A Thesis for the degree of Master

An assessment on the implementation of the integrated social studies curriculum on

pupil’s academic performance in Secondary Schools: A Case of Luanshya District,
Zambia.

Rhodah Mutambo
Computer number: 1703238799
Phone: +260956986101/+260963695073
School of Education
Information and Communications University
7th September,2020
An assessment on the implementation of integrated social studies curriculum on
pupil’s academic performance in Secondary Schools: A Case of Luanshya District,
Zambia.
 An assessment on the implementation of integrated social studies curriculum on
pupil’s academic performance in Secondary Schools: A Case of Luanshya District,
Zambia.

Advisor: Mr. Chibomba

By
Rhodah Mutambo
School of Education
Information and Communications University

A Thesis submitted to the faculty of Information and Communications University in partial

fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Education in Geography the School
of Education
Lusaka, Zambia
7th September,2020

Approved by
(Signed)
Name of academic advisor
Phone no.0963685073 Major Advisor
 An assessment on the implementation of the integrated social studies curriculum on
pupil’s academic performance in Secondary Schools: A Case of Luanshya District,
Zambia.

Rhodah Mutambo

We certify that this work has passed the scholastic standards requested by the Information
and Communications University as a thesis for the degree of Master of Education in
Education.

7th September,2020.

Approved :
Chairman of the Committee
Name of Academic advisor
School of Education

Committee Member

Committee Member

ii
DECLARATION

I, Rhodah Mutambo hereby declare that the dissertation “An assessment on the
implementation of the integrated social studies curriculum on pupils academic performance
in secondary schools of Luanshya District, Copperbelt Province” has not previously been
submitted by me for the degree at this or any other university; that it is my own work in
design and in execution, and that all materials contained herein has been duly
acknowledged.

Signed: ……………………………………………………..

Date: ……………………………………………………….

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iv
DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to my husband Anthony, my beloved children, Chilufya, Shula,

Chimwemwe and Chengelo, brothers and my only sister Mitness as well as my parents Mr. /
Mrs. Mutambo their love, support and encouragement.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank my Heavenly Father who gave me the strength to
start and complete my study. I want to thank the following persons for their respective
contributions to this dissertation: Mr. Chibomba Kelvin my supervisor at University of
Information and Communications, for his unfailing support and guidance throughout this
study. My friends and colleagues; Mr. Joseph Mukuka, Dorika Zimba and Chanda Malama,
for their encouragement during difficult times. The University of Information and
Communications for the general guidance.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................1
1.1 Background...........................................................................................................3
1.2 Statement of the problem.....................................................................................3
1.3 General objective..................................................................................................3
1.4 Specific objectives of CBMS................................................................................3
1.5 Research questions...............................................................................................4
1.6 Identification of variables:...................................................................................4
1.7 conceptual framework......................................................................................... 5
1.8 Operational definitions........................................................................................6
1.9 significance of the study……………………………………………………… .7
1.10 limitations of the study…………………………………………………………. 6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................................8
2.1 challenges facing the implementation of ..........................................................20
2.2 factors affecting the implementation................................................................22
2.3 solutions to effective implementation................................................................26
2.4 personal critiques...............................................................................................28
2.5 reseach gaps........................................................................................................30
2.6 chapter summary............................................................................................... 32
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................40
3.0 Research design..................................................................................................40
3.1 Sampling design..................................................................................................40
3.2 Target population...............................................................................................40
3.3 Data collection method.......................................................................................40
3.4 Data collection tools........................................................................................... 41
3.5 Triangulation......................................................................................................42
3.6 Data analysis.......................................................................................................42
3.7 Ethical considerations........................................................................................43
3.8 Chapter summary.............................................................................................. 43
CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION..........................44
4.1 pupil questionnaire analysis...................................................................................44

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4.2 teacher questionnaire analysis................................................................................76
4.3 chapter summary.................................................................................................... 90
4.7 Discussion of findings..............................................................................................91
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION...........................97
5.1 Conclusion...........................................................................................................99
5.2 Recommendation..............................................................................................100
References....................................................................................................................101
Appendixes………………………………………………..……………..……………102

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LIST OF ACRONYMS
CDC curriculum development centre
CDF curriculum development framework
ECZ examinations council of Zambia
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
MOE Ministry of education
UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
USAID United States Agency for International Development
ZANIS Zambia News and Information Services
MOGE Ministry of General Education
ZANEC Zambia National Education Coalition
EDC Education Development Centre
CREDO Curriculum Renewal and Educational Development Overseas
ASSP Africa Social Studies Program
DEBS District Education Board Secretary

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ABSTRACT
Pupils have a range of perceptions of social studies, and how it affects them and their
learning. Past research has indicated that social studies can influence students‟ academic
results. This study identified and assesses the implementation of the integrated social studies
curriculum on pupil’s academic performance in secondary schools. Their learning at five
schools in Luanshya District in Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The studied was guided by
the following specific objectives: To assess the challenges being faced in implementing
integrated social studies curriculum by teachers in Luanshya district, To determine the factors
that make pupils perform poorly in integrated Social studies in Luanshya district, and To
investigate the measures to solve the challenges of implementing Social Studies on pupils
academic performance in Luanshya district. A case study was adopted; with this the
population was all the schools in Luanshya district. A random purposive sampling procedure
was employed to select a sample. The sample had a total of 100 participants, of this, 60 were
pupils and 40 were teachers who teach social studies. Questionnaires, interviews and
document analysis were used to collect data. The data was then analysed both qualitatively
and quantitatively. A statistical package was used to analyse and present the findings in
graphs and tables. The research revealed challenges, lack of trained teachers in integrated
social studies, not enough time allocated, lack of material, lack of interest by learners. The
following solutions were found, it was recommended that more teachers be trained in
integrated social studies, learners be encouraged more often, use learner centred approaches,
build more laboratories and provide material needed to teach the subject. It was further
recommended that further research be done in other districts.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.0 Overview
This chapter presents the background information to the study on the problems encountered
by teachers in the implementation of integrated social studies curriculum in selected schools
in Roan township of Luanshya District on the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The chapter
was also discuss; the statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research objectives,
research questions, research variables, significance of the study, conceptual framework and
the operational definitions.

1.1 Background of the Study

The Zambian curriculum has undergone several changes for a period of time now. The recent
and most drastic change being the 2013 curriculum reform (CDC, 2013). This was
necessitated by the curriculum reforms that the education system has been undergoing in
Southern Africa. The change in technological development and social needs are just a few
among so many factors that have led to this development. However, these changes have
brought a lot of effect to both the teachers and learners in general.
The revision of the Zambian school curriculum in 2013 brought about the integration of three
learning areas namely; Civics, Geography and History at Junior Secondary School level
resulting in one subject called Social Studies. Thus, in this context, Social Studies is an inter-
disciplinary programme with a contemporary orientation incorporating some aspects of
Civics, Geography and History that were previously taught as separate subjects before the
curriculum was revised in 2013 (CDC, 2013). Civic is the study of the theoretical, political
and practical aspects of citizenship, as well as its rights and duties. It includes the study of
civil law and civil code, and also the study of government with attention to the role of citizens
as opposed to external factors in the operation and oversight of government. Geography on
the other hand is a systematic study of the universe and its features. Geography is often
defined in terms of two branches: human geography and physical geography. Human
geography deals with the study of people and their communities, cultures, economies, and
interactions with the environment by studying their relations with and across space and place
while physical geography deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural
environment like the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. (Banda, 2006).

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History (which comes from Greek ἱστορία, (historia), means 'inquiry; knowledge acquired by
investigation') is the study of the past as it is described in written documents. It is an umbrella
term that relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization,
presentation, and interpretation of information about these events. History also includes the
academic discipline which uses a narrative to examine and analyze a sequence of past events,
and objectively determine the patterns of cause and effect that determine them. The Ministry
of General Education claimed that the integration of the three subjects was done because
some content in the three subjects were interrelated and that some competences were similar
too (CDC, 2013, Zambia ).
Social Studies being a new subject urgently required the development of learners’ textbooks.
UNESCO (2010) contended that, “Quality education cannot be isolated from the quality of
learner’s textbooks that are developed as a core input in education”. The revision of the
curriculum in 2013 in Zambia necessitated the need for new teaching and learning materials
in order to facilitate effective implementation.
However, the integration of these three subject areas was a major change in the Zambia
curriculum and MOE (2012), Zambia rightly noted that, “major curriculum changes must
generally be accompanied by changes in learning materials such as textbooks”. The other
cooperating partners who include the UNICEF, Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) and U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) pledged to work with the
ministry to ensure that the curriculum achieves its intended goals and that the partners had
already started providing new textbooks, teaching and learning materials and the training of
teachers (ZANIS, 2013).
The junior secondary school curriculum is a two-year course that covers grades eight and
nine of the Zambian education system. The curriculum at this level also equips learners with
knowledge and skills to either continue with the academic education or pursue pre-vocational
and life skills. Junior secondary schools offer both academic and technical career pathways.
Wood work, metal work, technical drawing and building crafts have been integrated into
design and technology. This has been done in an effort to produce holistic learners with
knowledge and skills in relevant fields. (CDC, 2013).Civics, Geography and History were
integrated into Social Studies because some contents in the subjects are interrelated. Some
competences in the three subjects are also similar (Curriculum development framework,
2014).It is believed that since the introduction of social studies curriculum in 2013 , learners
performance were not impressive that below 50% of them were unable to make it to grade ten
in Luanshya district. For this reason the district education board secretary has come up with

2
the strategy on how to improve the performance of the learners in the district. From 2018-
2019, out of 600 learners who sat for exams in the Luanshya district 57% of learners passed
social studies while 43% learners did not make it. (ECZ, 2018, Zambia ) .These made the
stake holders and the ministry to get concerned because the numbers of learners were not
improving and they have to come up with the strategy to improve the performance of learners
in the district as well as the country at large. Therefore, if it is found that 70 % of the
population under study is affected by the implementation of the integrated Social Studies, the
researcher was generalize to the district that indeed implementation of integrated Social
Studies affects pupils’ academic performance. The researcher assessed the effects of the
implementation of the integrated social studies curriculum on pupil’s academic performance
in secondary school at grade nine.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The pupils at Junior Secondary School level had been performing poorly in Social Studies
since the introduction of the revised curriculum in 2013 (MOGE, 2019 and ZANEC 2019).
Luanshya district had not been exempted from this challenge. The evidence of the aforesaid
was visible in the learner poor performance during the monthly tests, end of term tests and
final examinations. Presently, pupils’ at junior level have lost interest in social studies due to
their poor results (ECZ, 2019). The causes of the said poor performance were not known.
Furthermore, no research had been conducted in Luanshya district to investigate the sudden
emergency of learner poor performance in Integrated Social Studies at grade nine ever since
the revised curriculum was introduced. Therefore, the problem that this study sought to
address was lack of adequate knowledge on the impact of the implementation of the revised
integrated Social Studies curriculum on the performance of learners at grade 9 in Luanshya
district.

1.3 Research Objectives

1.3.1 General Objective

To assess the impact of the implementation of the revised Integrated Social Studies
curriculum on learner performance at grade nine in Luanshya district.

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1.3.2 Specific Objective
This study sought to address the following research objectives.
(i) To assess the challenges being faced in implementing integrated social studies
curriculum by teachers in Luanshya district.
(ii) To determine the factors that make pupils perform poorly in integrated Social studies
in Luanshya district.
(iii) To investigate the measures to solve the challenges of implementing Social
Studies on pupils academic performance in Luanshya district

1.4 Research Questions

In attempting the research we came up with the following research questions.
(i) What are the challenges being faced in implementing integrated social studies
curriculum in Luanshya?
(ii) How can the implementation of integrated Social Studies be improved among
learners in Luanshya district?
(iii) What are the factors pupils’ faces in learning integrated social studies in Luanshya
District?

1.5 Research variables

In this study there was dependent and independent variable. A variable is an objective, event,
idea, feeling, time, period or any other type of item you are trying to measure .An
independent variable is the one that stand alone. It is not changed by the other variable. It is
something that depends on other factors. For instance a test score can be a dependent variable
because it can be changed depending on several factors such as how much you studied. To
show the connection between the two, we say time spent in the study determined how one
performs in the test.
INDEPENDENT DEPENDENT
Integrated social studies curriculum pupils academic performance

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1.6 Conceptual Framework

This study therefore is guided by the theories that there is a relationship between the
curriculum and learners performance in social studies in Zambia. It is with the above theory
that the researcher came up with the conceptual framework below.

The framework implies that the curriculum has a strong bearing on the performance of the
learners. The curriculum among other things comprises of the syllabus and the textbooks.
Richard (2014) observed that the development of curriculum materials such as textbooks
requires the collaboration of authors who are specialized in the subject area, editors,
curriculum specialists, subject specialists, textbook designers and textbook publishers among
others. Therefore, the need for interaction of various stakeholders especially experts in the
development of curriculum materials such as textbooks is necessary if quality textbooks are
to be developed. The quality of the above determined the performance of the learners. Lastly
the amount of training involved in the teachers about the curriculum contributes to the
performance .Bishop (1985: 190) observed that “a curriculum is only as good as the quality
of its teachers.”Mulenga echoes the same sentiments teachers play a very important role in
the facilitation of learner’s acquisition of desirable knowledge, skills, values and attitudes
(Mulenga, 2015)

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1.7 Significance of the Study
This research work is based on the assessment of the implementation of the integrated social
studies curriculum on pupils’ academic performance in secondary school In Luanshya
district. The findings were playing an important role in the education sector in Zambia. The
study was therefore revealing the need for a variety of curriculum materials necessary for the
effective implementation of integrated social studies curriculum. The study was also reveal
the need for school curricular to be constantly reformed and developed to meet societal needs
and values. The findings of the study may be helpful to teachers, teacher educators, education
administrators, curriculum developers, policy makers and other stakeholders who may find
this information relevant. Through various views from the teachers and learners, it is hoped
that the results can be extended further to ascertain them on a national scale to affect policy
direction to suit the consequence that teachers and pupils would go through in the teaching
and learning of Social studies. Moreover the study was help developer to come up with a well
organized seminars and workshops for teachers on the use of teaching and learning aids and
various teaching methods which was helpful to the learners in the Zambian secondary school.

1.8. Limitation of the Study

The researcher is likely to face some challenges such as, difficulties in getting data from
schools due to long distances and some schools administrators and teachers may not be to
release the data due to suspicion of being exposed due to challenges which affect the pupil’s
academic performance.

1.9 Operational definitions of concept

In any study definition of terms is very important so that the reader can understand the work
better. According to Blessings (2009), definition of terms section provides a vivid meaning of
synonymic terms used in a particular study. Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger (2005) state
that, “The definition of terms section makes the reader to use the words in a particular report
the way they have been defined and used by the writer”. The following key concepts in this
study were used as defined below;
Social Studies - was defined as a combination of political, economic, social and cultural
aspects of human beings. It is a branch of political science which deals with the study of
people’s political, social, economic and cultural development. As a subject it focuses on the
political structures, duties and rights of the citizens, cultural activities and social services.

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Integrated-two or more things combined in order to become more effective.
Implementation-process of making something active or effective implementation of a new
policy.
Curriculum- is a locally or nationally drawn document concerned with transforming the
content of a subject into a course of study.
Teaching - the process of imparting of knowledge on learners through instructions. Learning
acquisition of knowledge or skill through study, experience, or being taught.

1.10 Chapter Summary

This chapter comprised of: Overview , Back ground to the Study, Statement of the Problem,
Purpose of the Study, Research Objectives, Research Questions, Research variables,
Significance of the Study, conceptual Framework and the Operational definitions. It has
elucidated in depth the essentials and justification for our research.

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 CHAPTER TWO:

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Overview
This section presents a review of literature relevant on the assessment of the implementation
of the integrated of social studies on pupils academic performance. The term, literature refers
to the works the researcher consulted in order to understand and investigate the research
problem. Literature review therefore, is an account of what has been published on the topic
by endorsed scholars and researchers (Kombo, 2006). Creswell (2012) defines literature
review as “a written summary of journal articles, books and other documents like conference
papers on the topic of your research”.

2.1 The challenges being faced in implementing integrated social studies curriculum
The teacher is very important person in the implementation of curriculum because is the only
person who can implement the curriculum if any changes occur. It is also therefore the most
important variable in school effectiveness. However the teachers need to be adequately
prepared for the implementation and success of any curriculum innovation. If the teachers do
not embrace a curriculum innovation, the innovation is likely to fail or it was not be properly
implemented. On the other hand teachers need to be prepared to enable them interpret the
curriculum accurately and implement it as is framed with the curriculum developers to be
effectively implemented. This can be only done by the introduction of seminars, workshop
and conferences. Hence this does not happen and when it happens it’s only a few teachers
who attend for example those who are sponsored by the schools to attend. Some in such
Schools do not afford to pay the charges then do not their send teachers in such seminar
therefore are left out. Despite the fact that teachers play a vital role in the implementation of
the curriculum they adopt the innovations as they come and start implementing the
curriculum. Therefore teachers face a lot of challenges in the implementation of the
curriculum.
According to Lambert and Balderstone (2000) in London viewed the challenge to the
implementation of Social studies curriculum as arising from the content of the subject. This
meant the problem of how to decide on what kind of Social studies was to be taught in
schools, Secondary schools in this particular case. However, there was a challenge of
structuring the course in such a way that it ensures some progression understanding so that
Social studies could effectively help to stretch some young minds without putting others off.

