from the total revenue obtained from the harvest. Many other researchers are
agreed in measuring the profitability using this method of calculation (Sulumbe et al., 2010;
Olayiwolaa, 2008). As such, the profitability is dependent on sale price per unit, quantity of sales
and on the costs of production.
Financial performance: A composite indicator was used as a proxy for financial performance
of the farmers. This was an aggregated index comprised of several individual performance
indicators and scales related to finance. The indicators were self-reported profit of the last
consecutive three years, debt-income ratio, household savings of farmers, capital investment in
the last three years, and the insurance usage.
Marketing orientation: In order to measure the marketing performance, an index was
constructed using six marketing methods practiced by banana farmers in Sri Lanka (Wasala et al.,
2012). A high score of the index indicates a greater degree of marketing. The famers used
several channels of marketing, such as 1). Selling their products to the collectors, who came to
their farms, 2).Selling their product to the whole sellers, 3).Taking their harvest to the closest
21. 19
economic center for sale. 4).Selling the harvest to retail outlets, while 5) and 6) included, in turn,
selling the harvest within their own district and selling the harvest outside the district. A low
score on the index shows that a famer does not make a big effort for selling the production.
Productivity: Agricultural productivity is determined by number factors. According to Fried et
al. (2008), productivity is the ratio of its output to its inputs. This study defines the productivity
as the ratio of value of the total farm output to the value of total farm inputs which were used in
production in the two consecutive cropping sessions.
Results and Discussion
Study population profile
The study population consisted of a majority (98%) of male heads of households who were the
main decision makers in their families. The age distribution shows that majority of respondent
farmers are middle-aged, while about 65 percent for those within the age range of 35-59 years
while the average age of the sample was 47 years. Every respondent farmer had completed some
level of formal education while almost 45 percent had completed primary education that ranges
from grade 5 to grade 10. The remaining 37 percent and 18 percent, respectively obtained the
G.C.E. Ordinary Level and G.C.E. Advanced Level qualifications.
To categorize factors affecting entrepreneurship skills of small scale banana farmers and
to determine the variance explained by each factor, an exploratory factor analysis was performed.
The four commonly used decision rules were applied to identify the factors (Hair et al, 2005): 1)
minimum eigenvalue 2) minimum factor loading of 0.5 for each indicator item; 3) simplicity of
factor structure, and 4) exclusion of single item factors.
22. 20
According to Table I, there are five factors that explain entrepreneurial skills. The first factor is
defined as ‘Confidence and risk taking behavior’. The second factor can be named as ‘Collective
Action and Cooperation’. The third factor is recognized as ‘Readiness to change and
Innovativeness’ while the fourth factor is referred to as ‘Drive and Administrative Skills’. Finally,
the fifth factor is labeled as ‘Visionary and Profit Oriented’.
Canonical Correlation Analysis
After the factor analysis a canonical correlation analysis was performed, exploring the
relationship between two sets of variables, the entrepreneurial skills and the farmer performance
factors. The analysis expected to determine the extent of the relationship between the predictor
variable set of entrepreneurship skills variable and the dependent variable set of farm level
performance variables of small scale banana farmers.
23. 21
Table 2: Multivariate Tests and correlations
Multivariate Tests of Significance (S = 4, M = 0, N = 94 1/2) Panel A
Test Name Value Approximate
F
Hypothesis
DF
Error DF Significance of F
Pillais’s .63906 7.37750 20.00 776.00 .000
Hotellings’s 1.05440 9.99047 20.00 758.00 .000
Wilks’s .44621 8.73792 20.00 634.43 .000
Roys’s .45792
Eigenvalues and Canonical Correlations Panel B
Root No. Eigenvalue % Cumulative
%.
Canonical
Correlation
Squared Correlati
on
1 .84474 80.11549 80.11549 .67670 .45792
2 .18204 17.26478 97.38027 .39244 .15401
3 .02153 2.04144 99.42170 .14516 .02107
4 .00610 .57830 100.00000 .07785 .00606
Dimension Reduction Analysis Panel C
Roots Wilks λ F Hypothesis
DF
Error DF Significance of F
1 TO 4 .44621 8.73792 20.00 634.43 .000
2 TO 4 .82315 3.23313 12.00 508.28 .000
3 TO 4 .97300 .88664 6.00 386.00 .505
4 TO 4 .99394 .59146 2.00 194.00 .555
Source: Author constructed.
This study used an interpretation similar to that of Sherry and Henson (2005). The
canonical correlations show how much variance of the dependent variables is explained by the
dimensions. Table 2 shows the overall multivariate tests for dimensionality. The testing of latent
successive roots, the eigenvalues and canonical correlation coefficients yielded by the analysis are
presented in Panel A and Panel B of Table 2. The canonical correlations show how much
variance of the dependent variables is explained by the dimensions. This model shows four
canonical dimensions of which only the first two are statistically significant. The first test of
dimensions that tested whether all dimensions combined were significant, found that it was
significant. The second test of dimensions that tested whether dimensions 1 to 4 combined were
significant also found that it was significant. The third test of dimensions that tested whether
dimensions 2 to 4 combined were significant, found that it was also significant. However, it was
found that the third and fourth tests were not significant.
Canonical correlation reflects the percentage of variance in the dependent canonical
variate explained by the predictor canonical variate. The result indicates a highly significant
function (p < .000) and provides the proportion of total variability not explained, i.e. it is the
converse of the squared canonical correlation. The key statistic indicating whether or not there is
a relationship between the criterion and predictor variables is the significance test for Wilks‟
lambda. Wilks' lambda, being the proportion of the total variance scores not explained by
differences among the groups shows about 43% of the variance which has not been explained by
24. 22
group differences. Wilks‟ lambda test statistic is used for testing the null hypothesis that the
given canonical correlation and all smaller ones are equal to zero in the population. Each value
can be calculated as the product of ‘farm level performance’ for the set of canonical correlations
being tested. In this analysis, the canonical correlations are 0.67670, 0.39244, 0.14516 and
0.07785and so the value for testing all four of the correlations are zero (1- 0. 67670)*(1-0.
39244)*(1-0. 14516)*(1-0.07785)* = 0.44621.
Figure 1 depicts the canonical correlations for an uncomplicated
interpretation of results. It shows that the correlations between the two sets of variables are 0.67
for root 1 and 0.39 for root 2. These indicate statistically significant correlations between the two
constructs, accepting that there is a significant correlation between ‘farm level performance’ and
the ‘entrepreneurship skills’. Two sets of variables show a strong relationship when all
dimensions (roots) are taken together while it gradually declines from 0.67 to 0.39 when the
dimensions are reduced from 4 to 2.
An interpretation of the correlations (factor loadings) between the
canonical variables and the dependent variables, which represents latent factors, provides crucial
economic insights. The factor loadings of ‘Confidence and Risk Taking Behavior', 'Collective
Action and Cooperation', 'Readiness to change and Innovativeness', 'Drive and Administrative
Skills' and Visionary and Profit Oriented' 0.67, 0.30, 0.81,0.82,0.42, and 0.68 respectively. On the
other hand, factor loadings shown in the right hand side of the figure indicate how much of the
variation in the dependent variables is explained by the independent latent factors. It shows that
factor loadings of ‘Profitability', 'Marketing Performance', 'Financial Performance', and
'Productivity' are respectively 0.39,0.67,0.59 and 0.80. The root 2 of 4 also can be understood in
the same way as above.
25. 23
Figure 1: Canonical correlation of likelihood of risk tolerance behavior and investment in
education
Root 1 of 4
.30 Confidence and
Risk Taking
Behavior
Profitability
.39 Canonical Correlation .81 Collective Action
and Cooperation
0.67
Marketing Performance
.67
Farm Level
Performance
Entrepreneurship
Skills
.82 Readiness to
change and
Innovative
Financial Performance
.59 .42 Drive and
Administrative
Skills
Productivity
.80 .68 Visionary and
Profit Oriented
Root 1 of 4
-.48 Confidence and
Risk Taking
Behavior
Profitability
-.23 Canonical Correlation -.50 Collective Action
and Cooperation
0.39
Marketing Performance
-.58
Farm Level
Performance
Entrepreneurship
Skills
.12 Readiness to
change and
Innovative
Financial Performance
-.27 .36 Drive and
Administrative
Skills
Productivity
.57 .50 Visionary and
Profit Oriented
Source: Authors constructed.
