CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

 Introduction

Environmental influence before now have not been considered as one of the factors that affect history student academic performance in secondary school, hence it has little or no attention in education discourse and consideration.

But over the pass decades remarkable studies have indicated a correlation between the school environment and academic performance of students. However this chapter is made up  the background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study, research question (general and specific), research hypothesis (general and specific), significance of the study, justification of the study, scope of the study, operational definition of terms, and closing it finally with the chapter summary

Background of the study

Historically, the construct school environment can be traced back 100 years (Perry, 1908). The scientific study of school environment was not undertaken until 1950s with the birth of organizational school environmental research.

March and Simon (1958) and Argyris (1958) began to analyze businesses and organizations in an attempt to correlate the influences of an organizational environment to such outcomes as morale, productivity and turnover. Research continued throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, examining socioeconomic and race differences to explain achievement with mixed success (Coleman et.,ali, 1966; Hauser, 1970; McDill, Meyers, & Riugsby, 1967)

By the late 1970s researchers were attempting to associate school environment with students’ outcomes in schools. Brook over and colleagues (1978) examined the environment of the school, defined as the set of norms and expectations that were defined and perceived by individuals within the school, and determined that school environment was positively linked to the difference in mean outcomes between schools, even when adjusting for race, and other demographics. In this study the greatest indicator of achievement is the way students feel within themselves about the social environment within the school.

In the early and mid-1990s, studies focused on individual classes or teachers (Griffith 1995; Stockard& Mayberry 1992). Griffith (1995) argued that the relationship between the level of study depended on the level at which the students identified themselves in their school environment.

Thus in an educational environment where classes are held in different classrooms with different teachers, it naturally follows that the unit of school environment measure is the school as a whole, whereas the individual classroom would be the appropriate measurement unit where students spend all or most of their time with a single teacher.

Since the end of the 1990s and continuing today, researchers have attempted to link school environment to different outcomes including school achievement (Hoy & Hannum, 1997) aggression, victimization, bonding connectedness and engagement (libbey, 2004) and health problem (Coker & Borders, 2001).

Relating this study to international occurrences are the assertions Williams, Persuade, and Turner (2008) quoting Marden (2005), which reported that safe and orderly classroom environment (aspect of instructional space), school facility (accessories) were significantly related to students’ academic performance in schools. The three researchers, also quoted Glassman (1994), asserting that a comfortable and caring environment among other treatments help to contribute to students’ academic performance. The physical characteristics of a school have a variety of effects on teachers, students and the learning process. Poor lighting, noise in classrooms and inconsistent temperatures make teaching and learning difficult. Poor maintenance and ineffective ventilation systems lead to poor health among students as well as teachers, which leads to poor performance and high absentee rates Frazier (2002), Lyons (2001) and Ostendorf (2001). These factors can adversely affect students’ behavior and lead to high levels of frustration among teachers and poor learning attitude among students.

Conceptually, the relationship between school environment and history student academic achievement has been a perplexing one for educators. Studies have found that the physical environment, siting of school in rural or urban area, socio-economic status of the neighborhood ethic location of the school,  teachers students relationship, overcrowded classrooms build near market centre-librairs, technical, school restaurant, school clubs, urban and rural facilities workshops laboratories, school plant, planning, among others are all school environmental variables that significantly affects school academic achievement (Fullan &Watson N, 2000).

School academic achievement in this context refer to the extent to which schools are able to accomplish their pre-determined objectives, school academic achievement transcends beyond students passing final examination, it also encompasses students attainment in other domain of learning (the affective and the psychomotor domains. According to (Udoh & Akpa, 2004). these other domain apart from having influence on the  cognitive achievement, also make the beneficiary of the education system live a fulfilled life and contribute meaningful to the development of the society. School environment with it attainment features of instructional spaces planning administrative places planning, circulation space planning, accessories planning, the teachers as well as the student themselves are essential in the teaching-learning processes.

The extent to which student learning could be enhanced depend on their location in the locality, within the school compound, the structure of their classroom, availability of instructional facilities and accessories. It is believing that a well-planned school will gear up expected outcomes, education that will facilitate good social, political and economic emancipation, effective teaching and learning process and academic achievement of the students (Talutope, 2011).

The physical characteristics of the school have a variety of effects on teacher’s students, and the learning process. Poor lighting, noise, high level of carbon dioxide in classroom, and inconsistent temperature make teaching and learning difficult. Poor maintenance and ineffective ventilations system lead to poor health amongst students as well as teachers, which lead to poor school academic achievement and high absentee rate (Edem, 1987).

These factors can adversely affects student’s behavior and lead to high level of frustration among teachers, and poor learning attitude among students.

Beyond the directs effects, that poor facilities have on students ability to learn, the combination of poor facilities, which create an uncomfortable and uninviting workplace for teachers, combined with frustrating behavior by students including poor concentration and hyper activity, lethargy or apathy, rates are stressful set of working conditions for teachers because stress and job dissatisfaction are common pre-cursors to lowered teacher enthusiasm, it is possible that the aforementioned characteristics of school facilities have an effects upon the academic achievement of students (Edem, 1987).