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The problem that came up was how to devise the learning experiences that the teacher could
use to enable learners to acquire certain skills and ideas into the overall Geography, history
and civics course. The flexibility of the curriculum in the light of providing feedback was yet
another observable challenge. This was in the case where feedback through tests, feedback
from student evaluation, feedback from colleague and parents was inadequately addressed.
Not only that Staddish (2014) in London also says that, societal changes had further
challenged curriculum change in school Social studies in many more countries such as
Germany, the Netherlands and the United States of America. Within societal changes,
sociological and psychological factors also did influence the changes in school Social studies
curriculum. Thus the sociological factors were cited because a curriculum reflects the culture
of the people concerned. For instance in Australia school curriculum changes between 1970
and 1980 were meant to reflect the culture of the people. This was in the case where learners
were subjected to a curriculum that promoted cultural values, attitudes and beliefs.
Furthermore, curriculum changes in Australia were meant to overcome the stereotypes. As a
result of overcoming the stereotype, the course offerings Social studies in school became
more flexible and career counselling became more established such that more females had
been seen to obtain senior positions in life. Social studies curriculum affected learners
negatively when it was prescriptive and limited in scope.
According to Cela and Sanchez (2015) stated that the challenge mostly arose from lack of
resources and expertise among teachers. In this regard the quality and quantity of textbooks
available for exploitation of a given Social studies curriculum posed a challenge to learners.
This was in a case where if the textbooks were not of quality and were also not enough to
carter for the learners, learning became restrictive hence little room for learners’ exploration
and initiative. The curriculum had a further challenge on learners if learners did not
understand why they had to learn what they learnt. This challenge came in when the Social
studies curriculum plans were assumed, to a greater or lesser extent to be guided by an
overriding principle of fitness for purpose. This was the case where teachers thought about
what was relevant and worthwhile for learners but did not consider the purpose of planning
accordingly. Further, challenge of learners being passive meant lack of expression by learners
in the way the learning sessions evolved as such, attention shifted from learning to teaching.
According to, Gerben (2003) in his study which was conducted in London also indicated that
the objective model type of a curriculum, posed a challenge on the learners in that high
premium was placed on examination. As such, there was less attention paid to the context in
which learning took place. As a result, the learners’ ability to apply skills in order to make

9
sense of the world around them was overlooked. The societal changes that mostly lead to
changes in the curriculum were drawn from the problems of communities in terms of
population increase and professional staff need, as observed .These aspects of societal
changes reflected changes in high levels of youth unemployment, family relationships
breakdown and declining birth rates. Due to such experiences in society, school curriculum
underwent changes so as to address the issues.
The challenge was observed, on the model type of curriculum that limits the learning
situation. Thus it was assumed by the designers of the objective model approach to
curriculum that teachers could always agree with all the specified objectives and work
towards achieving them. As a result, there was a challenge on the learners in that the
objectives that were set did not capture all the complex interactions that took place inside the
classroom. The challenge that comes with this type of design is that learners were passive
hence considered objects to be acted. The integration of some courses in the syllabus
negatively affects Social studies education and the teacher trainee in the field has low
motivation. Thus the learning opportunities were limited due to pre-specified objectives. The
challenge of a curriculum on learners could be attributed to the manner the school curriculum
was designed. In developing countries, there is currently limited of real world learning
experiences in the traditional classroom setting. Most of the content presented in classroom is
disconnected from its real – world context. The contextual dichotomy tends to have a
negative impact on the learning process affecting learners’ motivation in particular.
Research done by Osborne et al (2003) in the UK indicates that learners enrolling for social
studies in high schools mean their attitudes towards social studies are positive. However, the
de-contextualized nature of the school social studies curriculum results in learners having a
negative attitude towards school social studies. It is only a teacher with a positive attitude and
commitment that can assist in driving the learners towards a positive attitude in respect of this
de-contextualized school science and the lack of resources. Such teachers are teachers who
are specialists in science, who understand social studies beyond the curriculum, and who
teach science in a variety of ways, who are enthusiastic and confident about science, and who
spend time beyond their duty to ensure that the learners understand the concepts of science.
According to Jansen and Middle wood (2003), teachers in Secondary schools have very little
control over the curriculum management and implementation. Policy makers at national level
usually produce policy without the involvement of schools and teachers. Although unions
may represent them at policy level, teachers‟ voice is not often heard. Implementation of
policy poses many demands in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes, which do not take

10
place without School manager, should encourage teachers and learners to embrace curriculum
change for it to be smoothly implemented. Apart from that Vision and mission of the school
should be shared so that everybody in the school works towards their attainment. Sharing the
mission and vision lead to having a shared goal. The school manager has to be patient and
encouraging so that together with teachers work towards achieving one goal. Accepting
change and moving away from known strategies and contents may not be easy especially for
those teachers who have been teaching for a long period of time.
Therefore team building workshops can assist school teachers, novice teachers and
experienced teachers to work together, share experiences and assist each other so as to
produce required outcomes as there would be shared goals. The above idea when saying
school and teachers are expected to work together as a team to promote a co-operative culture
of teaching and learning, as cited in (Dimba, 2001) in South Africa states that school
managers should adapt from reliance on positional control to personalized forms of control
whilst managing curriculum change. The school managers should create an environment that
is friendly and have an open door policy that makes him/her approachable should a teacher
experience a problem with the curriculum. However, without an appropriate vision, a
transformation effort can easily dissolve into a list of confusing, incompatible and consuming
projects. The school manager should have a vision about curriculum of his school. He must
know where he wants to take his learners to how his vision must be shared among his fellow
workers. Curriculum management includes reviewing materials, solving daily problems that
relate to curriculum implementation, encouraging and motivating participants in curriculum
change process so as to work towards attainment of meaningful change results that was
benefit everybody in a positive way. Some teachers would continue teaching without
implementing a curriculum because they fear to ask or seek advice from a higher authority.
Hence, successful curriculum management requires a higher authority who was not only sit in
his/her office but an outgoing administer who was also have informal chats with teachers so
as to find out how they are coping. These informal chats can be used as a yardstick to draft
programme that could assist the progress in the school. Social Studies Curriculum activities
by the school administer for teaching and learning involved timetabling, allocation of teacher
workloads, checking if the schemes of work had been planned, as well as overseeing and
ensuring that tests and exams were conducted, and schedules compiled and submitted on
time. Marianne et al. (2003) in his study argue that the rigid nature of the curriculum left no
role for administer in curriculum decision-making. This meant that administers and teachers
did not participate in curriculum decision making processes. They only collected syllabi from

11
circuit offices and checked if all the subjects were accommodated. Then they would distribute
syllabi to educators. School administer was deal with matters such as planning materials and
resource allocation, among others, regardless of having a deputy and heads of department. In
this view, school manager were seen as authoritarian and teachers as their subordinates. The
school manager deployed bureaucratic approaches where tasks were assigned with clearly
defined rules. These approach hindered team spirit because staff assisting and/or guiding each
other in task performances would be regarded as interference. These traditional management
practices positioned administers and teachers as though they were unable to apply their own
mind and therefore could only implement the directives of others, rather than intellectual
professionals involved in designing, planning and evaluating the curriculum. This approach
influenced school manager to follow the curriculum in a mindless manner and rigidly keep to
subject boundaries. This system has contributed to the challenges of curriculum management
facing school manager today. It is also pointed out that school managers and teachers in most
School secondary have little or no understanding on social studies curriculum. The national
curriculum was riddled with uncertainties, ineffective classroom management and a general
lack of academic performance by learners, mainly as a result of inadequate training and
support for teachers in the classroom (ibid). Schools in rural areas are mostly affected by
curriculum change.
Moreover, teacher expertise is not the same for rural and urban schools, and well qualified
and young teachers who are trained in the current curriculum prefer to work in urban schools
where there is better availability of resources. The Minister of Education, appointed a panel
of experts to investigate the nature of the challenges and problems experienced in the
implementation of the social studies and to develop a set of recommendations designed to
improve its implementation. They recommended that there is a need for the development of a
coherent, clear, simple Five Year Plan to improve teaching and learning across the schooling
system, and suggested that curriculum policies should be streamlined and clarified.
Teacher workload and administrative burden should be reduced. Every subject in each grade
should have a single, comprehensive and concise Curriculum and Assessment Policy
Statement that provides details on what teachers ought to teach and assess on a grade-by-
grade and subject-by-subject basis. A national Learning and Teaching Support Material
catalogue should be developed and the approved textbooks. In-service teacher training should
be targeted since that is where the improvement is most needed. However school funding,
literacy and numeracy are overall quality of education (Report of the Task Team for the
Review of the Implementation of the National Curriculum Statement, 2009).Curriculum

12
management and implementation has taken centre stage with school manager as leaders of
schools playing an active role. Thus they have to become proactive leaders who must learn
and gain a deeper understanding of curriculum management activities rather than perform
already made tasks to be followed rigidly (ibid).It is therefore to note that such activities
include understanding the meaning of curriculum management, curriculum leadership styles
and being knowledgeable about roles in curriculum management and functions of administer
as stipulated by the Department of Education. Teachers were to be key participants in
curriculum decision making; they have the autonomy and freedom to plan the curriculum in
order to accommodate contextual factors such as learner experiences, and relevance of
learning area content to suit the learners being taught. Such practices require teamwork,
cooperation, power sharing and collaborative decision making in curriculum management
and delivery in the classroom. Administers are fundamental to the success of the curriculum
paradigm shift .Moreover writers on curriculum literature give more attention to curriculum
development and pay little attention to issues that relate to the implementation of the
developed curriculum. Most available literature on curriculum change refers to administers as
change agents who have to accept the entire responsibility for managing change in a school.
School managers play a critical role in coordinating curriculum implementation in a school.
Curriculum change therefore requires well informed manager who was lead their staff in
managing the curriculum changes. Continuous change in curriculum affects lives,
relationships and working patterns of teachers, and the educational experiences of the
learners.
The school administer should have a vision about the curriculum of his school. He must
know where he wants to take his learners to how his vision should be shared among all his
fellow workers for it to be effective and fruitful. Besides that, the above scholar when
maintaining that effective managers have a vision of their schools as an organization, and
their role in bringing that vision to fulfilment is of prime importance. The vision has to be
communicated to parents, teachers and learners, and mission statement be designed so that
every work is directed towards the attainment of the vision. The leader must also be able to
translate the vision into practical action by setting example. For the manager to be able to
enforce change he has to lead by example, he/she has to attend to class if he/she has one, use
teaching methods and techniques as required by the curriculum.
On the other hand he supports the idea when saying administers should be visible as their
model behaviour is consistent with the schools‟ vision, should live and breathe their beliefs
in education, organize resources to accomplish school goals, informally drop in on

13
classrooms and make staff development a priority One of the difficulties in curriculum
change is that it involves the introduction of a new discourse about education (Adu and
Ngibe, 2014,) in his study in south Africa. Curriculum management is a critical aspect in
ensuring that effective teaching and learning takes place. Gene et al. (1982 as cited in Dimba,
2001) assert that change management entails a process of bringing about some innovations,
new approaches and ensuring a successful implementation of curricula change in an
organization school. Adoption Model, as Curriculum change is the best model that can be
used in managing the curriculum change. The model calls for a facilitator (manager) who
performs first the role of salesperson and later a training role with school personnel so that
they train others. According to this model, the managers together with senior members of
staff monitors and help with problems that arise during initial implementation phase. The
foregoing discussion takes us to the next topic “models of managing curriculum change”.
Models are essentially patterns which serve as guidelines for action. Using a model in an
activity can result in greater efficiency and productivity. There are a number of models
mentioned that relate to curriculum development and management, like the famous Tyler,
Taba and Oliva models. This study focuses on four other models, namely such as
Overcoming-Resistance-to-Change Model, Organizational-Development Model, Concern-
Based Adoption Model, and Systems Model. These four models are relevant to the study
because any change was mostly met with some resistance at first as long as people are still
not aware of the purpose of the change. People who are affected by change need to be
convinced that their prior knowledge, values and beliefs are significant, and that the change is
necessary for the advancement of quality of education in the case of teachers as they are the
focus group in this study. Teachers also need to know that change is not final; there was
always be new methods and techniques to try out, which make curriculum change and
implementation an on-going process. Successful implementation of any programme needs
positive behaviour.
Teachers should see the change as relevant to their professional lives and necessary to
improve the quality of their teaching. Teachers‟ concerns should be taken into account,
considered and addressed so that they can feel that their opinions are valued. The four models
are discussed in the next section. Curriculum as a set of education plans should be prepared
and adapted based on the learning situation and future demand. In some countries, the
government took a careful step by implementing the concept of a school-based curriculum in
order to deal with the main educational problems, such as the demand for teachers and
schools to be skilled and trained (Mulyasa, 2006). Among others, the step gave authority for

14
schools to arrange, improve or develop and evaluate their curriculum by considering social,
cultural, financial, and local potentials; as well as society’s needs, results and other aspects
that affect the education process in the school or in the area where the curriculum was
applied. Tadesse et al (2007) in his study indicate the following challenges of the school-
based curriculum: inadequate supervision, time mismatch with school calendar, lack of
financial and material support, and negative attitudes of teachers towards the new curriculum.
The highlight are similar to those experienced in other countries, where the procedures for
developing a learning programme were complex; hence the need for better prepared
educators, many of whom, especially in the previously disadvantaged groups, were
inadequately prepared for basic teaching, let alone comprehending the new curriculum
process. .
In other schools, school managers in primary and secondary schools have two major roles.
The first role of the school manager is providing instructional and curriculum leadership to
the teachers. For the manager to perform this role successfully, they have to be technically
and conceptually having curriculum capability, be familiar with the subject content and with
the progressive teaching methods and new curriculum to be implemented. Besides that lack
of leadership capacity might hinder the success of curriculum implementation and the
achievement of objectives of the curriculum. The second role of the school manager is to
provide managerial and administrative leadership (ibd).
The school manager should take initiative in marketing curriculum change in an institution.
As curriculum head, manager should focus on reviewing materials and solving daily
problems that teachers experience in implementing the curriculum. It is of utmost importance
that the school manager plans the steps that have to be taken in order to achieve the
curriculum objectives well in advance. Various challenges inhibit School managers in
performing their role as curriculum leaders, like, administrative workload as well as teaching
workload. In most Secondary schools, school managers do not only lead the school, monitor
implementation of policies and other duties related to their posts. They also have to be class
teachers; at times they have to teach more than one subject and at times more than one grade.
Another factor that can inhibit School managers in performing their duties is if they have
challenges with the curriculum.
According to Earley and Bubb (2004) observed that, curriculum implementation plans are
required to assist the implementers to obtain a common understanding of the required
curriculum practice. Thus, good implementation plans was provide clarity on how
implementers should do the tasks, why they need to do these tasks, who must take

15
responsibility for particular tasks, by which such people was supervised, and what kind of
resources was required. It is therefore suitable curriculum implementers plans specify the
duties and responsibilities of the various role players involved in the implementation process.
Curriculum implementation and management plans are vital in ensuring successful
implementation of a new integrated social studies curriculum as they would act as a guiding
tool which has to be revisited now and again to see if everything is still going according to
plan. On the other hand, Kruger (2007) in his study observed that, the use of leadership
power is crucial for continuous nurturing and promotion of knowledge and skills of teachers
through curriculum and instructional leadership. Even though the school manager should use
the leadership power, he/she has to create an environment where teachers can make
suggestions, offer advice and raise their opinions. Listening to teachers‟ views and advices
was not reduce leadership powers of the school manager, but was pull together everybody to
work as a team and to participate fully if they (teachers) know that their views are valued.
Apart from that it is articulates that a participatory management style is important, because
although the school manager is the guide of the educational change process, the entire school
shares the responsibility of taking ownership in the process of change. Curriculums changes
need to be reinforced and administers have to guard against any form of resistance from
teachers. In addition, Sayed and Jansen (2001) argue that school manager play an important
role in interpreting the educational policies in general as well as policy documents for the
curriculum, and therefore their knowledge is vital. The legislation and communication of
policies for educational change depend on what teachers “think” and do as well as their
personal disposition and feelings concerning change or policies proposing change. The
manner they mediate and act on policy for educational change proposals impacts the eventual
effects. When planning for the implementation of social studies curriculum change,
implementer should establish and decide on human, financial, and physical resources that are
requisite for effectiveness. If the implementation plans do not match the specific context of
schools, curricular reforms are most likely to fail (Mafora and Phorabatho, 2013) in South
Africa. School manager are responsible for organizing school activities in order to align
teaching and learning with the vision of the school. Knowledge, skills and attitude are
essential for educational innovation and to enhance effective curriculum management
Hence, without an appropriate vision, transformation effort can easily dissolve into a list of
confusing, incompatible and time consuming projects. The biggest mistake done by leaders
when implementing a curriculum change is to plunge ahead and implement before crafting a
vision as to how the implementation of social studies was go about, that is, without making