The canonical correlation analysis was conducted using four farm level performance
variables as predictors of the five entrepreneurship skills variables to evaluate the multivariate,
the shared multivariate relationship between the two sets of variables. The analysis obtained two
functions with squared canonical correlations (Rc2) of .45792 and .15401 for each successive
function. The full model across all functions was statistically significant using the Wilks’s λ =
.44621 criterion, F (20, 634.43) = 8.73792, p<.000. Wilks’s λ represents the variance unexplained
by the model and, thus, 1-λ means the full model effect size in an r2 metric.
26. 24
The dimension reduction analysis obtained by the analysis was made use for testing the
hierarchical arrangement of functions for statistical significance. The full model and also the
functions, and 2 to 4 were statistically significant, F (20, 634.43) = 8.73792, p<.000 and F (12,
508.28) = 3.23313, p<.000 respectively. Functions 3 and 4 did not explain a statistically
significant amount of shared variance between the variable sets, F (6, 386.00) = 0 .88664, p<
.505 and F (2, 194.00) = 0.59146, p<.555. From Rc2 effects obtained for each function, only the
first two functions were considered and respectively represented 46 percent and 15 percent of
shared variance. The last two functions only explained 2 percent and less than 1% respectively,
of the remaining variance in the variable sets after the extraction of the first two functions.
Table 3:Canonical association of entrepreneurship skills and farm level performance
Function 1 Function 2
Variables Coef rs rs2(%) Coef rs rs2 h2(%)
Profitability .0769 .3930 0.15 -.1299 -.2393 0.057 0.21
Marketing Performance .4063 .6723 0.45 -.7161 -.5866 0.344 0.80
Financial Performance .3490 .5949 0.36 -.2359 -.2732 0.079 0.45
Productivity .6095 .8024 0.64 .8385 .5777 0.334 0.98
RC2 67.67 39.24
Confidence and Risk Taking
Behavior
.0136 .3064 0.09 -.4357 -.4817 0.232 0.33
Collective Action and
Cooperation
.4634 .8143 0.66 -.7732 -.5082 0.258 0.92
Readiness to change and
Innovative
.4377 .8294 0.69 .3459 .1205 0.015 0.70
Drive and Administrative Skills .0323 .4237 0.18 .1137 .3606 0.130 0.31
Visionary and Profit Oriented .3524 .6861 0.47 .6238 .5042 0.254 0.72
Note. Structure coefficients (rs ) greater than |.45| are underlined. Communality coefficients (h2
)
greater than 45% are underlined. Coef .= standardized canonical function coefficient; rs =
structure coefficient; rs
2
= squared structure coefficient; h2
= communality coefficient.
Table 3 presents the standardized canonical function coefficients and structure
coefficients for function 1 and 2. The squared structure coefficients (rs2) and the communalities
(h2) are also given for the two functions and each variable. Function 1 reported a canonical
correlation of 0.67 between two sets of variables. In terms of original variables’ importance in
predicting the identified canonical correlation (rs> 0.45), "Marketing Performance", "Financial
Performance" and "Productivity" were found that positively contribute to the canonical
correlation. In the first dependent variate, the three variables have loadings equal to or
exceeding 0.59, indicating a strong degree of inter correlation among the three variables,
suggesting that all three measures are strongly representative of farm level performance of small
scale banana farmers. However, the ranking of the average share of canonical loading indicates
that productivity, marketing performance and financial performance are the best indicators of
farm level performance.
In function 1, set of independent variates display positive loadings, ranging from 0. 3064
to 0.8294 The extraction of the variates in canonical correlation is to maximize the predictive
objectives, so it is not surprising that the three variables with the highest loading are "Collective
action and cooperation" (0.8143), "Readiness to change and innovative" (0.8294) and "Visionary
and profit oriented "(0.6861), are the variables that contribute most to farm level performance of
the framers. However, "Drive and administrative skills" (0.4237) and Confidence and "Risk
27. 25
taking behavior" (0.3064) also represents considerable amount of the observed variation in farm
level performance of the framers.
