WSUWalter Sisulu University

SURNAME&INITIALS : MBANJWA.Z.

STUDENT NUMBER : 215166973

MODULE CODE : RSP44M2

SUBJECT : HISTORY

LECTURER : Dr J. MVENENE

RESEARCH TOPIC : THE ATTITUDE OF SENIOR

SECONDARY STUDENTS

TOWARDS HISTORY
DECLARATION

I declare that “The attitude of senior secondary students towards history’’ dissertation

hereby submitted to the Walter Sisulu University , for a Degree has not previously been

submitted by any of the participating researchers in this study for a degree at this or

any other university; it is my work in design and execution and that all material

contained herein has been duly acknowledged.

Student no. 215166973 Signature: Z .M Date 9/ 01 / 2021

DEDICATION

This research is dedicated to my parents MAFUYA AND NOSIZILE MBANJWA, who made
a good job of raising me and instilling in me the culture of education, it is also
dedicated to my family who always supported me through thick and thin.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I want to thank my torch and energizer: Jehovah the almighty God, who gave
me wisdom and courage to persevere when I thought and felt that giving up was the
best way. I also want to extend my gratitude to the following people that I love, respect
and honor in such a manner that is difficult, if not impossible, to express with paper and
ink only, they are hard to find. I’d like to special thank my siblings; Xolelwa , Veliswa
and my only brother Vuyolwethu ,who have been there for me since the beginning, for
giving me strength ,courage and of course love.

My families who encouraged and supported me through my journey in the completion

of this study. Extended family members; brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces. My
friends and Colleagues: who were always there for me until completion of this project.

Those whom we may have omitted, it was never intentional

Mbanjwa Zuko.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS

1.1 INTRODUCTION

1.2 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1.4 AIMS OF THE STUDY

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.6 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

1.7 RATIONAL OF THE STUDY

1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

1.9 CONCLUSION

10 RECOMMENDATIONS

11 REFERENCE
1.1 INTRODUCTION

History is a subject that is an integral part of the South African secondary school
curriculum. The importance of studying history as a subject lies in the fact that it puts
into perspective humanity's past events, accounts and how they impact on people's
lives today. It looks at the process of humanity's development of civilization from the
early times to the present. (Tosh, 2006).

History peruses inventions and discoveries, wars and revolutions, ideals on citizenship
as well as democratic that the teacher is most comfortable with. (Nasibi & Kiio, 2005).
Nasibi(2015), points out that through the learning of history one develops reasonable
judgement and intelligent action by learning from past experiences.

The society tends to place high priority on science and technology. Senior secondary
school students are therefore looking for 'marketable' subjects that can open doors for
them in the current job market locally as well as abroad once they leave school.

Several studies in African countries have discovered that performance in senior

secondary schools is hugely determined by student's capacity and motivation to learn,
quality teachers, core textbooks, libraries, instructional time and physical facilities.
( Abidin et Al., 2012; Wachanga & Mwangi, 2004; Kiio, 2012; Woolman, 2001).

Attitudes are learnt predisposition to respond positively or negatively to certain objects,

situations or persons. Attitudes are said to be positive of negative when they are
favorably directed towards a target, when they are unfavorably directed towards a
target they are said to be negative. The attitude of teachers and learners towards a
subject affect the teaching and learning process.

1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

History according to Murray (1967) ‘is the narration of the lives of men and the times in
which they lived and what they did in the situation that faced them’. Generally, History
is the study of past events, people and places. People become proud when they are
able to trace their lineage from the early times to the present. Knowledge of one’s
heritage is one of the most cherished ideals in a society.

This creates the awareness of how the people lived in the past-the way they dressed,
the way they danced, the food they ate, their economic resources and how they passed
on the above cultural values to their future generations. Their system of inheritance,
their traditional administrative structure, and the wars they waged and other societal
activities such as funerals, puberty rites and so on find their bases in the past.
Ignorance of the has partly contributed to the many chieftaincy disputes, land litigation,
ethnic wars, moral degeneration and many other related problems in recent times in
the country.

Cultural values and attributes of every society are dependent on the past events that
occurred. In many African indigenous settings for instance, the cultural heritage such as
festivals, religion, languages spoken and even the types of education they practiced all
have their meanings and have evolved from the past. It is therefore obvious that to
understand the present, we must definitely know the past. It is only based on the
knowledge of the past that we can predict the future and live fruitful lives based on the
past circumstances.

People should understand why some crops are peculiar to some particular ethnic
groups. For instance, it should be borne in mind that even the environmental conditions
within which the group find itself can determine the type of activities they should
engage in. for example, most forest dwellers are mostly farmers and hunters. This
brings to light the assertion that whatever event which took place in the past has
causes and effect which one experiences as one is introduced to one’s heritage. Thus
one gets to have knowledge about the type of people who came into contact with one’s
ancestors, the type of marriage they contracted, the type of political system they put in
place and so on.

According to Murray (1967)”A primary aim of history teaching in African child into the
stream of history from which he has been absent for so long”. When students are
introduced to their heritage, the hard won experience of the parents are acquired and
with it, an appreciated of difficulties experienced by the parents and the respect for
their successes chalked. This makes them better understand the present as most of the
current issues in the society have their causes rooted in the past. It builds patriotism in
the present generation because they come to appreciate the heroic deeds of their
forefathers or ancestors.