16
an implementation plan with expected projections. A school cannot function without a vision;
the vision must be communicated to all stakeholders so that everyone remains focused. The
school manager should have a vision about where he/she wants the school to be in a certain
period of time and work as a team with teachers for the attainment of the vision. The school
manager as a change agent should not only communicate verbally, but his/her behaviour and
attitude towards change should be positive (Ngcongo, 2001).Teachers in a school should be
actively involved in decision making so that they do not defy resolutions taken that concern
teaching and learning. School manager should always strive to create a favourable
educational environment. Improved teaching and learning should be on top of the school
agenda. Besides that Leadership Style determines the relationship between the teachers and
the school manager. This relationship in return affects the work relations. Therefore, the
school manager needs to have good relations with teachers for work to go smoothly, and
teachers need the school manager to guide and support them in the implementation of change.
Initial teacher education training alone cannot provide teachers with the knowledge and skills
necessary for a lifetime of teaching. All professions require a continuous update of
knowledge and skills (Somers and Sikorova, 2002). The teaching profession is no exception
as it was observed by Kyahurwa (2013) that changes in education occurs with regard to
curriculum at all levels require teachers to expand their level of knowledge and skills.
Professional development is most effective when it is an on-going process that includes
suitable properly planned learning programmes and individual follow-up through supportive
observation and feedback, staff dialogue and peer coaching. The role of teachers cannot be
overlooked. Otherwise, policy change was not have the desired effect if they are not
accompanied by a supportive process intended to strengthen the role of teachers (ibid).
Teachers are the main implementation “tool” in any curriculum reform. They have to be
capacitated adequately for the successful implementation of the curriculum. The issues of
policy clarity, content gap, resource constraints are a cause for concern to the effective
implementation of social studies curriculum. There is a saying which stressed that “the more
you know, the more you can be specific about what else you need training on.” If there is a
content gap, it would be difficult for a teacher to identify an area on which he/she needs
development. Other teachers prefer more structure and guidance and some are even stiffer in
their approach, and thus need greater support (ibid).Moreover it is noted that by the late
1960s, new approaches to inherited history and geography courses became known in Africa
as "Social Studies." Eleven nations founded the African Social Studies Programme (ASSP),
and continue to monitor the development of social studies curriculum and instruction in the

17
continent. This thesis examines the origins and goals of ASSP, ASSP's organization and
operation, and ASSP's major achievements and current challenges. ASSP is a non-political
and non-profit intergovernmental organization of 17 African nations that stimulates,
promotes, and monitors innovative curriculum”. This program, concerned educators from 11
African countries (Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra
Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) who met at Queens College, Oxford with
representatives of the United States (US) Education Development Centre (EDC) and the
English Centre for Curriculum Renewal and Educational Development Overseas (CREDO) to
discuss needs and priorities in curriculum development in Africa. Social Studies were one of
these priorities.
The fledgling organization wanted to promote curriculum development, research, and the
development of new materials. ASSP has provided a core secretariat as a clearinghouse of
ideas and would assist member states to organize national seminar courses, workshops, and
conferences with both African and non-African educators. In order to work together and more
closely, the participating nations agreed to meet the following year in Mombasa, Kenya.
Twenty-five African educators, seven British, and six American representatives met at the
Mombasa Conference. The conference concluded that a new approach based on integration of
the traditional subjects (History, Geography, and Civics), and some elements from
economics, sociology, and anthropology, was needed. In describing the role of Social Studies
in a changing society, the Conference articulated three areas where Social Studies could make
a contribution and these were: national integration; problems of rapid economic development
and; the promotion of self-confidence and initiative based on an understanding of one's own
worth and of the essential dignity of man.
According to Zambian Revised Curriculum (2013), education in Zambia as well as elsewhere
is deemed to be the vehicle through which a morally, democratic learner should be
developed. Thus, Social Studies are expected to be the mirror through which the Zambian
society sees itself in its quest and dedication to promote and perpetuate its Social Studies
skills, beliefs, values and tradition. Social Studies as a subject of study in primary schools is
taught from grade one (1) up to grade seven (7). Learning and teaching materials relating to
the Social Studies have been developed in accordance with the grades. At Secondary Level,
Social Studies are taught in grades 8 and 9.
Pungwa, Lawrence(2013) investigated under the heading Development of Social Studies
Curriculum Content for Zambian Junior Secondary Schools, African Studies in Curriculum
Development and Evaluation No. 72. He investigated the Receptivity of educators to a

18
sample integrated social studies curriculum to replace the present single subject discipline
curriculum in Zambian junior secondary schools. Geography, history, and civics teachers
from 50 schools in 7 of Zambia's 9 school regions considered a proposed curriculum which
seeks to promote social awareness and national unity through interdisciplinary study of
locality, weather and climate, transport and communication, and population. Teachers then
answered open-ended questions concerning the relevance and effectiveness of the present
curriculum, the efficiency of the new program, the possible need for teacher retraining and
methods changes, and areas where the new curriculum could be improved. Results were
generally favourable to the new curriculum, with some reservations. Those opposed
expressed concerns that individual disciplines would be watered down or possibly neglected,
individual departments might lose identity, teachers might lose autonomy, and problems
would develop in teacher training and materials development. Recommendations for
implementing a new curriculum include revision of teacher education objectives and teacher
education programs, and accelerated training of curriculum developers (CDC: 2013).
Learner's text books are one of the most important teaching and learning resources in most
schools in developing countries, Zambia inclusive. This study was triggered as a result of
concerns by various stakeholders and scholars regarding the quality of Social Studies
learners' textbooks for the junior secondary school which were developed following the 2013
revised Zambian school curriculum. Privatization of textbook development resulted in the
development of poor quality textbooks. Furthermore, failure to adhere to a specific national
textbook policy to guide the development of learners' textbooks also contributed to the
development of poor textbooks. It was further revealed that there was lack of coordination
between the Curriculum Development Centre and textbook publishing companies.
Additionally, secondary school teachers of Social Studies were not fully involved in
developing learners' textbooks and political interference in textbook development was found
to have also contributed to poor quality textbook development. The Ministry of General
Education (MOGE) through the Curriculum Development Centre should thoroughly revise
the textbooks in question, broaden the scope of teacher involvement and stop the privatization
of textbook development in Zambia. Mulenga and Mwanza (2019) wrote in journal titled
Teacher’s Voices Crying in the School Wilderness: Involvement of Secondary School
Teachers in Curriculum Development in Zambia that, In Zambia, curriculum development for
primary and secondary schools is done centrally. The Curriculum Development Centre
(CDC), the institution placed with the responsibility of facilitating curriculum development,
claims that the Zambian school curriculum is developed through a consultative and

19
participatory approach through course and subject panels where teachers and other
stakeholders are represented.
There has been no empirical evidence to suggest the roles that teachers, who are the major
implementers of the same curricular, are required to play in the development process. This
study therefore, sought to establish perceptions of secondary school teachers on their role in
the curriculum development process in Zambia. Besides that, secondary school teachers
know the kind of learners they deal with since they are the ones who are placed with a very
significant role of curriculum implementation and so they are in a better position to provide
valuable advice and direction during the curriculum development process on what aspects
would work out well and what would not. It can therefore be concluded that secondary school
teachers can play a number of important roles in the development of the secondary school
curriculum thereby allowing an effective development and implementation of the curriculum.
However, in this study it was noted that teachers are not given such chances and thus their
voices are only heard as cries in the school wilderness. Teachers know what to teach and how
they can contribute to the improvement of the curriculum development processes in Zambia
but the system seems to ignore them and only thinks of them at implementation stage. Thus
teachers feel that their school and classroom experiences, skills and knowledge are
underutilized. Could these above forwarded reasons be the reasons for the challenges being
faced in implementing integrated social studies curriculum by teachers and the factors that
make pupils perform poorly in integrated social studies? These are issues the thesis is
determined to give solutions to.
This Social studies curriculum took an empirical approach to curriculum, where knowledge
according to (ECZ), was compartmentalized into separate spatial or temporal slots. The
challenge with this approach was that, compartmentalization of knowledge into separate slots
limited the learners from cross-exchange of knowledge and worthwhile values between them
and the life outside school. This was due to the fact that this approach to curriculum
promoted the transfer of factual disciplinary knowledge to learners who were expected to
learn it for assessment purposes. Therefore, Social studies curriculum could further be
described as a statutory document meant to address the needs of secondary school education
as stipulated in the national policy document ‘Educating Our Future’ of 1996. These were the
needs such as; Fostering creativity, imagination, resourcefulness and innovativeness in
learners, Promoting extensive knowledge, exact skills and accurate understanding of Social
studies education and providing educational experiences that was nurture skills that enable
pupils to take charge of their own learning. However, as much as the curriculum were meant

20
to raise the standard of living for all, the existence of statutory requirements for Social studies
reduced the amount of attention that was paid to the needs of particular groups of learners.
The variation of the factors in the evolutionary process of Social studies curriculum
organization can be observed at all levels, hence, a global observation. The arrangement of
the curriculum where outcomes were predetermined like the case of Social studies had
difficulties on the learners as it was observed. It was easier to prescribe outcomes and define
outcomes for the learning of simple skills. Hence when it came to the actual understanding of
ideas or complex situations it became very difficult. On the other hand, the more easily
defined objectives were greatly emphasized which in some cases turned out not to be
necessarily worthwhile to the learners. (CDC, 2013), further suggested that, education for
development was initiated because of the complaints from society, which ranged from
changes of irrelevant curriculum to the selective bias of the educational system. Thus society
needed learners who, after attaining secondary education, would be able to participate in the
development of their own country through upholding the norm.
According to Mbozi (2008) in his study observed that, there is Inadequate Teaching and
Learning Aid .Lack of enough textbooks, is a factor affecting academic performance of
learners. According to his study, classes of about sixty learners each shared only four
textbooks amongst them, making it difficult for teachers to effectively use them during class
lessons. Researches done in Uganda and Ghana found significant effects leading the
researchers to conclude that improving the availability of textbooks is of the most cost
effective methods for enhancing learning achievement. While these findings cannot be
disputed, the findings in Zambia slightly differ. In Zambia, was discovered that simply
raising the number of books does not automatically improve learning outcomes and that
teacher training must be improved in order to ensure effective teaching and use of textbooks.
In addition, secondary school level revealed that performance improves when books are made
available and that improvement only occurs when they are shared. According to the study, the
highest achievement was observed when one book was shared between two learners.
However, while this was the case in other subjects, achievement in Mathematics was found to
be at its best when there are no textbooks for use at all. It was suggested, in the study, that it
could be so because the teacher was the only resource available for the learners making him
or her to actively endeavour to instil the necessary comprehension and elicit the desired
procedures. This was said not be the case when books were available in that the teacher no
longer sensed the need for vigorous teaching and simply allowed learners to make their way
through texts, exercises and examples provided in books. Moreover, Teacher-Pupil

21
Interaction is difficult were most classes in secondary schools having more than fifty learners
which also affect academic performance of learners. By this he referred to situations where
the teacher would use abusive language, threatens learners or shouts at them for various
reasons. Eventually learners tend to abscond from school and perform poorly in the end .It is
also observed by ECZ (2010),the proponent of the humanistic paradigm states that an
individual has freedom and ability to attain self –development or self-learning and is capable
of directing his or her own learning as long as the environment is enabling. Therefore,
teachers are the custodians of the teaching and learning hence, they should take time to make
their learners learn best and take keen interest in them; thereby achieving quality education
delivery provided the teacher places the learner at the centre of their teaching plan. Not only
that, Lack of Teacher Competency is also a problem which contributes to poor learner
academic performance as it was observed by Government Printers (2008) suggested that the
problem of poor academic is a global problem that any community is hardly devoid of it, that
twenty pupils of every hundred have weakness in the academic achievement. Poor
examination performance is caused chiefly by substandard quality of education background.
The lack of teacher competence and not giving tests or examinations to the learners on a
regular basis contributes to poor performance in academic work.
Furthermore, inadequate teacher preparation and teacher’s lack of dedication to duty also
contributed to poor performance to learners. Secondary school teachers were expected to
prepare what they taught in schools. These preparations could be in form of schemes of work,
records of work, and lesson plans to guide the teaching process (MOE, 2001). Several factors
produce motivation and job satisfaction indicate that lack of motivation and professional
commitment produce poor attendance and unprofessional attitudes towards students which in
turn affect the performance of learners academically. This lack of motivation in teacher to
perform their duties diligently could be manifested in teachers at the school in question
Curriculum integration is one of those ideas that is obviously good. Articles and in-service
speakers extol its potential for enhancing the meaning of what is taught, saving teachers time
by reducing the need to make as many preparations, reducing the need to rush to try to get
everything covered, and making it possible to teach knowledge and skills simultaneously. For
social studies and other content area subjects that suffered reduced time allocations as a result
of the back-to-basics movement, integration is often pictured as a way to restore necessary
content emphases. In general, integration is pictured as a viable response to problems of
content balance and as a way to save time and make for natural, holistic learning.

22
2.2 The factors pupils’ faces in learning integrated social studies
With the move toward integration, the number of teaching hours was affected. The drastic
reduction in the number of lessons for the new syllabus and directive that Geography,
History, civics, be taught as one subject had certain implications in the teaching and learning
of the integrated curriculum. To begin with when Social studies was introduced due to
inadequate planning, most schools found that they could not introduce the new curriculum as
they lacked basic resources including teachers qualified to teach this integrated curriculum
(Kilemi, 2002). Some of the content was also abstract, teaching and learning resources were
also inadequate.
The world education forum in Darkar (2000) noted that more than one third of world
secondary schools have no access to new skills and technologies that could help in process of
acquisition of knowledge. This is the situation in Kenya secondary schools and it needs a
study to be done to verify the situation. According to Nazli (2009) in his study he observed
that there are problems and difficulties faced in learning Social studies. His study established
that the main problems are that instructors are not sufficient in Social studies education; that
the removal of some courses in the syllabus negatively affects Social studies education; and
that teacher trainees in the field have low motivation. When planning for teaching and
learning in the area of Social Studies a variety of teaching strategies need to be considered.
When the teacher is designing, planning, and structuring Social studies lesson, potential areas
of difficulty may emerge for these learners as they engage with classroom experiences and
methodologies while learning social studies. Therefore there is a need to use some resources
to facilitate the teaching and learning of Social studies. There are many problems to effective
management and use of instructional materials.
Another factor is the kind of resources teachers in public schools in use to teach Social
studies (Rutoh and Ndolah, 2013). Kinds of instructional materials to be used in the Social
studies teaching include World Globe which is essential instructional media that a Social
studies teacher should always make reference to during his/her teaching. It can be used to
teach topics such as the earth‘s spherical shape, latitude, and longitude, global land and water
distribution, world continents, locations of places on the globe, rotation and revolution of the
earth among others (K.I.E, 2002). Maps are the important tools while teaching Social studies
by the teacher for locations of places on the maps; atlas can be conveniently used. However,
all these depend on the availability of these various types of maps in the school, models,
charts, diagrams and pictures, real objects, meteorological instruments and Chalkboards just
to mention a few. The study was informed by the fact that Social studies teachers in

23
secondary schools face challenges in the use of instructional media in the teaching of Social
studies. Learners regard the subject as a subsidiary compared with other subjects like
Mathematics, English, and the sciences. This creates a situation in which the Social studies
lessons are never taken seriously by Learners who believe that the subject is not essential to
the current job market. The Social studies teachers therefore face a difficult task in
convincing the Learners that the subject is essential to their future professional development.
Lack of direct relevance to the job market is compounded by the fact that the Social studies
teachers rarely impart practical skills to the learner. This makes the teacher to rely on
theoretical skills. The greatest factor in this case lies in how practical skills can be
incorporated in the teaching of the subject and there was need to invest in the instructional
materials. Practical skill is important as it helps the learners relate to many aspects of their
lives and the environment in which they are growing up.
The magnitude of the problem is great and serious as funds from the government are
allocated more to technical and science subjects compared to humanities on the pretext that
humanities are subsidiary. Since Social studies is a bridging subject (KIE, 2006) that equips
the learner with knowledge and skills that are of great educational value even for other
subjects, it requires instructional material use to strengthen it. There has been a shortage of
text books and other instructional materials in most of the schools where studies have been
done. Teachers are able to determine of learners' performance in schools. The role of teachers
on the performance of learners' in schools across all subjects can hardly be indicated that
completion of an undergraduate or graduate major in mathematics was associated with higher
learners' achievement in high school and middle schools. This may not apply to social studies
because learners has bad attitude towards the subject. This therefore indicates that,
certification aside there are other teacher related variables that account for learners'
performance in Secondary schools. There are many teachers of social studies who are single
social science/arts specialists. In most cases, they have academic qualifications in subjects
such as history, economics, geography, political science, integrated development studies
among others. Therefore their approaches to the teaching of social studies still follow the way
they teach the content of history, geography, and economics. Meanwhile, social studies
require an integrated approach whereby all the single social sciences/arts subjects making up
social studies lose their identity. This is was most likely affect the performance of learners. It
is important to add that, the problem of non-specialists' teachers teaching social studies is not
peculiar to in secondary schools. Social studies teachers randomly selected in secondary
schools. The school and the classroom are the laboratories from where the teacher operates.

