THE STUDENTS PERSONALITY TRAITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN GOVERNMENT IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOOLS IN ITU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background to Study
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Investigation of the factors basic to academic achievement has been at the centre of most researches in education and psychology. The trend has become notable especially considering their implications for both learning and teaching. According to Alda, Barrack, and Broomley (2014) “understanding the variables can influence success in the educational setting and may also permit rapid recognition of particularly able students and potentially problematic students and contribute to the development of effective strategies aimed at refining teaching and learning performance. Accordingly, Moyosola (2013) argues that identifying the factors determining academic success can help in developing a curriculum aimed at improving levels of academic performance and examination of individual differences in students’ academic achievement.
Although, the characteristics of the academic experience and the relative achievement are described as the products of the dynamic interaction of a hierarchy of factors, academic performance may be attributed to cognitive ability, motivation to succeed, family socio-economic status, parental involvement in academic activity and class group composition, amongst others. Alda et’ al, (2014) observe that there is considerable evidence describing the influence of personality on academic achievement of students. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (7th edition) (2005) defines personality as the various aspects of a person’s character that combine to make them different from other people. Ekpenyong (2003) postulates that personality refers to the persisting products of learning that shall the nature and consistency of an individual’s responses to particular kinds of situation. In other words, personality is the individual’s unique personal organization and internal states of readiness to respond or behave in patterned ways. It includes a person’s attitude, values, beliefs about the world, conceptions of self and various kinds of skills for coping with physical objects and social life.
According to Ambreen and Jan (2015) the greatest degree of connection between personality and academic achievement has been around the big five personality traits. The Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality traits are consistently studied because, they are believed to encompass the entire domain of more narrow personality traits that fall at lower levels of the hierarchy, (Moyosola, 2013). However, Ambreen and Jan (2015) argue that in order to portray the personality factors, we commonly to them as neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. They are used to measure personality traits in order to find possible solutions to the problems of achievement differences among secondary discipline students”.
Moyosola (2013) identify extraversion personality as characterized by sociability, assertiveness, emotional expressions and excitability. Those who are high in this trait are often described as being outgoing and talkative. While those who are low are described as quiet and reserved. People with neuroticism tend to have more depressed moods, anxious, angry and vulnerable. On the other hand, people with agreeableness personality tend to be pleasant, , cooperative and accommodating in social situations rather than being antagonistic and suspicious of others.
Moyosola (2013) argue that people with conscientiousness tend to show self-discipline, act dutifully and aim for achievement amidst various challenges. While people with openness personality reflect degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a reference for novelty and variety.
In Itu Local Government, students in public secondary schools who offer government as a subject have been observed to possess certain attributes and personality traits that directly or indirectly influence their academic achievement. This study is particularly interested in the investigation the five personality dimensions that influence students’ performance in public secondary schools in Itu Government Area.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Despite increasing emphasis on students to choose science related subjects, greater numbers of students are interested in the study of Government in Senior Secondary Schools. However, over the years, students’ academic achievement has become worrisome not because, there are acute lacks of learning materials or inadequate and unqualified teachers but the negative students’ characteristics that have interfaced with their academic tasks which consequently have affected their academic achievement. Academic failure has often been blamed on infrastructural deficit, learning environment, socio-economic status and teacher’s teaching method without considering students’ personality like their learning curiosity, self confidence, fear and anxiety.
Students in public secondary schools in Itu Local Government Area are often anxious, afraid of Government examinations and tests. They often lack self-confidence and learning curiosity. These have often contributed to their academic failure thereby affecting the standard of education in public secondary schools within the local government area and indeed the entire state. Against these background, the study attempts to evaluate the influence of these variables on their academic achievement.
THE STUDENTS PERSONALITY TRAITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN GOVERNMENT IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOOLS IN ITU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA