Empirical Analysis of Equity, Environmental Awareness, and Sustainable Development in Social Studies Classrooms

Abstract

This study investigated the integration of equity, environmental consciousness, and sustainable
development assumptions in Social Studies pedagogy across Nigerian secondary schools with
particular reference to Osun state. It inquired the differences based on school type and gender, and
assessed the association between problems faced by teachers and their use of reformation teaching
strategies. This study was grounded in transformative learning theory which emphasizes critical
reflection and perspective change in teaching and learning. A descriptive survey design was used,
and data were gathered through two sets of questionnaire tagged Teacher Transformative Teaching
Practices Questionnaire (TTTPQ) for teachers and Student Perception and Awareness Scale
(SPAS) for students which were pilot tested with a reliability coefficients of 0.84 and 0.81
respectively while the validity was done through experts review. The population of the study
comprised 20,506 Junior secondary school II students and 657 Social Studies teachers. Simple
random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 300 students made up of 150 males and
150 females and 45 teachers. Statistical tools including t-test and multiple regression were used
for data analysis. Findings showed a major difference in the degree to which teachers blend
innovative content based on school type, with 75% of respondents affirming differences between
public and private schools. Gender-specific analysis indicated that students’ impressions and
understanding of fairness and sustainability significantly differed, as reported by 65% of
respondents. The study suggest the need for skill development among Social Studies teachers and
the provision of fair-minded teaching resources across school types among others.