24
Therefore, the skills and knowledge a social studies teacher carries to the classroom would
make further impact if the school and classroom(s) from where he/she teaches were
conducive for teaching and learning.
According to Lai, Sadoulet and Janvry (2009) observed that common sense suggests that
school quality should affect Learners' performance; however, there is limited rigorous
supporting evidence. Learners' performance, they are predominantly done by explaining
teacher characteristics, leaving very little role for other school resources and peer quality.
There have therefore been great factor in rigorously assessing the impact of school quality on
Learners' academic performance. The study indicate that, the importance of the location of
the school, the appearance of the physical structures of the school cannot be overemphasized
in accounting for the performance of learners in schools. The location of the school according
was determining the support and to some extent the calibre of Learners and teachers, it was
attract. It is common knowledge that learners who perform very well at the Junior High
School level may not be tempted to go to school in an obscure location with poor physical
structures. Indeed schools such as those were most probably not attracting highly qualified
Learners and teachers. According to Betts, etal, 2003, found in an earlier research that,
schools in less affluent areas tended to have less experienced, less educated teachers who
were less likely to hold full academic credentials and these were schools likely to have the
lowest test scores. Highly qualified and experienced teachers are more likely to move to
schools with good-looking infrastructure and located in an area that is easily accessible.
When this happens, the probability is that unqualified teachers and Learners' with poor grades
at the secondary school level was compelled to go to schools that are outlandish and have
poor infrastructure. This was further de-motivated both teachers and learners leading to poor
academic performance. Although from research, teacher experience and qualifications are not
the only determinants of learners' performance, they play vital roles in determining the level
of a learner's performance in social studies across schools. The quality and level of teacher
motivation was determining largely the performance of the learners. A school that for one
reason or the other has a crop of uncommitted teachers was suffers in terms of academic
performance of the learners. Where the school is run in a manner that teachers are dissatisfied
it was difficult to give of their best no matter the location and quality of the school
infrastructure. The learners then become the ultimate losers because for now, teachers are
longer paid by the results of their learners as it used to happen in secondary School. Another
factor that could trigger poor performance from learners is sometimes when a school is
reputed to be a good school because of the location, quality of teachers, appearance of the

25
physical infrastructure among others; enrolments tend to be very high. With time, if not well
managed, the learning environment was not conducive as there was overcrowding in the
classrooms. In a study done by Porter (2002) state that, learners made gains that were more
academic when instruction was effectively connected to assessment. However, where there
were large classes’ teachers moved away from giving adequate assignments to learners'
because of the work load of marking. It also affects classroom management and class
discipline. In a study done by Nzabihimana (2010), teaching subjects that need great
concentration like Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Math among others, are likely to be
negatively influenced by a high pupil-teacher ratio. When this happens, learners' are not
properly assessed and this affects them ultimately. Having explored some of the teacher and
school related variables as determinants of learners’ performance in social studies in Schools;
it was worthwhile looking at the extent to which some home factors also determine learners'
performance in social studies in Secondary Schools. . Home Related Variables as
Determinants of learners' Performance in Social Studies. The home of the learner as a
determinant of his/her performance in school is apparent. A close look at the types of home,
the Socio-Economic Status (SES) of the family among others, was indicate that, there is a
relationship between the home and learners' performance. She argued further that, children
success in school determined their success as adults, determining whether and where they go
to College, what profession they enter and how much they earn. Additionally Loop (2012)
also observed that, the actual schooling is not the only contributing factor that could assist a
child's learning and achievement in school. He further contended further that, although the
academic environment is important, each learner’s individual home situation greatly
influences educational goals and progress.
Therefore, school performance in secondary and primary schools do not depend on a
learner's mental and physical abilities alone. The family and social background of learners
greatly influence school performance (Paul, 2012). The relationship between the child and the
parent is a crucial home factor that influences the child learning and achievement. Parents
who are responsive to their children needs can influence the performance of their children in
schools. Parents' educational aspirations exert a significant influence on learners'
achievement. Therefore, all other things being equal, parents who have aspiration that
challenge, inspire and motivate their children should correlate with their children
performance in school. If a child comes from a home where parents are not responsive to
their physical and emotional needs such learners become depressed and if the situation is not
handled well it was go a long way to affect their performance. Learners belong to homes of

26
different socioeconomic backgrounds and this affects them in diverse ways. The school is no
doubt important in a student's achievement. Recent researches however indicate that, parents
are even more important in terms of learners' performance in schools. According to Paul,
recent researches has shown that, parental involvement in checking the homework of their
children, regular attendance of school meeting, discussing school activities with their children
has more powerful influence on learners' academic performance than anything about the
school the learner attend. Learners of varied family backgrounds attend educational
institutions in other countries. These differences range from parents' level of education,
interests in education, material support to their children among others. It is most probable that
educated parents were more inclined to giving good education by providing the needs of their
children. It must however be added that, there are some parents who are well educated yet
pay very low attention to the education of their own children. If this scenario persists,
learners' of parents who pay little attention to their children education was performing poorly
in schools. It must also be added that, there are situations where illiterate parents pay more
attention to their children education even though they are illiterate themselves (ibid) .To such
illiterate parents, they do not want their children to suffer the deprivations they had to endure.
It may therefore be true that parents' level of education is a strong determinant of learners'
performance in school.
Physical and social environment may also be a challenge to students, this is according to a
research done by Khamala (2011) on challenges and coping mechanism of students from arid
and semi arid lands admitted to national secondary schools in Nairobi, she sighted the
following as the challenges: new physical and social environment, physical environment was
a challenge due to the climatic difference of the two regions. Social challenge as this was the
first time student were coming into contact with students from other parts of the country
(ibid) .The physical and the social challenges impacted negatively on the learners
performance. It is therefore important to take learners out for educational tours and other
forums which was make them interact with other learners, as this was familiarize them with
new physical and social environments. It is therefore that the learners also had financial
challenges as most of them from low income households. Academic challenge was the other
type of challenge the learners encountered, because they were admitted with slightly lower
marks than their colleagues from other parts of the country.
The teacher pupil ratio is a challenge to the students because big classes do not allow for
individualized attention to the pupils, instead it leads to overcrowding in the classrooms
which make learning uncomfortable ( Owuor ,2010). The big teacher pupil ratio came about

27
with the free education which led to very many students enrolling in the primary and
secondary schools, the government did not employ more teachers to meet the increased
enrolment of the learners, or even construct more classrooms, the learners are therefore
congested in the available classes and this increased the pupil teacher ratio greatly and has
been posing as a challenge towards providing quality education in Kenyan public schools.
Nkantana (2013) is of the opinion that the major challenges among learner are fail to do
assignments, stealing and sneaking from schools, drug abuse and truancy which has led to
learners’ failure in examinations thus negatively influencing school academic performance
and therefore a challenge in effective implementation of the curriculum.

2.3 The way of improving implementations of integrated Social Studies

Social Studies as a subject develops the key values and attitudes, knowledge, understanding,
skills and processes necessary for Learners to become active and responsible citizens,
engaged in the democratic process and aware of their capacity to effect change in their
communities, society and world. Social Studies therefore, provides opportunities for Learners
to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge that was enable them to become engaged,
active, informed and responsible citizens. Recognition and respect for individual and
collective identity is essential in a pluralistic and democratic society. Social Studies helps
Learners develop their sense of self and community, encouraging them to affirm their place
as citizens in an inclusive, democratic society (Enesco, 2012)
“Social Studies are the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic
competence”. It is further stated that, “within the school program, Social Studies provides
coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology,
economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and
sociology, as well as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural
sciences” (ibid) .The primary purpose of Social Studies is to help young people develop the
ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally
diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world.
In many countries Social Studies programs have a major purpose of promotion of civic
competence, which is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required of Learners to be able to
assume "the office of citizen" in any democratic republic. Although civic competence is not
the only responsibility of Social Studies or exclusive to the field, it is more central to Social
Studies than the case is with other study areas in the schools. (ibid)

28
The World Bank (2013) noted that, some countries, like United States of America
organizations such as National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has long supported
civic competence as the goal of Social Studies. By doing so, NCSS has recognized the
importance of educating Learners who are committed to the ideas and values of our
democratic republic and who are able to use knowledge about their community, nation, and
world, along with skills of data collection and analysis, collaboration, decision-making, and
problem-solving. Learners who have these commitments, knowledge, and skills were being
the most capable of shaping our future and sustaining and improving democracy.
On the other hand, Cornbleth (2014) in his study conducted in London stressed that, “Social
Studies programs integrate knowledge, skills, and attitudes within and across disciplines.
Integrated Social Studies programs across the nation take many forms, varying in the amount
and form of disciplinary integration”. For example; at primary levels, Learners often learn
Social Studies through learning opportunities that are highly integrated across several
disciplines. These often take the form of units constructed around themes. For example,
teachers using the theme "time, continuity, and change" would likely engage young learners
in studies using history, science, and language arts. As students proceed to middle and higher
levels, Social Studies programs may continue to be highly integrated and in some cases
planned by interdisciplinary teams of teachers (for example, social studies, science,
mathematics, humanities). Alternatively, programs may be planned as interdisciplinary
courses or more exclusively linked to specific disciplines (for example, a history course that
also draws from geography, economics, and political science). (ibid).Social Studies programs
help students construct a knowledge base and attitudes drawn from academic disciplines as
specialized ways of viewing reality. Each discipline begins from a specific perspective and
applies unique (processes for knowing) to the study of reality. History, for instance, uses the
perspective of time to explore causes and effects of events in the past. Political science, on
the other hand, uses the perspective of political institutions to explore structures and
processes of governing. It is important for students in Social Studies programs to begin to
understand, appreciate, and apply knowledge, processes, and attitudes from academic
disciplines. But even such discipline-based learning draws simultaneously from several
disciplines in clarifying specific concepts. A study of the concept of “the common good,” for
example, may draw upon some or the discipline of history, to determine the concept’s origin,
study primary source documents that define and address the concept, and analyze the
concept’s development over time. The discipline of geography, to locate where the concept
was first developed, map its movement from one continent or nation to another, and

29
recognize the power of the diffusion of ideas as an example of global linkage. Furthermore,
communication abilities from language arts or English and the fine arts enable students to
express their understanding of the concept in a personally meaningful way. The example
could be extended to other disciplines, but the point is that discipline-based knowledge,
processes, and attitudes are fully utilized within Social Studies programs. Learners in Social
Studies programs must study the development of social phenomena and concepts over time;
must have a sense of place and interrelationships among places across time and space; must
understand institutions and processes that define our democratic republic; must draw from
other disciplines appropriate to a more complete understanding of an idea or phenomenon;
and must experience concepts reflectively and actively, through reading, thinking, discussing,
and writing (Enesco, 2016).Moreover, Tilbury and Wasiams (2006), in London contend that
Social studies education contributed greatly to contemporary society. This is in the case
where as Social studies curriculum reinforced skills in learners, which were of growing
importance in evaluating world economy, Social studies education therefore, helped high
school learners to understand the systematic nature of the modern world, through exploring
different meanings and models of development. It was also worth noting that Social studies
curriculum enabled school learners to acquire a framework of knowledge about locations and
places .The knowledge so acquired helped high school learners to set local, national and
international events that supported their development holistically. The holistic development
of learners referred to the preparation of learners for the opportunities, responsibilities and
experiences of adult life. Thus a Social studies curriculum helped learners to understand the
influence of environmental conditions on human activities and the varied ways in which
societies with different technologies economic systems of cultural values had perceived, used
and altered and created particular environments
Lambert (2011) in London, also states that, “Social Studies programs reflect the changing
nature of knowledge, fostering entirely new and highly integrated approaches to resolving
issues of significance to humanity”. He further states that, “over the last fifty years, the
scholarly community has begun to rethink disciplinary boundaries and encourage more
integration across disciplines. This process has been spurred by pressures. This was argued
by Frame (2012) in London who observed that Social issues, such as poverty, crime, and
public health, are increasingly understood to transcend the boundaries of disciplines, cultures,
and nations. As these issues grow increasingly complex, the work to develop solutions
demands an increasingly integrated view of scholarly domains and of the world itself. Many
scholars now define themselves by the issues and problems they address and use several

30
disciplines to inform their work. Entirely new departments and programs reflect this
development. Academic programs in American Studies, African-American Studies,
Biotechnology, and Medical Ethics, for example, draw on multiple disciplines and their
processes to address the needs of humanity. Technology provides increasingly easy access to
data bases that are cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary as well as to scholarship in many
disciplines. Scholars increasingly consider themselves to be members of the international
academic and share findings community regularly across intellectual and geographic
boundaries”.
Associated with improving the teachers’ competences in integrating technology into the
Social Studies learning, the roles of teacher education curriculum are crucial so that the
Social studies skills can be realized. The curriculum development needs to change drastically
to comply with the competences needed in order to make room for competences. It is
therefore noted by (Soon etal, 2012) that curriculum should synthesize studies on technology,
philosophy, and pedagogy. The synthesis is very important so that teachers be ready with the
knowledge, skills, and experiences in integrating technology into learning; be skilful in
cultivate a greater understanding of the emergence of stereotypes and prejudice during
learning process; and be skillful in improve global literacy and cross-cultural awareness of
the learners (Carano, 2009). The synthesis curricular activities are also expected to train
teacher candidates to find creative ideas to overcome obstacles or limitations in integrating
technology into the classroom as it was observed by (Wright & Wilson, 2005; Lambert,
2004). Following are models or approaches can be used to develop teachers’ education
curriculum, which is based on the principles of pedagogy, technology, and philosophy. First,
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge model is developed and can be used as a
starting point to find a ”conceptual home" of the technology in the Social Studies which can
be able to build on the concepts of pedagogical knowledge as well as to facilitate the teacher's
role as a ”curriculum gatekeeper," and as a framework for teachers to discuss the intentions,
actions, and outcomes in the context of technology-rich classroom, and is also suitable and
applicable to the fields of study of Social Studies. Theoretically, it emphasizes the
interrelationship of three principal components of the learning environment: the content,
pedagogy, and technology (Keeler, 2008). Second, synthesis curriculum approaches proposed
by Vogt and Robin (2012) which are emphasizing integrating competences into the
curriculum. Three approaches/models of the competences' synthesis as follows: be added to
the already existing curriculum as new subjects or as new content within traditional subjects;
be integrated as cross-curricular competences that both underpin school subjects and place

31
emphasis on the acquisition of wider key competences, or be part of a new curriculum in
which the traditional structure of school subjects is transformed and schools are regarded as
learning organizations. According to them, although different three approaches are
acknowledged, most frameworks recommend integrating competences across the curriculum
due to its complex and cross-disciplinary nature. Third, Science, Technology, and Society
(STS) model are proposed by, and Aikenhead (2005). This model is the most popular model
of technology integration. According to them, it represents a typology of Kuhn’s paradigm
shift in terms of objectives, and learning process orientation (learner-centred) as reflected into
the four curricular components, namely: functions, contents, integrated structure, and
sequences, that illustrate the successful integration of various disciplines such as
anthropology, history, political science, sociology, science, and technology. This model
recommended by NCSS to be used in developing SS curriculum. As stated by NCSS in a
document of “Standard Curriculum for Social Studies” (2010), ”Social Studies programs
should include experiences provide for the study of relationships between science,
technology, and society” (STS), so the leaner’s understand how science and technology
associated with the study of history, geography, economics, civics and government . Finally,
more importantly is the curriculum needs to teach skills discretely in the context of core
subjects and interdisciplinary themes; focus on providing opportunities for applying skills
across content areas and for a competency based approach to learning; enable innovative
learning methods that integrate the use of 24 supportive technologies, inquiry- and problem-
based approaches and higher-order thinking skills; and to encourage the integration of
community resources beyond school walls . The curriculum also needs to focus on the
development of cooperative behaviour, critical-thinking skills, global perspective; to increase
the use of technology in learning, critical to media and mass communication; to develop a
cross-cultural understanding and tolerance, and respect for human rights (Pitiyanuwat,
2002).The teacher creates learning environments where students are active participants as
individuals and as members of collaborative groups. Teacher Creation, interrogation, sharing,
discussion, justification and analysis processes of engaging in civil participation, social
research and historical thinking.
Developing various perspectives, respect for well-supported positions and developing
sensitivity towards cultural differences and similarities Teachers must be aware of and meet
the needs of learners in order to make Social Studies instruction (NCSS, 2009). Teachers
should make use of the differences and natural consequences of the students in their
environment. Provided that they build on the skills and experiences of the learners, teachers