Moving to Function 2, the coefficients in Table 3 display quite a different pattern,
"Marketing performance" was found to be the one that strongly contributes to the canonical
correlation (-.5866) even though it was inversely related and Productivity variable (.5777) also has
some predictive power. According to this function, "Collective Action and Cooperation" skills (-
.4817) was the dominant predictor alone with a negative coefficient for "Confidence and Risk
Taking Behavior"(-.4817). It can also be seen that "Collective action and cooperation" skills were
positively related for "Visionary and profit oriented" (.5042) skills of the farmers.
Conclusion
The aim of the study was to examine how far the entrepreneurial skills of banana farmers are
associated with the farmer performance factors. The study recognized that collective action and
cooperation, readiness to change and innovativeness, and visionary and profit oriented nature
have a significant association with the farmer performance factors. It also identified that the
marketing performance, financial performance and productivity were the main contributors of
the performance of the banana farmers.
The association between variables shows that collective action and cooperation, readiness
to change and innovativeness and visionary and profit oriented are significant policy variables
that can raise the marketing performance and financial performance and the productivity in
banana farming. Among the relationships which have been revealed from the analysis, it shows
that the strongest is the relationship between collective action and cooperation, readiness to
change and innovativeness and the farm productivity. As such, it can be suggested to strengthen
the farmers with these skills so that nearly all economic performance variables are positively
directed.
It is also interesting to see that confidence and risk taking behavior of farmers have a
negative relationship with the productivity. The farmers who take the risk of planting banana
during severe droughts may face such a low productivity problem.
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Introduction
Background to the study
It is evident that parents are the first point of contact of children and when both parents are alive
and responsible, it implies that the child would derive effective care from the parents (Tan-
Kuick, & Ng, 2011). They further asserted that, when one of the parent is absent in the life of a
child a gap is created as the child would lose the support from the parents. In the view of Addo-
Adeku, Opare and Banini (2003), it has been affirmed that single parenting comes as a results of
divorce or from the death of one spouse which leaves the roles of child rearing in the hands of a
one parent. In the work of Benokraitis (2002), there is enough evidence that the magnitudes of
parental divorce is different from others and are mostly depends on a lot of factors. He further
argues that the absence of one parent has serious effects on the child which eventually influences
the educational opportunities and success of the child in school. The above ascensions show that
single parenting can have effects on children in diverse ways for example academic performance
of children. Parents plays a major role in educating their children and the type of parenting they
offer to their children have the ability to influence their thinking and learning abilities at the
formative years of children (Sulaiman, 2012).
It appears that, there is relationship between parenting and students’ academic performance.
That is, single parenting can affect students’ performance. It is against this backdrop that Addae-
Boahene and Akorful (2000), Boardman and Evans (2000) and Nyarko (2011) in their study
believed that in order to help alleviate the problems that plague in educational system today, the
right parenting should be given to children so as to help raise the standard of quality education.
To them, parenting is crucial in developing the right human resources who can take part in the
national development. If the child’s cognition may develop positively or negatively and affect
educational attainment, it is based largely on the type of parental care the child is given.
In Ghana, not until recently, most studies were concentrated on the impact of community
participation and its involvement in school activities and how it can influence on student’s
academic performance. Most studies were not recognising the significant impact of parenting on
students’ academic attainment (Addae-Boahene & Akorful, 2000; Boardman & Evans, 2000;
Nyarko, 2011).
Statement of the problem
The falling standards of education in Ghana today can be attributed to many factors. The
government of Ghana and other concern cooperate bodies have tried to put many strategies and
policies in place to help solve these problems through a number of educational reforms. The
government is still spending huge sums of resources to help in improving these educational
problems and challenges that plague in our educational system. However, statistics still gives
evidence that these problems are still within the Ghanaian educational system which has
reflected poor performances among students most especially at the basic schools level.
According to Nyarko (2011), he attributed the falling standard of education in Ghana to of lack
of parental involvement in their wards education. He further asserted that lack of parental
supervision and monitoring also leads to poor academic performance among students. This
situation is quite evident in the Cape Coast Metropolis where majority of children are not been
supervised and monitored due to the fact that they are living under single parents. This therefore
gives the researchers the impetus to conduct an empirical study to find out the effect of single
parenting on students’ academic performance at Amamoma Presbyterian Junior High School in
the Cape Coast Metropolis.