In the olden days, the main method used to introduce the young to their heritage was
oral tradition. It is the way of preserving a group’s beliefs, customs, and history by
parents telling their children about them and the children telling their children what
their parents have told them and so on. This was done through legends or stories of the
past, songs, greetings and responses, drum, languages, festivals, pouring of libation
and so on that are handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. By
virtue of the importance attached to the knowledge of the activities of our ancestors,
those who treasured them were much respected and held high esteem. Historians
attach so much importance to the records of human activities or events, in that, with
these, people can make their own predictions into the future.
During the colonial era, the castle school, the mission societies such as the Basel
Mission Society, the Bremen Mission Society and others emphasized that curriculum
should be based entirely on the 3Rs- Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Aside Religious
Studies, one of the subjects taken at the end of the middle school level was history. But
even here, only boys offered History and girls offered Home Science or Economics in
place of History.

As time went on, the general certificate examination (GCE) phased out and bought in its
wake the Junior Secondary School concept in 1987. In the Junior Secondary School
curriculum, History forms just an insignificant fraction of an integrated subject called
Social Studies. When a student goes to the Senior Secondary School, History is one of
the optional subject called electives. Moreover, only a minute fraction of the topic in the
curriculum at the Senior Secondary School level is based on Ghanaian History in
particular and West African History in general. People do not accord it the necessary
attention it deserves. This is fundamentally due to the little importance attached to it.
Consequently, students are not aware of their past and yet seemed not to be
perturbed.

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The attitude of the students towards the study of history has been both positive and
negative at all levels of the educational ladder. To a larger extent, it is negative at all
levels of education and this is particularly seen in various secondary schools. A few of
the important of studying history are; to introduce students to their heritage , help
them make some reasonably-reliable estimates concerning the causes of present events
in the light of past developments, and also seeks to develop in the students, values or
good morals like tolerance, honest etc.

History also seeks to help students analyze, interpret, judge and evaluate human
situation. Also, it helps to develop critical and creative thinking in pupils. It is only by
evaluating the achievements and failures of mankind according to the acceptable
standards of the time when they actually took place can the historian hope to acquire
full understanding of the present. Lastly, it also helps in the correction of
misconceptions or misrepresentation of African past.

However, history has not been able to achieve the above objectives due to the negative
attitude of students towards the discipline and this is particularly true in South Africa.
Therefore, there is the need to identify the problem and find quick solutions to them.
1.5 AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of the study is to determine/investigate the attitudes of senior secondary

school students towards the study of History. It will also remove the negative
thinking/attitude that history is important. It is the hope of the study, they will come
out with suggestion and recommendations that will give rise to positive attitude towards
the study of history.

1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i. What are the attitudes held by senior secondary school students towards studying
history?

ii. What are the factors that influence senior secondary school student's attitudes
attitude towards studying history?

iii. What are the options o senior secondary school teachers in relation to teaching and
learning of History?

1.7 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

1. Attitudes held by senior secondary school students towards studying history.

2. Factors influencing senior secondary school students attitudes towards studying

history.

3. Senior secondary school teacher’s opinions in relation to teaching and learning of

history.

1.8 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

The study is to cover senior secondary school but for the sake of convenience, the
researchers will consider two (2) selected senior secondary school in the Buffalo City
Metro; namely Sophathisana Senior Secondary school, Ntsokotha senior secondary
school.
1.9 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Importance of the study is to lay out and understand student's attitudes and their
behaviour in learning history as a subject.

The significant if the study is to bring to light the erroneous impression and perception
held by students with regards to history. One such wrong impression and perception
this research hope to erase is the, history is a dead subject and it is of no use for one to
acquire knowledge about it. Another misconception is that, history more often than not
is regarded as a subject impregnated with dates, great names and events. Other also
hold the view that history is often the dullest subject in school, and the history lesson
one of the most uninteresting.

Moreover, this research will seek to highlight the importance of the discipline, hence to
assist the students to develop positive attitudes towards the study of history. By doing
so, many students will hopefully cultivate the interest and the right attitude towards the
learning of history. Furthermore, the study will aid educational administrators and
curriculum planners in planning the curriculum and syllabus to suit the needs and
purposes of our students, society and the country as a whole. It will also equip teachers
with appropriate methods and approaches of teaching which call for the development of
positive attitude. Consequently, administrators and teachers would hopefully adopt
effective methods and approaches to enhance the teaching and learning of history.

Additionally, this study will be of importance to parents who should in their own small
ways endeavor teach their own wards about their families and communities. For
instance, where they came from and how well they fared up to the present time. Lastly,
it will be of good use to our traditional leaders who are the custodians of our culture.
For after all, culture is an emb9diment of the history of a people or a community.

10 CONCLUSION

Attitude is central to the education process. It either promotes or inhibits students’

behavior or influence choices to attend, respond, value, participate or make
commitment to educational activities. Negative attitude of secondary students towards
certain subject has been a very big problem. The research concluded that majority of
the students had positive attitude towards History. This study shows that the reason for
the failure and low interest of students in the subject do not necessarily lead to high
performance.
11 RECOMMENDATIONS

On the basis of these findings and conclusion the following recommendations were
drawn:

 The school principals and teachers should endeavor to prioritize all the subjects
equally.
 The minister of education together with the South African institute of education
should organize for regular in-servicing of teachers and History. There should
also be seminar and workshops at country level in order to broaden teacher’s
competences, knowledge and their content delivery tactics.
 Secondary schools should provide for a variety of learning resources such as
adequate textbooks, references books for all the subjects.
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