32
can design learning environments where students struggle to build meaningful connections
and develop their knowledge and perspective. In Social Studies, as in any discipline, students
can benefit from many ways in which they can understand a given concept. Increasingly,
middle school teachers have learners with different abilities and different experiences. For
this reason, the teacher has to apply different teaching methods to the learners with individual
differences. Successful middle school teachers employ a variety of teaching methods to
engage both the subject domain knowledge and the learning process (ibid). Social Studies
instructors are studying their views on education according to learning styles and individual
differences; it is suggested that the use of current learning and teaching methods and
techniques for success in Social Studies lessons, shaping of lessons with real events, stories
and real life patterns, placement of education technology and materials as much as possible
and education and training period should be arranged according to learner needs. Middle
school learners need to have access to basic democratic values, equality of opportunity,
justice and diversity in learning experiences, including freedom of speech and thought.
Middle school Social Studies teachers should create opportunities for their learners to discuss
values, engage in solving real-world problems, and make informed decisions (ibid). Social
Studies teacher candidates argue that they do research on current topics in lectures, discuss
current events, and distinguish the first minutes of lectures to current. Challenging middle
school Social Studies education supports lifelong learning and active citizenship. Rather than
examining many superficial aspects to learners, opportunities for in-depth research of several
important concepts should be given. Challenging Social Studies projects include projects and
simulations that require the application of discussion, negotiation and critical thinking skills.
Middle school Social Studies learner should question evaluate and justify the sources of
information instead of simply reading and answering questions. The teacher should ask
questions in a kind that encourage learners to make decisions, problem solving and problem
analysis. Social Studies teachers claimed that they need to know English well to be able to
perform the skills needed for lifelong learning. They also stated that teachers should lead
collective learning through lifelong learning. According to the Social Studies literature,
learners’ attitudes towards Social Studies course and related factors are significantly affected
by two factors: active participation and was in of the teacher; the perceived value of the
subject field (Tanner, 2009). It is therefore argued by Demirkaya and Arıbaş (2004) that the
attitudes and performances of the teacher in the classroom, the use of technology and
materials in the lessons and the active participation of the learners in the class are effective on
the attitudes of the learners towards the Social Studies lesson. Providing learners with

33
authentic learning activities is an important factor in ensuring learner participation. Marks
(2000) defined a scale consisting of 4 items related to the frequency of engaging meaningful
academic learners in the Social Studies class in the context of authentic instructional work
learners are asked to ask interesting questions and solve new problems; focus only on one
sense of meaning; they apply the conditions and problems of life outside the school; and
discuss with teachers and learners about their ideas about the subject (Tanner, 2009).By
taking advantage of forward-looking ideas and arguments, researchers have made some
recommendations for best practices in teaching Social Studies. When students choose their
own subjects for research, they need opportunities for exercise selection and responsibility.
Particularly in Social Studies class, active participation is needed to prepare learners for
democratic citizenship. Good teachers prepare a list of important topics that was helping their
learners make brilliant choices. It not only ensures learner participation, it also teaches how to
select topics in a logical way to prepare reports and articles. Teaching Social Studies should
include exploration of explicit questions that challenge learners’ thinking. This means going
beyond a learner with some difficulty in mind through meaningful questions. In order to
mobilize this principle, teachers need to learn how to prepare questions that was attract
learners to discuss. Another teaching skill needed for this research is the open approach to the
conduct of the constructive group discussions. Social Studies teachers are studying the
behaviour of learners to ask questions during course processing teachers often ask questions
that are intriguing to their learners, and that these questions are in a manner that is easy to
understand, but that it is encouraging to think of learners. While teaching concepts related to
real life in Social Studies class, active participation of learners in Social Studies class and
wider communities is required. Learners are actively involved in both independent and
collaborative learning environments without building the skills and habits needed for life-
long responsible learning in teaching Social Studies. The learning of Social Studies should be
based on the assumption of knowing nothing about the subject and the preliminary
information that learners have gained in their life and community. In the vast majority of
learners, the use of primary resources in Social Studies classes has been found to revive in the
minds of the history. They are especially pleased with the hide-and-seek game shown in
digital photos (Torrez & Waring, 2009). However the evidence-based on Social Studies
classes are performing at a high level of learning in the learners, and that the learners are
more motivated in the classes. In addition, Social Studies have stated that teachers should
conduct activities that reveal the differences between primary and secondary sources.
Multiple perspectives and historical prejudice concepts emerged in these students. Besides

34
that learner has to learn to distinguish between primary and secondary resources .Teachers of
both classes stated that they were more attentive to the lessons of the learners than before.
One of the teachers stated that they did not believe that middle school students could use the
primary sources and authentic research method before this application. Both teachers alleged
that allowing the use of digital resources in lesson allowed them to connect with resources
outside the classroom and engage in disciplined research. Curriculum facilitated the
promotion of understanding, tolerance and friendship amongst all nations, racial and religious
groups and fostered the activities of the United Nations in the maintenance of peace.
Furthermore, social studies curriculum contributes to the learners’ knowledge of being aware
of the way decisions are made and the factors that influenced that decision. The curriculum
problem for the Social studies education system can be seen to exist at several levels and in
numerous dimensions (ibid).
The success of such type of curriculum according to Mwaria (2000), were determined by the
extent to which the objectives had been achieved. As argued by Nazlin (2009) once there was
emphasis on predetermined outcomes, there was little role for the learners apart from
complying with the teachers’ plans. The argument was supported by Orodho (2003), who
stipulated that the aim of education was to encourage learners to think. As such all the
outcomes could not be predetermined if educators had to leave room for learners to think.
Kenithia (2013) in Kenya observed that, ideas in Social studies curriculum suggested that a
balanced course could take into account the nature of the subject, the needs of the learners
and the wider society of which they were part. This therefore meant skills and values. It was
these transferable Social studies skills that helped to equip learners for lifelong learning as
responsible global citizens.
According to,Okello and Kagoire, (2005) conducted a study in Kenya and stated that when
planning for teaching strategies need to be considered and when the teacher is designing,
planning and structuring Social studies lesson, potential areas of difficulties may emerge for
these learners as they engage with class room experiences and methodologies while learning
Social studies. At the same time real- world learning situated in real- world context has been
shown to have positive impact on learning and learner motivation. An educational simulation
has been found to provide a solution to these by providing some aspects of real- world
learning in the traditional classroom.
Japheth, (2009) in is study conducted in Kenya added, that the quality of educational
experiences gained by the learners in the learning of school Social studies matters a lot. It is
therefore, important that Social studies curriculum for any given nation be evaluated so as to

35
appreciate or improve the educational experiences of the learners. It further argued by
Habowa, (2006) that the health and development of national Social studies curriculum
depends on regular and effective evaluation. It follows that; through conducting an evaluation
the relevance of the curriculum in terms of its challenge on the learners could be established.
With regards to the quantitative or scientific tradition, the revised Social studies curriculum
encompasses this tradition through the component that deals with map work highlights, basic
techniques and skills. Through this component the learners are oriented to map features and
ground features. Furthermore, the quantitative tradition incorporated the aspect of fieldwork
as enshrined in the revised Social studies curriculum. It follows that learners were trained to
follow scientific enquiry so as to identify and provide solutions to problems. As much as the
Social studies curriculum seeks to promote the development of the learner holistically it has
to satisfy two apparently contrary requirements. Thus on one hand the curriculum needs to
reflect the broad educational aims which apply to all learners of whatever ability at whatever
school, while on the other hand, it needs to accommodate differences in the ability and other
characteristics of learners of the same age. Additionally, Social studies curriculum demanded
that teachers be aware of all the factors that could influence the quality of learner’s
experiences. These factors ranged from the demands of society and the school system for
educated people, the organizational structures and procedures of individual schools and the
staffing and material resources of Social studies department to the nature demands and
problems of the local community and the socio-environmental needs, concerns and interest of
their learners CDC, (2013) mentioned that the implementation of revised Social studies
curriculum helps to prepare learners for a globally competitive and technologically
sophisticated economy. It is further asserted that the implementation of revised Social studies
curriculum gives an opportunity to the learners; that it facilitates for the education that
promoted environmental awareness, global understanding and critical thinking as well as
citizenship.
A comprehensive Social studies education curriculum promotes school learners’
understanding of global interdependency, (ibid). Thus education contributes to the long
tradition of examining the manner in which different influences played their part in giving a
place its character However, the revised Zambian Social studies curriculum faced a great
challenge in accommodating differences in the ability and characteristics of learners of the
same age, due to the examination needs, which did not consider the differences in abilities.

36
2.4 Personal Critique Summary
The performance in social studies is presently the talk of the day in Luanshya and Zambia at
large as earlier alluded to in the preamble. Many studies have been carried out on poor
performance in Social studies during National examinations in many countries which include
Zambia, sub- region and United States of America just to mention but a few. A common
phenomenon was that the poor performance has challenges not only on the academic
performance of the learners but also on the standard and development of the nation as
indicated in the overall examination results in the introductory remarks. Due to the
persistence of the problem, therefore, the researcher was assess on the implementation of the
integrated Social studies curriculum in Luanshya and see how it can contribute to the
solutions of the problems.

2.5 Literature gaps

Staddish (2014) in London also says that, societal changes had further challenged curriculum
change in school Social studies in many more countries such as Germany, the Netherlands
and the United States of America. Within societal changes, sociological and psychological
factors also did influence the changes in school Social studies curriculum. Thus the
sociological factors were cited because a curriculum reflects the culture of the people
concerned. For instance in Australia school curriculum changes between 1970 and 1980 were
meant to reflect the culture of the people. This was in the case where learners were subjected
to a curriculum that promoted cultural values, attitudes and beliefs.
Furthermore, curriculum changes in Australia were meant to overcome the stereotypes. As a
result of overcoming the stereotype, the course offerings Social studies in school became
more flexible and career counselling became more established such that more females had
been seen to obtain senior positions in life. Social studies curriculum affected learners
negatively when it was prescriptive and limited in scope. Cela and Sanchez (2015) stated that
the challenge mostly arose from lack of resources and expertise among teachers. In this
regard the quality and quantity of textbooks available for exploitation of a given Social
studies curriculum posed a challenge to learners. This was in a case where if the textbooks
were not of quality and were also not enough to carter for the learners, learning became
restrictive hence little room for learners’ exploration and initiative. The curriculum had a
further challenge on learners if learners did not understand why they had to learn what they
learnt. This challenge came in when the Social studies curriculum plans were assumed, to a
greater or lesser extent to be guided by an overriding principle of fitness for purpose.

37
The world education forum in Darkar (2000) noted that more than one third of world
secondary schools have no access to new skills and technologies that could help in process of
acquisition of knowledge. This is the situation in Kenya secondary schools and it needs a
study to be done to verify the situation. According to Nazli (2009) in his study he observed
that there are problems and difficulties faced in learning Social studies. His study established
that the main problems are that instructors are not sufficient in Social studies education; that
the removal of some courses in the syllabus negatively affects Social studies education; and
that teacher trainees in the field have low motivation. When planning for teaching and
learning in the area of Social Studies a variety of teaching strategies need to be considered.
When the teacher is designing, planning, and structuring Social studies lesson, potential areas
of difficulty may emerge for these learners as they engage with classroom experiences and
methodologies while learning social studies. Therefore there is a need to use some resources
to facilitate the teaching and learning of Social studies. There are many problems to effective
management and use of instructional materials.
In Zambia a related study on curriculum development was done where it said that, Social
studies curriculum demanded that teachers be aware of all the factors that could influence the
quality of learner’s experiences. These factors ranged from the demands of society and the
school system for educated people, the organizational structures and procedures of individual
schools and the staffing and material resources of Social studies department to the nature
demands and problems of the local community and the socio-environmental needs, concerns
and interest of their learners CDC, (2013) mentioned that the implementation of revised
Social studies curriculum helps to prepare learners for a globally competitive and
technologically sophisticated economy. It is further asserted that the implementation of
revised Social studies curriculum gives an opportunity to the learners; that it facilitates for the
education that promoted environmental awareness, global understanding and critical thinking
as well as citizenship.

38
2.6 Chapter Summary
It reviewed the literature with the guide of three themes namely: The challenges being faced
in implementing integrated social studies curriculum by teachers; the factors that make pupils
perform poorly in integrated social studies and the measures to solve the challenges of
implementing Social Studies on pupil’s academic performance. It has tried to differentiate the
meaning of integration as used in research by several other researchers and has guided that in
this research integration would mean the combining of three subjects, subjects being civics,
history and geography into one subject called Social Studies .It has developed deep into the
themes as experienced at the global level, African level and the Zambian experience. It
finally concluded with a personal critique

39
 CHAPTER THREE:
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1.0 Overview
The embedded research design of the mixed methods research approach would be employed
for this study. The qualitative approach would dominate the study while the quantitative
would be used to add detail. This chapter contains the research design, target population,
sample size, sampling procedure, data collection, data analysis and ethical consideration.

3.1Research Design
In this research, a case study design was used in order to achieve the objectives of the study.
A case study is chosen because of the importance in the study to analyze the assessment on
the implementation of the integrated Social studies curriculum on learner’s academic
performance. The study was also employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches in
the data collection. The study involved the data on assessment on the implementation of
integrated social studies curriculum on pupil’s academic performance in Luanshya district.

3.2 Target Populations

A population is the total collection of elements from which we wish to make some inference
(Mugenda &Mugenda, 2003). Beside that Ngechu( 2004) defines population as a set of
people, services , elements, and groups of things or households that are being investigated. It
is therefore the number of individuals which the researcher is interested in describing and
making statistical inferences. The target population for this study was all secondary schools
in Luanshya District. The researcher was targeting all head teachers, Social Sciences Heads
of Departments, teachers and the pupils. This study was a survey in which all the secondary
schools were to be involved. The study was issue a questionnaire to the Head teacher, HODS,
Teachers, Head boy and Head girl
3.3.0 Sample size and sampling procedure

3.3.1 Sample Size

According to White (2003) a sample can be used to be a subset or group of subjects selected
from the larger population and whose characteristics can be generalized to be entire
population. The study was gender balanced for both men and women five public secondary
schools in Luanshya district. Therefore, the study sample comprises of forty teachers, sixty
pupils. The total sample size was IOO.

40
3.3.2 Sampling Techniques
The sampling procedure was random in selected schools in Roan zone of Luanshya district.
This means that classes doing Social studies were targeted for data collection.

3.4 Instruments for Data Collection

Data in this research was collected using questionnaires and interviews. Both teachers and
pupils were given questionnaires and interviews were conducted to get in-depth information
from them. Questionnaires were preferred because it was easy to reach a good number of
respondents. It also saves cost since the nature of the topic which has both qualitative and
quantitative data (Kothari, 2004). Self –administered questionnaires also preferred because
they was easy to fill by the participant.

3.5 Procedure for Data Collection

Questionnaires
A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of the series of questions or other types of
prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Questionnaire have
advantages over some types of surveys in that they are cheap, and don’t require as much
effort from the questioner as standardized answer that make it simple to compile data.
Therefore, a questionnaire contained a number of questions that the respondents have to
answer in a set of format. A distinction is made between open- ended question ask the
respondent to formulate his own answer whereas a closed –ended question has the respondent
pick a n answer from a given number of options he response option for a closed-ended
question should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive.

In this study, the researcher prepared 100 questionnaires of which were distributed as
follows:
60 for pupils and 40 for Social studies teachers. Questionnaires are an ideal tool for collecting
data from respondents most of whom would wish to remain anonymous especially on matters
of sensitivity requiring confidentiality (mashanyare and chinamase, 2014).

Interviews
The researcher was conduct interviews with Social studies teachers. The total number of
respondents to be interviewed was100 that comprise teachers of Social studies and grade 9
pupils. The interview guide was used because of its interactive nature as it was help to go in
depth as the discussion was held. Those who were interviewed were 40 Social studies teacher

41
and 60 pupils. Secondary data was consisting of Social studies department results analysis
from schools starting from 2015 to 2019 that was found in schools.

3.6 Data Analysis Techniques

After the data collection, a statistical package was used to analyze it and the results were
presented in tables and graphs on which the conclusion was based. (Micro soft excel, SPSS
or STATA was used to analyze the qualitative data that was collected for the study .The
quantitative data that was collected and systematically entered on Microsoft excel sheet and
later interpreted into table, graphs and charts. The qualitative data was analyzed theoretically
under their respective emerging themes and sub themes. Data was interpreted using
description statistics in form of frequencies and percentages. Data processing at this stage
refers to editing, tabulation, coding, and data entry and data analysis so that data can be
accurate before data analysis is done.
Editing: This involves examining the collected raw data in order to detect errors and
omissions and to correct where necessary. The researcher was carefully scrutinizing the data
through editing to ensure that the data is accurate and consistent by reading through all the
questions and compare them with answers given to eliminate errors.
Coding: After editing the researcher was code the response of each category of respondents.
This helps to clarify each answer to the questions into meaningful category.
Tabulating: This also includes putting together data into tables and statistical analysis in
order to reduce frequency into percentage tables.