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Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of single parenting on the academic
performance among the students of Amamoma Presbyterian Junior High School in the Cape
Coast Metropolis. The purpose of study was also to come out with the extent to which single
parenting has affected the academic performance of student’s. This will help contribute to
knowledge by shedding light on the effects of single parenting. The study again aimed to
generate enough data for teachers, workers, counsellors, psychologists social and parents who are
concerned with the care and welfare of the basic school student’s on the issue of single
parenting.
Research Questions
1. What are the attitudes of students’ towards of living under single parents?
2. What are the effects of single parent on student’s academic performance?
Review of Related Literature
Single parenting and its effects on academic performances of students
Conducted studies on effects of single parenting gives ample evidence that single parenting
generates a lot of effects on the well-being of the students living under such conditions. Hilton
and Desrochers (2002) posits that the parent’s psychological that occurs in children after a
divorce has a direct effect on their well-being. Undeniably, all parents want their children to do
well at school, but not all parents are willing in putting strategies in place to facilitating the
success and progress of their children (Nelson, 2009). Adolescents and young adults need
educational assistants from their families, especially with their immediate parents to be able to
succeed in their higher education and their life as well. Tope (2012) pointed out that, because of
the impact that single parenting has on the development of children’s personality traits, as well as
social and academic achievements, it is necessary and worthwhile that it should be given the
needed attention.
Similarly, Jacobs and Harvey (2005) indicated in their study that single parenting serves as one of
the major contributors to student’s academic attainment in schools. They further established that
most children under the guidance of single parents are seriously affected in the pursuit of their
educational career as they grow. According to them, these effects comes most of the time from
the single mother or father who does not have adequate resources to support their children’s
educational enterprise. Clark and Hamplova (2013) found out that most children under the
supervision of single parenting lose concentration of their academics. The above ample evidence
in literature insinuates that single parenting is correlated with children’s school achievement.
Inconsistency and poor parenting given to children are correlated with lower grades in children
performance.
Tope (2012) again, reported that recognising the impacts of education in the world today, it is
very imperative that parents are encouraged and motivated to make positive efforts to ensure an
active involvement and participation in the education of their wards so as to provide their
children with the capacity to receive all the necessary assistants in their education. Tope further
indicated that although students are primarily the ones for whom curricula are designed,
textbooks are written, and schools are built for. However, parents are chiefly the ones who are
held responsible for preparing their children for learning, preparing them physically,
psychologically, behaviourally, attitudinally, emotionally, and motivationally. From the assertions
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of Tope it therefore means that without the appropriate parenting children are more likely to
perform poorly in school especially at their formative years of age.
Many studies have documented the challenges faced by children living under single parents and
its d sized effects on their performance. Even though, some of these studies have been
unconvincing, a majority of them reviewed show that children from single-parent homes score
lower on tests items in their class, poor thinking abilities and eventually complete fewer years of
school as compared to children from two-parent homes (Glasgow, Dornbusch, Troyer,
Steinberg, & Ritter, 2004).
In a study conducted by Kim (2004), it was pointed out that parental involvement in the school
environment appears greater because most parents engaged themselves in some school activities
such as Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA). Some also spends enough time to discuss the
potentials of their children, others parents discuss school work and make sure that their children
do their exercises, homework, projects. The results further showed that responsible couples are
more likely to involve in their children’s education than single parent.
In another research conducted by Clarke-Stewart, Vandell, McCartney, Owen and Booth (2000),
the findings revealed that parental involvement is positively associated with students’ academic
performance in school but student’s will turn to perform poorly when their parents are not much
involved in their education. In a related way, Donkor (2010) in his study indicated that lack of
proper supervision and monitoring of their wards progress in schools leads to poor performance
of their children. He further expanded that parents who actively engage themselves in the
academic activities of their children, are most likely to have a positive influence on their
academic performance.