Contextually, School environment are things found around the school such as the playground, libraries, laboratories, buildings, teachers, students, parents, location, school restaurants, clubs (football and basketball clubs), and class sizes that help in the facilitation of teaching and learning process in the school curriculum. variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task, and academically productive during a class.

When classroom management strategies are executed effectively, teachers minimize the behaviors that impede learning for both individual history students and groups of students in a conducive environment, while maximizing the behavior and the class size, the environment itself that facilitates or enhance learning.

Generally speaking, one law of the Cameroon educational constitution state that students has the right to go to school but now depend on the school environment in which they find themselves effective teachers tend to display strong classroom management skills, while the hallmark of the inexperienced or less effective teachers in a disorderly classroom filled with students who are not working or paying attention because of the environment whether  is urban or rural, because history deal with events, time and date, availability of urban facilities such as internet services assist learning of history students or the nature of the class size.

It is believed that a well-planned school with well arrange football and hand ball court, school restaurant and others will gear up expected outcomes of education that will facilitate good social, political and economic emancipation, effective teaching and learning process and academic performance of the students.

According to Dawn (2011), as the number of students in a classroom grows, so do the negative effects to both the teacher and the students. That is a teacher can only devote much attention to one student when he or she has to divide their attention among twenty or more students in a class.

As a result, when the number of students in a classroom rises from twenty to twenty-five or thirty to thirty- five, it is impossible to give all students the attention that they need. This is due to limited teaching learning resources. A school in Buea Sub Division which is the context in which the researcher is focused on is a very good example.

Buea as a town in Southwest region, strives to experience real growth and development strategy that allows intensive utilization of environmental resource which is endowed. These resources are the various school physical facilities they are indispensable in the educational process, they include; the sitting, the building and physical, equipment’s, recreation, places for the achievement of educational objectives, (Talutope, 2011).

To compliment this studies, the present research examines the aforementioned areas of school environment factors such as restaurants, library, class size, school facilities(urban/rural) and school clubs (football, handball) affects the academic achievements of history students’ academic achievement in secondary school in Buea Municipality.

Theoretically, this research identifies four theories related to the study. These theories related to the study are Urie Bronfenbrenner, (1917), Ecological System Theory, Pianta, (1999), Theory of Social Development, Bandura (1977), Social Learning Theory and Piajet, (1896), Cognitive.

Statement of the problem

The notion of relevance of school environment on history student achievement has great intuitive appeal and has been popularized in educational practice.

Environment plays major role in the life of every individual whether a students, teachers, employer or employee. Though some people are yet to believe that environment brings about better performance. Udoh (1980) in his article “The Environmental Health Problems in Nigeria Schools”, Identified some unhealthy practices in our schools. These include sitting of schools, inadequate facilities, poor ventilation etc.

Most of our schools have no light, insufficient facilities, sick buildings and no ventilation. Under these conditions the health of students and teachers according to Udoh (1980) may be adversely affected, which will in turn reflect on students’ performance.

Therefore, for the students to carry his learning effectively and efficiently, it is necessary that learning takes place in conducive environment.

Hence it is pertinent to critically look at the environmental factors that influences academic performance of students, measures that can help improve them and make some recommendation because at the very heart of our educational mission is the goal of improving academic performance.

Many factors such as lack of facilities in school, lack of teachers, indiscipline, low intelligence, anxiety, pupils’ need to achieve and soon have been found to cause poor academic performance. While these factors have been identified as possible factors that contribute to the variations in academic performance not much has been done to show the role played by the students’ school environment on his/her academic achievement.

The school environment in the study area which is secondary schools in Buea municipality is nothing to write home about. The school climate is not interesting for teaching and learning, instructional materials are inadequately provided, smaller class size in some school, wrong school location, infrastructural facilities are in dilapidated conditions, lack of trained teachers, poor teachers-students relationship and other facilities that promote teaching and learning are also in shortfall which may tend to play a great role (impact) on secondary school students performance.

Given this situation, the problem of the study therefore is to find out really if these are the main environmental factors that affect the academic performance of secondary schools students in the Buea municipality.  It is on this premise that this research is motivated to appraise the effects of school environments on secondary school students especially in the Buea municipality

General objective

To examine the effect of school environment on history students’ academic achievement in secondary school in Buea municipality.

Specific objective

1. To examine the impacts of Artifacts on history students’ academic achievement of secondary school in the Buea municipality.
2. To examine the impact of libraries on history student academic achievement.
3. To examine the extent to which class size influence history student academic achievement in secondary school in the Buea municipality.
4. To investigate the extent to which Museum affects history students’ academic achievement in secondary school in Buea municipality.
5. To investigate the extent to which clubs (football and handball clubs) influence history students’ academic achievement in secondary school in the Buea municipality.

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