Triangulation
It is asserted that the definition of validity has undergone a number of changes. The test of
validity falls under three categories. These include criterion related, content and construct
validity Creswell (2005). The researcher would design a questionnaire as the research tool to
be used during data collection. Both questionnaires and interview guide would be used during
field work because it used to express the views and opinions of the respondents.

3.7. Ethical Consideration

The researcher has a moral and professional obligation to be ethical and objective, even when
research subjects are unaware or unconcerned about ethics Bell (2014, p. 93). Adhering to
this, the researcher was ensure that those that was interviewed was absolutely clear about
their rights to an explanation of aims, procedures purposes, and the consequences of the

42
research, publication possibilities and the right to refuse to take part or withdraw at any stage
without any penalty to them. The participants were made confident to act voluntarily and
make their decisions on the fullest possible information and more to that, the researcher was
maintaining the integrity of the research and its ethical standards.
The participants’ were informed of who the researcher is, where she comes from, and the
purpose of the research. The participants were assured that the information that they give,
was made anonymous meaning that their names was not be published so as to protect their
identity.
The participants were also informed that, they was not be given any incentives for taking part
in the research. The researcher also got permission from the District Education Board
Secretary (DEBS) to carry out investigation from schools within the district. As much as it is
appreciated that English is the official language, the use of local language was also allowed to
those who cannot express themselves in English fluently.

3.8 .Chapter Summary

This chapter described the methodology to be used to carry out the study. The research design
is a case study focusing on secondary schools in public secondary schools in Luanshya
district. The population of the study was based on five basic schools, and two secondary
schools. The study also talked about the research design, sample size, instrument for data
collection, data procedure, data collection, sampling techniques, scope of the study, limitation
of the study, as well as ethical consideration.

43
 CHAPTER FOUR:
PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS
4.0 Overview
This chapter contains the data presentation, data analysis, interpretation and discussion of the
results. The data for the study were analyzed using descriptive analysis and the statistical
package for social science (SPSS). The data were generated from the questionnaires
administered to the respondents. The chapter ends with a summary of the findings.

Pupil questionnaire analysis

Question a1
Figure 4.1.1 % distribution of pupils by age
5.00%

12 to 14
15 to 17
43.30% above 17
57.70%

Source: field data 2020

The sample also revealed the age group of pupil respondents as follows; 31 representing
51.7% were between 12 and 14 years of age, 26 representing 43.3% were between the age of
15 to 17, and 3 representing 5% were above 17.

44
Question a2

Figure.4.1.2 % distribution of pupils by type of school

120%

100%
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0% 0%
0%
boys girls coeducation

Source: field data 2020

The graph shows responses from pupil respondents when they were asked to state the type of
school they are in, 60 representing 100% of respondents said they are in a coeducation
school. Most of the schools in Luanshya district are coeducation. This simply means that they
are boy and girls in on school .Therefore, the participants comes from this school specifically
those pupils at junior level who were taking social studies.

45
Question b 1

Figure 4.1.3 % distribution of pupil responses to books used in class

50.00%

45.00% 43%

40.00%

35.00%
30%
30.00%
27%
25.00%

20.00%

15.00%

10.00%

5.00%

0.00%
mk progress revised syllabus

Source: field data 2020

The above bar graph represents responses from pupils when they were asked which books are
used in class to teach social studies. 26.7% said MK, 30% said progress and 43.3% said the
revised syllabus books. The response from respondents shows that revised social studies
books are mostly used in schools because they had the biggest number of books in schools.
This also followed by those using progress pupils books and lastly Mk are few in school
simply because it had least number of those who are using the same books.

46
Question b 2

Figure 4.1.4: % distribution of pupil responses to books pupils find useful

27%

43%
mk
progress
revised syllabus

30%

Source: field data 2020

The pie chart shows responses from pupils when they were asked which books they find
useful. 43.3% said the revised syllabus, 30% said progress and 26.7% said MK.The
respondents also viewed that revised syllabus were reported to be useful, this is because
pupils thought that they are mostly used by them. Other books were rarely seen by the pupils.
This is because maybe the school had fewer copies which seem not to cater the larger number
of pupils in class.

47
Question b 3

Figure 4.1.5:% distribution of pupil responses to who provides the books

25%

teacher
parents

75%

Source: Field Data :2020

The chart above shows responses from pupils’ state who use provides the books. 75% said
their teacher while 25% said their parents. The good number of respondents indicated that
teachers provide books for them. Teachers in this case plays a role because are the ones who
use to provide books for the pupils whenever they are delivering a lesson. At least parents can
supplement whenever needs arises.

48
Question b 5
Figure 4.1.6 % distribution of pupil responses to number of pupils sharing one book
60%
55.00%

50%

40%

30% 28.30%

20% 16.70%

10%

0%
2 3 more than 3

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above bar graph shows responses to how many pupils share one text book. 55% said 2,
28% said 3 and 17% said more than 3.Pupils were able to give responses according to what
they see in schools. The respondents alluded that they share text books during social studies
lessons. Pupils in different schools said that they use to share books per 2 and this indicates
the largest percentage. Other respondents said that they were able to share per 3 because the
school could not afford to share per individual .The other categories of respondents said that
they were able to share more than 3 due to short fall of books in schools.

49
Question b6
Figure 4.1.7 % distribution of pupil responses to how they find social studies lessons to be

50%

45% 43%

40%

35%
31%
30%

25%

20%

15% 14%
12%
10%

5%

0%
very interesting interesting boring very boring

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above bar graph shows responses from pupil respondents to the question how they find
social studies lessons; 43% of the respondents said very interesting, 12% of the respondents
indicated interesting, 31% said they found the lessons boring and 14% of the respondents said
the lessons are very boring. According to the presentation of findings in the figure above,
large number of respondents said that they find social studies lessons to be very interesting,
others also said interesting .Another group of respondents said that social studies lessons are
very boring and also a big number indicates that the subject is boring.

50
Question b7

Figure 4.1.8. % distribution of pupil responses to challenges using text books

54%
53%

52%

50%

48%
47%

46%

44%

42%
dificult language topics not there

Source: Field Data: 2020

The bar graph above shows responses obtained from pupil respondents when they were asked
to mention the challenges they face when using the social studies text books, 53% of the
respondents indicated that they find the language used in the books too difficult, 47% of the
respondents mentioned that some of the topics they find in examination papers are not in the
text books. The biggest number of respondents said that they use to have challenges in using
social studies books. They said that the language used in social studies is not friendly and
some words cannot be understood if no one explained to you. Some respondents also said that
some of the topics are been removed in the book but if you get the past examinations are
there.

51
Question b8

Figure.4.1.9 % distribution of pupil responses to use of teaching aids by the teacher

120%

1
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0
0%
yes no

Source: field work 2020

The above bar chart shows responses from pupil respondents when they were asked to
mention if their teachers carry other materials apart from text books to class when teaching
social studies, 100% representing 60 pupil respondents indicated that their teachers do carry
teaching aids to social studies lessons. The respondents alluded that they understand the
lesson better if their see their teachers use teaching aids because we see the actual thing the
teacher he or she is talking about and we understand the lesson better.

52
Question b9
Figure 4.1.10 % distribution of pupil responses to use of other text books

120%

100%
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
0%
yes no

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above bar graph represents responses from pupil respondents when they were asked if
their teacher uses other text books to teach social studies, 60 representing 100% of the
responded said that their teachers use other text book apart from the one they use in class.
Respondents also added that they feel better to see their teachers used different books apart
from the ones they use in class than relying on one book. Pupils said that they are able to
compare the books to see to it if the information if the same. They added that other book
omits important information and it is an added advantage to know the missing information.

53
Question b10

Figure 4.1.11 % distribution of pupil responses to usefulness of social studies

120%

100%
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
0%
yes no

Source: Field Data 2020

The above bar graph shows responses from pupil respondents when they were asked to
mention whether they find the text books useful or not 60 representing that 100% of the
respondents indicated that what the learn in social studies is very useful and beneficial in
their lives. They respondents said that civics helps them knows how to respects elderly
people in the society and also to know their rights. Not only that, they said that they value
history because they respects other people’s culture .Respondents also they added that
geography had helped them knows how to obtain survival skills e.g. Farming and
aquaculture.

54
Question c 1

Figure 4.1.12: % distribution of pupil responses to challenges pupils face learning social
studies

46.70% time is not enough

53.30% different teachers for one subject

Source: Field Data: 2020

The pie chart shows responses from pupils when they were asked to mention the challenges
they faced in learning social studies. 46.7% said different teachers teaching the same subject
while 53.3% said the time allocated is not enough. Majority of the pupils said that social
studies are bulky and the periods are not enough. This simply that each component for
example history, geography and history has only two periods per week which is not enough
for them. Another group of respondents said that one subject called social studies has three
teachers and can be a challenge to them because if one teacher is lazy or absent the other
subject can be affected. And this can affect the performance during the final examination.

55
Question c 2

Figure 4.1.13 % distribution of pupil responses to suggestions to solve the challenges

54.00%
53.30%

52.00%

50.00%

48.00%
46.70%

46.00%

44.00%

42.00%
increase time for social studies let one teacher teach the subject

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above bar graph shows responses from pupil respondents when they were asked to
suggest solutions to the challenges they face in learning social studies. 53.3% said by
increasing the time allocated to social studies, while 46.7% said by letting only one teacher
teach the subject. Majority of the respondents said that it is important to see to it that social
studies is given equal time like other subjects. Another group of respondents suggested that
let one teacher teach the subject for us to understand the subject better. By doing that the
performance can be improved

56
Question c 3

Figure 4.1.14: % distribution of pupil responses to opportunities in the social studies text
books

60.00% 56.70%

50.00%
43.30%
40.00%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%
survival skills good values

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above bar graph shows responses obtained from pupil respondents when asked the
opportunities they have found in social studies text books. 43.3% said they gain survival
skills while 56.7% said they learned good values.

57
Question c 4

Figure 4.1.15: % distribution of pupil responses to field trip attendance

35%

yes
no

65%

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above pie chart represents responses from pupil respondents when they were asked if
their teacher has taken them on a field trip before. 65% of the respondents said they have not
gone on any field trip with their teacher while 35% have had a chance to go out on a field trip
as a class with their teacher. For the respondents who said that they have never attended field
trips complained that some of the lessons taught in class needs real objects especial on the
elements of weather. And this is not healthy for us pupils because we cannot forget whatever
We can see with our eyes.

58
Question c 5

Figure 4.1.16 % distribution of pupil responses to what teaching aids teacher uses
45%
42%
40%

35% 34%

30%

25% 24%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
maps charts atlas

Source: Field Data: 2020

The bar graph above shows responses from pupil respondents when they were asked what
material they see their teacher carry to class apart from text books during social studies
lessons, 42% of the respondents said their teacher uses maps, 34% said they see their teacher
come with charts, and 24% of the respondents said their teacher also comes with atlases.

59
Question c 6

Figure 4.1.17 % distribution of pupil responses to use of brainstorm in class

40.00%
36.70%
35.00%
31.70%
30.00%

25.00%

20.00% 18.30%

15.00% 13.30%

10.00%

5.00%

0.00%
very often often rarely very rarely

Source: Field Data :2020

The above bar graph represents responses from pupils when they were asked to indicate the
level to which their teacher uses brain storm in lessons. 18.3% respondents said that their
teachers very often , 36.7% said often, 31.7% said rarely and 13.3 % said very rarely

60
Question c7

Figure 4.1.18: % distribution of pupil responses to use of role play in lessons

8.30%

very often
43.30% often
rarely
very rarely

43.30%

Source: Field Data :2020

The pie chart above shows responses from pupils when asked if their teacher uses role play in
their lesson. 8.3% respondents said often, 43.3% said rarely, 43.3% said very rarely and 0%
said very often.

61
Question c 8
Figure 1.1.19 % distribution of pupil responses on how often teacher allows debate

45%
42%
40%
36%
35%

30%

25%

20%
15%
15%

10%
7%
5%

0%
very often often rarely very rarely

Source: Field Data: 2020

The bar chart above shows an analysis of responses given by pupil respondents when they
were asked to state how often their teacher allows debate during social studies lessons, 7%
said very often, 15% of the respondents said often, 42% said rarely and 36% of the
respondents said very rarely.

62
Question c 9

Figure 4.1.20 % distribution of pupil responses on how they find participating in social
studies
80%

70% 67%

60%

50%

40%
33%
30%

20%

10%

0% 0%
0%
very interesting interesting boring very boring

Source: Field Data: 2020

The bar graph above shows responses from pupil respondents when they were asked to
indicate how they find lessons when they are allowed to participate in them; 67% of the
respondents said very interesting, 33% of the respondents said they find the lessons to be
interesting, while 0% said boring and very boring.

63
Question c 10

Figure.4.1.21: % distribution of pupil responses to use of discussion in lessons

0.1

very often
often
rarely
very rarely

0.9

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above pie chart shows the responses from pupils when they were asked if their teacher
uses discussions in lessons. 90% said it is used very often, 10% said it is rarely used while
0% said often or very rarely.

64
Question d 1

Figure 4.1.22: % distribution of pupil responses to pupils’ willingness to use ICT to learn
social studies

40%

yes
no

60%

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above pie chart represents responses from pupil respondents to their willingness to use
ICT to study social studies. 60% of the respondents said they are willing to use ICTs to study
social studies while 40% said they are not willing to use ICTs to study social studies.

65
Question d 2

Figure 4.1.23 % distribution of pupil responses on availability of internet, journals e.t.c

120%

100%
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
0%
yes no

Source: Field Data: 2020

The bar chart above shows an analysis of responses from pupil respondents when they were
asked if internet, journals etc are accessible in their schools, 100% of the responded the
indicated that they don’t have access to used internet, computer, and websites

66
Question d 3

Figure4.1.24: % distribution of pupil responses to; are you often exposed to field study and
inquiry?

25%

yes
no

75%

Source: Field Data:2020

The pie chart above shows responses from pupil respondents when they were asked if their
teacher takes them of field study or uses inquiry method when teaching those, 25% said yes
while 75% said no.

67
Question d 4

Figure4.1.25: % distribution of pupil responses to; are you given enough learning material?

80%
75%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%
25%

20%

10%

0%
YES NO

Source: Field Data:2020

The bar graph represents responses from pupils when they were asked whether their teacher
gives them enough learning material. 75% said yes and 25% said no.

68
Question d 5

Figure4.1.26: % distribution of pupil responses to how interesting is social studies?

16.70%

3.30% very interesting

interesting
boring
very boring

63.30%

Source: Field Data: 2020

The pie chart shows responses from pupil respondents when asked if they found social
studies to be interesting. 63.3% said they found it very interesting, 3.3% said they find it
interesting, 16.7% indicated that they found it boring and 0% found it very boring.

69
Question d 6

Figure4.1.27: % distribution of pupil responses to schools readiness to teach social studies

8.30%

yes
no

91.70%

Source: Field Data: 2020

The pie chart represents responses from pupils when they were asked in their opinion if the
school is ready to teach them social studies. 91.7% said yes while 8.3% said no.

70
Question d 7

Figure 4.1.28: % distribution of pupil responses to whether they do remedial work

80.00%

70.00% 68.30%

60.00%

50.00%

40.00%
31.70%
30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%
yes no

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above bar graph shows responses from pupil respondents when asked if they have extra
time with their teacher apart from the timetabled time. 68.3% said they do while 31.7% said
they don’t.

71
Question d 8

Figure 4.1.29 % distribution of pupil responses to home work

120%

100%
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
0%
yes no

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above bar graph shows responses from pupil respondents when they were asked if their
teacher gives them home work, 100% of the respondents said their teachers do give them
home work.

72
Question d 9

Figure4.1.30: % distribution of pupil responses to; is your teacher willing to assist you apart
from in class?
100.00%

90.00% 88.30%

80.00%

70.00%

60.00%

50.00%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00%
11.70%
10.00%

0.00%
yes no

Source: Field Data :2020

The bar graph above shows responses from pupil respondents on whether their teacher assists
them outside class time. 88.7% said yes their teacher is willing to assist them outside the time
allocated in class, while 11.3% said no.

73
Question d 10

Figure4.1.31: % distribution of pupil responses to; do you do projects in social studies?