According to Berk (2000), the differences in academic performance of children will exist when
children living under single parents are provided with the need academic as compare to children
who enjoy all the academic benefits. Berk further explained that in two parent’s homes, both the
parents have a significant role to play in child’s education lifetime. The role of the father is to
give the necessary learning aids for the child educational advancement, whilst the mother is to
serve as a supplement to the father's efforts in order to give the best to the child. Kelly and
Emery (2003) in their study examined the effects of family structure and parenthood on the
academic performance of students. They pointed out that students from single sometimes
perform poorly due to the fact that they do not get external support from the parents.
Methodology
Research Design
The research design adopted for the study was descriptive survey. The descriptive survey design
was employed or deemed appropriate because the study sought to collect data from students on
their attitudes towards single parenting and the effects of single parenting on their studies
through the use of questionnaire.
Sample and sampling procedure
Forty seven (47) students living under single parenting at the Amamoma Presbyterian Junior
High School were identified and considered for the study. Purposive sampling was used in
selecting participants in the school. The rationale for using this sampling technique in selecting
the participants was informed by the fact that the respondents constitute the core subject for the
study. Besides, they are the students who possess the appropriate information for the study.
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Instrument
The instrument that was used for the data collection was solely questionnaire. Care was therefore
taken to ensure that the questions were clear and unambiguous and easy for the student’s to
understand and respond accurately.
Data Collection
The questionnaires were self-administered. Items in the questionnaire were thoroughly explained
to the students before they were made to provide responses to the items. This ensured clarity
and accuracy of the responses. The questionnaire was administered and collected the same day.
This was to ensure 100% return rate. Basically, data gathered in the study were analysed
descriptively (using tables, frequencies and percentages). The results of the findings were then
interpreted.
Data Analysis
Demographic Data
Table 1 shows the gender distribution of the respondents involved in the study. Gender is an
important social, cultural and psychological construct which describes the expected attitudes and
behaviours a society associates with sex.
Table 1. Demographic Data (N=47)
S/N Demographic of respondent N (%)
1. Gender - Male
- Female
35 (74.5)
12 (25.5)
2. Age -10-12 yrs.
-13-15 yrs.
-16-18 yrs.
13 (27.7)
18 (38.3)
16 (34.0)
3. Grade/Class - JHS 1
- JHS 2
- JHS 3
11 (23.4)
23 (48.9)
13 (27.7)
Key: N- Number of respondent. %- Percentage.
Source: Author’s Survey, November, 2015
Table 1 represents the demographic data of students living under single parents who participated
in the study and their corresponding percentages. From the table, it is indicated that 35 (74.5%)
were males, 12 (25.5%) were females. The table further shows that between the ages of 10- 12
there were 13 (27.7%) of the respondents. 18 (38.3%) of them fell within the ages of 13-15 and
16 (34.0%) were between the ages of 16-18 yrs. with respect to their grades or class, 11 (23.4%)
were in JHS 1, 23 (48.9%) were also in JHS 2 whilst 13 (27.7%) were in JHS 3.
Research question 1.
What are the attitudes of students towards single parenting?
The objective of this research question was to find out the attitudes of students towards single
parenting. The results are presented in Table 2.
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Table 2: The attitudes of students towards single parenting (N=47)
Statements Yes No Total
N % N % N %
1. Do you feel depressed living
under a single parent? 39 82.9 8 17.0 47 100
2. Do you like to be taken care of
by one parent? 3 6.30 44 93.6 47 100
3. Are you emotionally disturbed
living under a single parent? 42 89.3 5 10.5 47 100
4. Do you like the conditions of
living with one parent? 4 8.50 43 91.5 47 100
Key: N- Number of respondents, %- Percentage.
Source: Authors Survey, November, 2015
From the above table, it is revealed that 39 (82.9%) respondents confirmed that they feel
depressed living under a single parent. 8 (17.0%) students also responded that they do not feel
depressed living under a single parent. The table again shows that 44 (93.6%) students responded
that they do not like being taken care of by one parent. 3 (6.3%) students also responded that
they like to be taken care of by one parent. It is again evident from the table that 42 (89.3%)
students feel emotionally disturbed living under a single parent whereas 5 (10.6%) students are
not emotionally disturbed living under a single parent. Finally from the table 43 (91.5%)
indicated that they do not like the conditions of living with one parents and 4 (8.5%) said they
like the conditions of living with one parent.
Research question 2.