25%

yes
no

75%

Source: Field Data:2020

The above pie chart shows responses from pupil respondents when they were asked if their
teacher gives them projects in social studies. 25% said yes while 75% said no.
From the above table, three books come out prominent, M.K, progress and the new revised
curriculum books as the main source of information for junior secondary social studies. The
statistics also show that the three books are useful to learners in the new social studies
syllabus, 75% of learners indicate that the books are readily available in schools, while 25%
say they got help from parents to acquire personal copies. Despite these books being
available in school, the pupil to book ratio is evidently big as in all the cases learners
indicated that they had to share the books with other students, in some cases even three or
more learners sharing one book.
The recommended teaching and learning methods seem to make the lessons more liked and
lively as 100% of the respondents find the subject interesting, this however seem to be shun
by teachers as only 52% of respondents indicated that their teachers used learner centred

74
approaches such as brainstorming and role play. 32% of the respondents also brought out that
time allocated to the subject is not enough as it is still being taught separately in most
schools, 27% of the learners asked even indicated that the subject being handled by different
teachers is a problem as well as if one part is not well done even the rest are affected as the
exam is given in one paper. Only 35% of learners indicated that they have gone on an
educational trip with their teacher, the remaining 65% have not had a chance to go out on a
tour. The data also shows that 60% of learners were keen on using ICTs to learn social
studies, 40% however express negative attitude towards use of ICTs in learning the subject.
This may be seen even in the schools do not have facilities to support a functional use of
ICTs in learning social studies.
Pupils however also shared that despite the challenges, the subject is worth continuing as it
imparts survival skills and good morals in them.

75
4.2 Teacher questionnaires analysis

Figure 4.2.1 % Distribution of Teachers According to gender

60%
55%

50%
45%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
male female

Source: Field Data :2020

The above figure shows that 18 (45%) of the respondents are males while 22 (55%) of the
respondents are females who are in the majority.

76
Figure 4.2.2 % distribution of teachers by qualification

80%

70% 67.50%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20.00%
20%

10.00%
10%
2.50%
0%
primary certificate diploma B.Sc/ B.Ed M.Sc/ M.Ed

Source: Field Data: 2020

The bar chart above represents responses from teachers according to their qualification. 4
respondents representing 10% said that they have Primary certificate, 27(67.5%) said
diploma , 8(20.0%), B.Sc/B.Ed and M.Ed/ M.Sc 1(2.50%).

77
Figure 4.2.3 % distribution of teachers by specialization

22.50%

42.50%
geography
civics
history

35.00%

Source: Field Data: 2020

From the bar graph above shows responses from pupil respondents, geography accounts for
17 (42.5%) who are in the majority, civics 14(35.0%), and history 9(22.5%).

78
Question b 3

Figure4.2.4:% distribution of teacher responses to books used in teaching social studies

20.00%
22.50%

MK
revised syllabus
progress

57.50%

Source: Field Data:2020

The above pie chart shows responses from teacher respondent when they were asked the
books that they use to teach social studies, from the chart; 57.5% said they use the revised
syllabus books, 22.5 use progress, and 20% use MK books.

79
Question b 4

Figure4.2.5: % distribution of teacher responses to availability of books

37.50%

yes
no

87.50%

Source: Field Data :2020

The above pie chart shows responses from teacher respondents when they were asked if they
have enough copies of the recommended books in their schools. 87.5% said they have
enough, 32.5% said the books were not enough.

80
Question b 6

Figure4.2.6: % distribution of teacher responses to opportunities in social studies

47.50% survival skills

52.00% values

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above chart represents responses from teacher respondents when they were asked to list
some of the opportunities for learners in the new integrated social studies. 47.5% listed
survival skills while 52.5% said learners stand to gain good values.

81
Question b7

Figure 4.2.7: % distribution of teacher responses to challenges with social studies books

0.275

shallow content
topics not covered

72.5%

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above chart shows responses from teacher respondents when asked to list some of the
challenges they face when using the new social studies books, 72.5% indicated that the books
have shallow content, 27.5 said some topics are not covered in the books.

82
Question b 8

Figure4.2.8: % distribution of teacher responses to attendance of workshops and seminars

15%

yes
no

85%

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above pie chart shows responses from teacher respondents to whether they have attended
workshops or seminars for integrated social studies. 85% said yes while 15% said they have
not had a chance to attend such forum.

83
Question c 2
Figure4.2.9: % distribution of teacher responses to field trip attendance

15%

yes
no

85%

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above pie chart represents responses from teacher respondents when they were asked to
state whether they have gone on a field trip with their learners. 85% said they had not gone
on any field trip with their learners, 15% have taken their learners on field trips.

84
Question c 3

Figure 4.2.10: % distribution of teacher responses to places visited on field trips

60%

50% 50%
50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0% 0%
0%
airport mine farm muesum

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above bar graph represents responses given by teacher respondents when asked to
mention places where they have taken their learners for a field trip, 50% said to the airport,
another 50% said to the farm while none said mine or museum.

85
Question d 1

Figure4.2.11: % distribution of teacher responses to factors affecting pupil performance

50.00% 47.50%
45.00% 42.50%
40.00%

35.00%

30.00%

25.00%

20.00%

15.00%
10.00%
10.00%

5.00%

0.00%
time alocated not enough material not enough different teachers foe one subject

Source: Field Data: 2020

The bar graph above shows responses from teacher respondents when asked factors affecting
pupil performance in social studies. 47.5% respondents said the time allocated is not
enough, 42.5% said teaching and learning material are not enough and 10% added that
different teachers teaching the same subject to the same class also affects pupil performance
in social studies.

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Question d 2

Figure 4.2.12 % distribution of teacher responses to effect of environment on learning social

studies
120%

100%
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
0%
yes no

Source: Field Data: 2020

The bar chart represents the distribution of teachers’ responses if at all the environment has
effect on learning social studies.100% of the respondents indicated yes and 0% no.

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Question d 3
Figure4.2.13: % distribution of teacher responses to extent ICT is used in teaching social
studies

30%

large extent
less extent
medium extent

70%

Source: field Data: 2020

The pie chart above shows responses from teacher respondents to the extent to which ICT are
used in teaching and learning integrated social studies. 0% of respondents said to a large
extent, 70% said to a medium extent while 30% said to a less extent.

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Question d 6
Figure4.2.14: % distribution of teacher responses to extent to which integrated social studies
imparts survival skills
70%
62.50%
60%

50%

40% 37.50%

30%

20%

10%

0.00%
0%
large extent less extent medium extent

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above bar graph shows responses from teacher respondents to the extent to which
integrated social studies imparts survival skills in learners. 62.5% of respondents indicated
that to a large extent while 37.5% respondents said to a less extent.

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Question d10

Figure 4.2.15 % distribution of teacher responses to solutions to the challenges

32.50%

increase time allocation

train more teachers

67.50%

Source: Field Data: 2020

The above pie chart shows responses gotten from teacher respondents when asked their
suggestion to solve the challenges in implementation in social studies. 67.5% suggested that
the time allocated to integrated social studies be increased while 32.5% of the respondents
added that more teachers be trained in integrated social studies.
From the above information 100% of respondents confirmed that they have a copy the new
integrated social studies syllabus, and 100% of the teacher respondents are aware of the
objectives in integrated social studies. 100% of the teachers are also aware of the reforms
about integrated social studies, however from the population about 15% of the teachers say
they have never attended any capacity building conferences and seminars, this makes it
difficult for them to handle the subject.
87.5% of the respondents indicated that they have enough copies of the recommended books
for integrated social studies, 37.5 say the material is available in school but they are not
enough for all the learners.
100% of the respondents said the revised social studies text books are beneficial to the
learners, 52.5% even added that the learners have opportunities to gain survival skills while
47.5% named values as a benefit learners get from the new books.

90
85% however expressed that they have not been taking their learners for field trips to enhance
learning, they also expressed that they shun debates, brainstorm and role-play in their lessons.
The benefits to this change did not go without challenges, 47.5% of respondents indicated
that time allocated to the subject per week is not enough, 17% added that the material needed
to effectively implement the change were not enough to achieve a functional implementation,
10% also mentioned that three teachers are needed to handle one subject which was a
challenge for the learners. 100% of the teachers advised that use of ICTs could potentially
make it easy for the teaching of integrated social studies although the schools are not
equipped to achieve a functional use.
Despite all the challenges explained, 100% of the teachers said it is worth keeping the change
as its benefits outweigh the challenges.

4.2 Chapter Summary

In this chapter the researcher presented the findings of the study in terms of assessment on the
implementation of the integrated social studies on pupils’ academic performance in
secondary schools of Luanshya district. The researcher found issues relating to inadequate
resources like text books, negative attitude of pupils etc. And the effect of new curriculum on
the performance of pupils, it was discovered that there were no effects of the new curriculum
on the low performances of pupils. The researcher therefore concluded that the research
questions were answered and the objectives of this study were achieved.

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 CHAPTER FIVE:
DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE FINDINGS

5.0 Overview`
This chapter seeks to present the findings on the implementation of the integrated social
studies on pupils’ academic performance in Luanshya district. The chapter also presents the
conclusion of the study which assessed the pupils’ low academic achievement in social
studies in Luanshya district and offers some recommendations for possible action. And the
previous chapter presented the findings of the study. Therefore, this chapter further presents
the discussion and interpretations of the findings of the study following the research,
objectives, themes and sub-themes as follows; challenges on the implementation of socials
social studies, factors pupils face in the implementation of social studies in secondary schools
and to establish the remedy to improve the performance of pupils.

Lack of trained teachers

The current teachers taking integrated social studies in schools are trained in specialized
subject areas such as history, civics and geography, the new curriculum demands that these
subjects are merged and taught as one, this calls for teachers to be trained specially to handle
this integrated subject. At the moment there are very few colleges and universities training
teachers in integrated social studies. This has come out from the respondents asked to be a
major challenge in the implementation. Not enough workshops are being done to retrain the
already existing faculty of teachers to equip them with the needed knowledge and skills to
effectively handle the subject to a functional point. Teachers through questionnaire were
asked whether they had attended any in-service training related to social studies subject
including professional short courses, workshop and seminar.
According to the findings of the study, the qualification and experience of teachers, in the
subject played a significant role influencing high performance in social studies, it was also
established in Tanzania by Hammond (2009) whose study examined the ways in which
teacher qualifications and other school inputs were related to pupil achievement. Among his
evidence-based findings for the effects of teacher quality on pupil outcome was that, teacher
quality uniqueness such as certification status and degree in the field to be taught are very
significantly and positively interrelated with pupil outcomes. Therefore, it is important to
ensure teachers had the necessary accepted qualifications in order for them to put in their
best. In addition to the above mentioned, teacher experience was identified as one of the

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fundamental factors that contributed to pupils’ academic performance and the findings
coincide with those of Goeet al (2008) who studied teachers’ teaching experience and pupils’
learning outcomes in the secondary schools in Ondo state in Nigeria. The study findings
revealed that teachers’ teaching experience was significant with pupils ‘learning outcomes as
measured by their performance in the secondary school certificate examinations. Schools
having more teachers with five years and above teaching experience achieved better results
than schools having more teachers with less than five years teaching experience. It is
therefore important to encourage teachers to upgrade their profession skills in order to
improve pupils’ learning and achievement.

Time allocation to the subject

The integrated social studies subject is not getting as much time as is needed to impart the
skills and knowledge. Since three subjects are merged to form one and each component
should receive as much time as possible to be effectively taught. Social studies required two
periods per week which is not enough for the learners. And this has contributed to learner’s
performance as well as on the implementation of the integrated social studies curriculum

Insufficient material
The respondents mentioned non availability and inadequacy of text books and other learning
and teaching resources which they said contributes negatively on the Performance of pupils
in social studies. In addition, past papers are not adequately used to revise with pupils to
prepare them for the examinations. Therefore, lack of study Materials is one of the factors
believed to have influenced low performance of pupils as observed by district SOSTAZ.
Thus, the more the educational materials are used by pupils the more it’s likely to motivate
them to learn social studies and perform better. As it is, there are numerous reports of poor
teaching and learning materials in most schools, in some cases there are instruments and no
books for proper reference. These results concide with those of the studies conducted by
Sengerema (2004) and Mampangwa (2005) who found that there were inadequate teaching
and learning materials for social studies subjects in secondary schools.
Although books have been printed for this subject, schools do not have enough books to
curter for all the pupils, this makes it hard to share the books properly among the learners.

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During the study it was found that teaching and learning method used by teachers were not
encouraging students to perform well in the subject. The process was dominated by teacher-
centered methods such as; lecturing and questions and answers strategies were highly
applied, as they were reported by 55 students equal to (92.6%).
Practical oriented teaching and learning strategies including study tour were rarely applied.
The lack of exposure to areas with geographical and historical sites through study tour was
observed to be another major factors affecting social studies subject performance. The source
of the problem based on financial constraint as the schools had no budget for that, poor
creativity of some social studies teachers, and parents poor understanding of the importance
of study tours. The existed study tours were initiated by students since it was demanding
them to carry all the costs for the trip. This means those students who were not able to
contribute were not qualified for the trip, and the findings revealed that the majority were not
able to contribute. This also was noted to be a big challenge for subject teachers to plan for
effective study tour due to the fact that a single trip involved few different students from
different classes.

Factors making pupils perform poorly in social studies

From the analysis of performance trends from the year 2017 to 2019, it is clear that the
performance of pupils in social studies has declined, the respondents have pointed out the
following factors to be affecting the performance of learners.

Inadequate learning material in schools

The ratio of pupil to material is so high that in some cases more than 3 pupils are sharing one
book.

Findings show that 24 students equal to 40% were computer illiterate; that mean they could
not search social studies materials from the internet. Also, those who were computer literate
could not do the same because the sampled schools had either computer sets or computer
internet services. Therefore, unavailability and inadequacy of print resources affected
negatively the performance of social studies subject among students. Thus, the responsible

94
authorities in cooperation with other education stakeholders should provide the lacking print
resources so as to improve the subject performance.

Apart from print and projected resources, other commonly resources used in teaching and
learning social studies subject are non-projected resources. Regardless their usefulness in
social studies subject teaching and learning, the findings revealed that non-projected
resources such as wall maps, globes and instruments for measuring weather were so limited
in the visited schools. Also, none of the schools were found with surveying equipment and
Stevenson Screen and its contents. Hence, this could be taken as among of the factors
affecting performance of social studies among students in the sampled schools. Students
were made to cram, which led to poor understanding of the subject concepts, then poor
performance. Teaching and learning materials are very critical and important that the
intended curriculum cannot easily implemented without them. This simply means that for
them to work effectively, they must be supplied for the concerned people. These include
current pupil’s text books, libraries, well equipped social studies pupils and other teaching
aids.
According to N”geno (2015) argued that the limited use of various appropriate instructional
resources is a factor that poses a challenge teaching and learning social studies subject. He
also added that the effective teaching, instructional materials must be directly relevant to
social studies subject. However inappropriate teaching methods can lead to poor
performance and also affect the implementation of social studies. The poor performance has
been caused by poor teaching and learning environment due to lack of adequate text books
and libraries. It is therefore noted that teaching and learning aids allows learners to interact
with the environment. Not only that the teacher has a task to look for appropriate materials
and the way they can be used effectively in the teaching and learning process

Use of non-learner centred approaches

The research has brought out that teachers are shunning learner centred approaches for
various reasons; these could effectively be used to motivate learners and improve their
performance.

Environment of teaching and learning

It was found that some of the classrooms in the schools’ studied are not conducive to
effective teaching and learning. Most of the windows of the classrooms were broken. During

95
the classroom observations, learners were distracted by movement observed through the
windows while the teachers were busy teaching, leading to learners not focusing on the
lessons.
The schools were also found lacking laboratories to do topics on weather, this made it
impossible for the learners to have a practical feel of the subject.
The study found that most classrooms were overcrowded. There were more than 40 learners
per classroom, which could prevent teachers from paying attention to individual learners.
The classroom observations confirmed that teachers and learners could not move freely
because learners’ chairs and tables were arranged too closely together. It was also discovered
by the researcher that teachers teach according to the traditional teacher-centred approach,
which could be a result of the lack of space. Learners also did not have the opportunity to
engage in group or pair activities and share ideas due to the inappropriate seating
arrangement (learners sit in rows behind each other). Moreover, during the classroom
observations, learners were making more noise compared with other classes that had fewer
learners per classroom, creating a lack of control over learners during the lesson presentation.
Large class sizes might be one of the causes of ineffective class management, poor
supervision of assignments and ineffective teaching, leading to learners’ poor performance in
Social Studies. Classes with smaller numbers of learners may allow for individual attention
and may improve learners’ academic performance.

Teaching strategies used in Social Studies

Based on the findings articulated in Chapter 4, none of the participating teachers have
demonstrated the learner-centred teaching approach as required in the Social Studies syllabus.
There was no opportunity for learners to engage in group or pair work. Teachers showed a
lack of understanding of the use of the learner-centred approach. As teachers struggle with
the implementation of a leaner-centred approach, it might affect learners in terms of learning
the subject easier and, as a result, learners might perform poorly in the subject. It was noted
that two teachers only used chalkboards as teaching material. Most of the participants did not
make a use of the suggested Social Studies teaching strategies.
However, one teacher used one of the suggested approaches, namely storytelling. It was also
noted that some teachers used Social Studies textbooks while others used an overhead
projector as teaching material. The researcher suggests that teachers of Social Studies should
use different types of teaching and learning material and strategies because different teaching
strategies may assist learners to understand the content of the subject better and make the

96
lessons more practical and relevant to the learners’ environment. The use of appropriate
teaching approaches may address the variety of leaner’s’ needs that may have a connection
with the subject. Teachers are advised to use a variety of teaching approaches and
demonstrate deep understanding of the subject content.
Encouraging educational tours where pupils can be taken to mines, museums, Weather
stations, industries etc. Also team work among teacher must be encouraged and fortnight
assignment for pupils and serious follow up by teachers, this could be helped to improve
social studies results .Social studies clubs to be introduced in schools. The ministry of
education must create a formal linkage for social studies from primary schools so that pupils
do not find it so foreign to start learning continue from primary school to senior secondary
school. , education tours, CPDs must be implemented and schools should have libraries
library constitutes an important resource to promote learning. It promotes pupils ability to
look for materials and inculcate a reading culture on them .Discovered further that most
markers of social studies are no longer teaching pupils because they are retirees who cannot
give feedback to pupils after noticing errors made during examinations. In other words, using
retirees to mark examinations has a very negative effect on pupils’ academic performance in
social studies although it may appear very invisible. Furthermore, it was discovered that loss
of class contact time due to various reasons such as teacher or learner absenteeism during the
term makes it impossible to cover most of the material to be examined respectively. Hence,
lack of full Syllabus coverage by the teacher leads to inadequacy preparation on the part of a
pupil. The study further discovered that other causes include lack of teacher’s mastery of
subject matter and this implies that teacher must be familiar with the body of knowledge
taught on a particular topic and know how to explain it in a way that makes examination
classes was as well emphasized alongside educational tours where pupils could be taken
mines, weather station, museums and other places of particular importance.

Lack of parental involvement

The respondents indicated that lack of parental involvement contributed to the academic
underperformance of learners. Some parents, for example, use their work as an excuse for not
being involved in their children’s education. Learners might perform better if parents are
actively involved in their school activities, assist them with homework and motivate them to
study hard. Parents should be motivated to attend parent-teacher meetings and discuss their
children’s progress at school to gain ideas on how to support their children and to provide
suggestions that may lead to a better teaching and learning environment. Communication

97
between parents, teachers and learners was enabling parents to support their children and to
understand the importance of their education. Commitment of parents to their children’s
education is essential to the performance of learners as well as to the effective functioning of
schools.

Learners’ interest in social

Learners’ interest in map-work in geography and essays in history subject was among the
major factors that led to poor performance in social studies subject among students.
According to the findings, some students observed to be less interested to Geography subject
due to the perceptions that some topics and subtopics of Geography demand application of
map reading skills while they were less competent on those skills.
Lack of the mentioned skills resulted in poor performance of the subject among students.
However, most of students who were interested in Geography and history subject, and they
had positive perception apart from the challenges they faced while studying the subject
performed better in social studies.
The findings are in line with King‟aru (2014) on the study on factors for poor performance of
science subject, a case of secondary schools in Kawe division, Kinondoni Municipality.
Apart from other factors he found that poor performance in science subjects were due to
negative attitude towards to science subjects among students. The given reason has
considered as similar to what the current study had observed because social studies subject is
a branch of science, it shares some concepts with pure science subjects. For example, among
of the objectives of teaching Geography subject in Zambian secondary schools is to enable
student to develop problem solving skills.
The researcher found out that loss of class contact time due to various reasons also
teacher/learner absenteeism during the term, makes it impossible to cover most of the
material to be examined. It was found that teacher absenteeism from class leads to lack of
awareness on the part of the learner. The pupils lack of practice and guidelines on how
examination questions are supposed to be answered. Some teachers have taught their pupils
errors. Some teachers are sadists and unkind to pupils and this has accomplished the pupils to
lose interest in their subject. Lack of full Syllabus coverage and preparedness of learners
made them shun part or the entire examination and fail to implement social studies. The
aforesaid also explains in part how the researcher adopted the system theory input output

98
model advanced by Ludwig Bertalanfly in the mid-1950s.In this case, the input is what
teachers will put in pupils would help them develop in future and output is that they would
acquire knowledge in return. Therefore, this theory is dependent on both teacher and pupil.
The theory according to Koonzt and Weirich (2008), postulates that an organized venture
does not exist in a vacuum but is dependent on its external environment. Therefore the school
receives pupils from the community, when they enter school the process of teaching and
learning starts. The teaching process needs teachers with good teaching qualities, teaching
and learning resources, pupils’ interests in the subjects and school inspectors to monitor the
whole process of teaching and learning. The aim is to get good output after the whole
process. And not laziness, also absenting from classes. In other words, teaching refers to
series of interrelated activities designs by the teacher using materials and resources drawn
from the learners’ experiential background in order to enable the learner to concretize
knowledge. Hence ,teaching is an input with output in mind. That is learning. Teaching goes
along with learning.

Chapter summary
This chapter presented finding obtained by questionnaires administered to 60 pupils and 40
teachers, the chapter analyzed the data obtained using SPSS and used tables, charts and
graphs. From the questionnaires analyzed from both pupils and teachers it has come out clear
that pupil performance in social studies had declined after the implementation of the revised
curriculum, it has also revealed that the major factors affecting this performance has been;
Parental involvement in education of their children, availability of teaching materials,
availability of learning materials, class size, infrastructure being bad, lack of laboratories, use
of non-learner centred teaching methods, time allocation for the subject, lack of trained
teacher, lack of CPD programs to retrain existing teachers, lack of interest by pupils, teachers
not taking learners on educational trips.

Suggestions to improve this performance were also presented in this chapter as obtained from
the respondents as follows; train more teachers in integrated social studies, provide more
teaching and learning materials, revise time allocation to the subject, improve infrastructure ,

99
build designated laboratories, equip the existing laboratories, motivate pupils to have interest
in the subjects, conduct more CPD programs, familiarize teachers with learner-centred
methodologies, encourage parents to take keen interest in their children’s education through
PTA.

Conclusion

Based on the findings in this study, the following conclusions are drawn;

The implementation of integrated social studies has come with a lot of challenges, these
challenges include.

Parental involvement in education of their children is one of the challenges that came out in
this research, according to the findings parents not attending to their children’s home work,
checking books, and taking part in school activities.

Availability of teaching materials in school has been a challenge since the implementation
demands that new books, question papers, teaching aids such as maps, atlases, e.t.c are made.
Most respondents say a few copies are available but they are have not been enough to curter
for all the learners.

The number of learners per class has also been a challenge as most schools are over-crowded,
some are so crowded that the teacher does not even have space to pass to go round and check
what each individual learner is doing in a lesson. This makes it impossible to attend to
learners’ individual needs.

Some classrooms in these schools were found to have very low windows which are even
broken; this makes it difficult for the learners to concentrate on the lesson in class as they
tend to be disturbed by what goes on outside the class.

Laboratories such as geography laboratories needed to conduct some weather measurements

are not available, all the schools in this study do not have dedicated laboratories for
geography which are suitable and fitted with the necessary apparatus to enable learners
appreciate some of the topics in social studies.

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The new curriculum recommends the use of learner-centred methodologies in teaching; this
however has not been the practice as it was found through this research. Teachers are
shunning using learner centred methodologies citing that that they are time consuming and
classroom space not being enough, some also cited that they avoid some methods like field
trips because of financial constraints.

Time allocation for the subject has not been enough. In the past, before the implementation of
integrated social studies, each of the three subjects was allocated 4 hours per week, now the
integrated social studies has only been getting 6hours per week, which when broken down
translates into 2 hours per component per week. This has adversely affected the syllabus
coverage.

Most teachers teaching social studies were initially trained specialized in only one of the
components of the new integrated social studies, this has made it difficult for them to take us
all the three which they were not trained in. There are very few colleges and universities
offering social studies as a program in this country, this has translated into very few graduates
to fill these positions. This has led to schools going back to assign different teachers for each
component.

There are not enough opportunities for in-service teachers to be retrained and equipped
adequately to teach integrated social studies.

It was also found that some pupils do not have interest in learning history and geography
components because of map work and essays in these two components, this has negatively
affected their performance in the subject.

101
Recommendations

After analyzing the factors that affect learner performance in social studies and the challenges
that have come with the implementation of the new integrated social studies curriculum, the
following recommendations have been drawn ;Train more teachers in integrated social
studies, Provide more teaching and learning materials, Revise time allocation to the subject,
Improve infrastructure, Build designated laboratories, Equip the existing laboratories,
Motivate pupils to have interest in the subjects, Conduct more CPD programs, Familiarize
teachers with learner-centred methodologies, Encourage parents to take keen interest in their
children’s education through PTA.

With these recommendations given by the respondents in this study this research finds that
the benefits coming with the new curriculum outweighs the challenges and that it is worth
keeping.

102
LIST OFAPPENDICES
APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRES FOR TEACHERS
Dear respondent
I am Rhodah Mutambo a student at ICU taking Masters in Education. I am carrying out a
research on implementation of inclusive education in secondary schools in Luanshya district.
This study will find out the challenges faced in the implementation of inclusive education,
reveal the benefits of inclusive education and ultimately find solutions to the challenges
facing implementation of inclusive education in Luanshya district. I therefore humbly ask for
your participation, the information you will provide in this research will be kept confidential
and will only be used for research and academic purposes.

Section A: Background Information

1. Name of School……………………………………………………………
2. Gender: Male [] Female []
3. Age: 21-30 [] 31-40[] 41-50 [] 50-above []
4. Highest profession qualification. Primary certificate [] Diploma [] B.Ed/B.Sc []
M.Ed/M.Sc []
5. Teaching Experience 1-5[] 6-10[] 10-above []

Section B: Challenges in Implementing Integrated Social Studies Curriculum

B1 Do you have a copy of Social studies syllabus you can refer to when necessary? Yes[]
No[]
B2 Which of the following categories of resources exist in your school? Printed[] Projected[]
Non Projected[] Any other specify[]
B3 List the main Social studies text book that you use in class.
…………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………

B4 Do you have enough copies of the mentioned books? Yes [] No []

B5 Are you involved in the selection of text books to use for teaching social studies? Yes []
No []
B6 List the opportunities in the revised Social studies textbooks

103
 i…………………………………………………………………….
ii……………………………………………………………………
B7 List the challenges faced in the use of Social studies text books.
i…………………………………………………………………….
ii……………………………………………………………………
B8 Are you aware of the objectives of Integrated Social Studies objectives? Yes [] No []
B9 Are you highly exposed to reforms in education about Integrated Social Studies? Yes []
No []
B10 Have ever gone for Conferences, seminars, workshops, and enrichment of Integrated
social studies teachers’ education curricula? Yes [] No []

Section C: How Implementation of Integrated Social Studies can be improved Among

Learners
C1 Are you aware of the objectives of the Integrated Social Studies? Yes [] No []
C2 Suggest ways of overcoming the above challenges.
i……………………………………………………….
ii…………………………………………………….
iii………………………………………………………
C3 Have you ever attended field/ education trips of study Social studies? Yes [] No []
C4 If your answer is yes, list down the places visited.
…………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………..
C5 Is the existing junior secondary school social studies curriculum content adequate realize
implementation of Integrated Social Studies? Yes [] No []
C6 Are the Learners taught enough life sustaining vocation for life sustenance through
Integrated Social Studies? Yes [] No []
C7 Is the value content of integrated social studies curriculum is adequate in developing
effective citizenry attitudes in the learner? Yes [] No []
C8 Are the learners wasing to accept changes in the integrated social studies? Yes[] No []
C9 Are you able to accept change and implement accordingly as stipulated in integrated
social studies? Yes [] No

C10 Do you think the period allocated enough in the teaching of integrated social studies

104
 curriculum? Yes [] No []

Section D: Factors Pupils’ Face in Learning Integrated Social Studies

D1 What are some of the factors pupils face in learning Integrated Social Studies?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------
D2 Does the school environment affect the learning of Integrated Social Studies? Yes [] No []
D3 Does the knowledge of ICT in schools affect the learning of Integrated Social Studies?
Yes [] No[]
D4 To what extent are ICTs used in the teaching and learning of social studies? Large extent
[] Less Extent [] Medium Extent.
D5 Is the existing junior secondary school social studies curriculum content adequate to
realize functional ICT learning? Yes[] No[]
D6 To what extent is Integrated Social Studies taught to inculcate survival skills?
[] large extent [] less extent [] medium extent
D7 Do learners have enough text books of the integrated social studies? Yes [] No []
D8 what is the main teaching and learning resource for integrated social studies readily
available in your school?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
D9 has the teaching resource mention been sufficient for your learners? [] Yes [] No
D10 what would you suggest be done to ease the problem?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Thanks for your co-operation!

105
QUESTIONNAIRES FOR PUPILS
Dear respondent
I am Rhodah Mutambo a student at ICU taking Masters in Education. I am carrying out a
research on implementation of inclusive education in secondary schools in Luanshya district.
This study will find out the challenges faced in the implementation of inclusive education,
reveal the benefits of inclusive education and ultimately find solutions to the challenges
facing implementation of inclusive education in Luanshya district. I therefore humbly ask for
your participation, the information you will provide in this research will be kept confidential
and will only be used for research and academic purposes.

Section A: Background Information

Tick the answer were necessary
A1 Name of school………………………….
A2 Type of school: Boys [] Girls [] Mixed School []
A3 Gender: Male [] Female []
A4 Age: 12-15 [] 15-17[] above 17 []
Section B: Challenges in Implementing Integrated Social Studies Curriculum
B1 List the types of Social Studies text books which you use.
B2 If you do not find the text book useful give reasons
i………………………………………………………………
ii…………………………………………………………………
iii…………………………………………………………………
B3 Who provides you with the Social Studies textbook which you use?
……………………………………………………………………
B4 Do you share Social Studies text book with other students? Yes[ ] No [ ]
B5 If yes, how many students share one text book?………………………………………….
B6 How do you find class discussion in social studies? A) very interesting [ ].B) interesting
[ ].c) Boring. [ ]D)very boring[ ]
B7 What challenges do you learners face when using social studies textbook?..........................
B8 Does your teacher use other learning materials apart from textbook? Yes [] No []
B9 Does your teacher use teaching and learning aids in social studies lesson? Yes [] No []

106
B10 Do you find what you learn in social studies useful? [] Yes [] No
Section C: Implementation of Integrated Social Studies Be Improved Among Learners
C1 What challenges do you face in the learning of social studies?
i………………………………………………………………………..
ii……………………………………………………………………..
iii……………………………………………………………………

C2 Suggest possible ways of overcoming the challenges you have mention.

i………………………………………………………………………………..
ii……………………………………………………………………………….
iii………………………………………………………………………………
C3 List the advantages in the revised Social studies textbooks.
i……………………………………………………………………..
ii………………………………………………………………
C4 Has your social studies teacher ever gone on a study tour/ field trip to learn Social studies
with you?
Yes [] No []
C5 Apart from text book what other material your Social studies teacher has used to offer
lessons
.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
C6 How often does your teacher brainstorm on topics before you learn them in social
studies? A) very often[] b) often [] c) rarely [] d) very rarely
C7 How often does your teacher allow you to role play certain topics in social studies?
A)very often .[] b) often [] c) rarely [] d) very rarely []
C8 How often your teacher does allow you to debate certain topic in social studies? A) often
[] b) very often [ ] c) rarely [ ] d) very rarely [ ]
C9 How do you find learning when your teacher allows you to participate in social studies
lesson? a) interesting [ ] b) very interesting [ ] c) boring [ ] d )very boring [ ]
C10 How often your teacher does allows class discussions in social studies? A)often [ ] b)
not often c) rarely []d) Very rarely [ ]

107
Section D: Factors Pupils’ Faces in Learning Integrated Social Studies
D1 Are you wasing to use ICT skills in learning Integrated Social Studies? Yes [] No []
D2 ICTs as internet, computer, and Websites for (journals, periodicals, magazines and
books) are available in schools for use? Yes [] No []
D3 Are you often exposed to field study and inquiry projects? Yes [] No []
D4 Do you think teachers are giving you enough learning materials in Integrated Social
Studies? Yes[] No[]
D5 How interesting is the subject of Integrated Social studies? Very interesting [] Interesting
[] Not Interesting []
D6 Do you think the school is adequately prepared to teach you Integrated Social Studies?
Yes [] No[]
D7 Are you often given extra time apart from the actual timetabled integrated social studies?
Yes [] No []

Are the teachers able to give your homework in integrated social studies? Yes [] No []
D8 Does the teachers wasing to assist you to do other activities apart from the one given in
class? Yes [] No []
D9 Does your teacher engage you in projects in social studies? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Thanks for your co-operation!

108
 APPENDIX B: RESEARCH TIME TABLE

Date Activity

August 2019 to November 2019 Writing of proposal

December organizing all necessary resources and

printing of questionnaires and interview
schedule

January 2020 Arrangements and permission of distribution

of questionnaires and interview
administration

January 2020 to February 2020 Data collection

June 2020 Analysis of data and writing of research

report

June-July 2020 Report ready for submission to the

supervisor

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APPENDIX C: PROPOSED BUDGET

Item Description Cost (zambian kwacha)

Questionnaires and Typing and printing 600

interview

Transport Movements during the 1000

research

Lunch and refreshments Lunch and refreshments 500

during research

Research report Typing, printing and binding 1300

Total 3400

110
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