The effects of single parenting on students
The objective of this research question was to investigate and find out the effects of single
parenting on students. The results are presented in Table 3 below
Table 3.The effects of single parenting on student’s academic performance (N=47)
S/
N
Statements Yes % No %
1 Are you provided with enough learning materials at home to
aid your studies?
3 6.30 44 93.6
2 Does your parent pay your school fees regularly? 8 17.0 39 82.9
3 Does your parent get time to attend school meetings such as
PTA?
13 27.6 34 72.3
4 Does your parent assist you in doing your homework? 4 8.50 43 91.4
5 Does your parent monitor and supervise the progress of your
academic?
10 21.2 37 78.7
6 Are you made to be engaged in any commercial activities
such as selling, fishing to support your education?
29 61.7 18 38.2
7 Does your parent involve you in some co-curricular activities
such as excursions?
12 25.5 35 74.4
8 Do you partake in extra classes in the school? 11 23.4 36 76.5
9 Are you given enough feeding money when going to school? 7 14.8 40 85.1
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10 Does your parent regularly buy your school uniform? 14 29.7 33 70.2
Key: N- Number of respondents. %- Percentage.
Source: Authors Survey, November, 2015
From the above table, it is shown that, 44 (93.6%) students answered that they are not provided
with enough learning materials at home to aid your studies. Only 3 (6.3%) of them answered that
they are provided with enough learning materials at home to aid your studies even though they
live under single parent. Again, 39 (82.9%) of the students agreed that their parent does not pay
their school fees regularly. Eight (17.0%) agreed that their parent pay their school fees regularly.
Thirty four (72.3%) admitted that their parent does not get time to attend school meetings such
as PTA. Thirteen (27.6%) admitted that their parent gets time to attend school meetings such as
PTA. 43 (91.4%) said that their parent does not assist them in doing your homework. Only 4
(8.5%) agreed that their parent assists them in doing their homework. Thirty seven (78.7%) of
the students responded that their parent does not monitor and supervise their progress in
academics whiles 10 (21.1%) answered that their parent monitors and supervises their progress
in academics. Twenty nine (61.7%) admitted that they are made to engage in some commercial
activities such as selling and fishing to support their education. Eighteen (38.2%) answered that
are not made to engage in some commercial activities such as selling and fishing to support their
education. Thirty five (74.4%) agreed that due to lack of financial support, their parent does not
involve them in some co-curricular activities such as excursions. Only 12 (25.5%) students said
their parents involve them in some co-curricular activities. The table still show that 36 (76.5%)
agreed that they do not partake in extra classes in the school. A minimum of 11 (23.4%) students
said that they partake in extra classes in the school. A large population of the respondents, that
is, 40 (85.1%) agreed that they are not given enough feeding money when going to school. A few
of them, that is, 7 (14.8%) agreed that they are given enough feeding money when going to
school. Finally, 33 (70.2%) said their parent does not buy their school uniform regularly whereas
14 (29.7%) agreed that their parent buys their school uniform regularly even though they are
living under single parent.
Results and Discussions
The first research question was to explore the attitudes of students towards single parenting.
Considering the nature of single parenting in Amamoma Junior High School and its effects on
student’s reactions and attitudes, it is not surprising for one to realised that the key findings of
the study gave evidence that majority of the students living under single parent have negative
attitudes and reactions towards single parenting. It was affirmed that students living under single
parent care are mostly depressed and emotionally not sound in their educational endeavours,
making them reluctant towards their academic progress and subsequently they perform poorly as
compared to their peers living under double parents. The findings of the study is parallel to the
study of Berk (2000) that, differences in academic performance of children exist when those
living under single parents are emotionally disturbed and cannot cope with their learning and
usually perform worse than from two parent families. That notwithstanding, Kelly and Emery
(2003) in their study which examined the effects of family structure and parenthood on the
academic performance of students, agreed with this study that children living under single
parents are less privileged to most of the parental care and are less likely to perform well in
schools.
The second research question was also to investigate the effects of single parenting on student’s
academic performance. The findings of the study revealed that most children living under single
parents are challenged with a lot of factors that retards their academic pursuit. Noticeable ones
among them is that, majority of students living under single parents are not provided with
