CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The background to the study focuses on the historical, conceptual, theoretical and contextual background as presented below.

Co-curricular activities are not new to the modern curricular education syllabus. Historically, it can be traced into Indian ancient schools, gurukuls, and religious places. All the Indian scriptures like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Ved, Upnishad, etc., mentioned about co-curricular activities. In the ancient times, simple co-curricular activities in school were organized such as wrestling, cooking, singing, playing, magic, etc. In rest parts of the world, co-curricular programs were common in various ancient civilizations.

In Spartan Civilization (Greece) warfare, heroic activities, archery, creativity and artistic talents were widespread. In Roman Civilization, concrete arts & crafts, and religious ceremonies were given importance. In the dark history of Europe, co-curricular activities were also the part and parcel of life. During reformation period, such activities got patronage.

Great educational thinkers such as Rousseau, Herbert Spencer, Dewey, all gave much more importance of co-curricular activity in school education. According to them, Co-curricular activities play vital role in student life.

Co-curricular activities actually began in the United States in the 19th century. The first co-curricular activities that were well known in schools started in Harvad and Yale University; they were literacy clubs that consisted of different debate clubs and Greek systems such as fraternities and sororities.

Students in America schools were the first to initiate athletics clubs. [Casinger, J. 2011] These athletic clubs soon became popular and literacy clubs began to decline. Schools later on started adding clubs like journalism, and newspapers [Casinger, J. 2011] Practical and vocational skills became necessary to teach students new skills. These new activities became popular and other schools started implementing these activities because students found the activities really interesting and they used it for both practical as well as vocational interests.

Conceptually, the study examines concepts such as co-curricular activities sporting activities, club activities, debate competitions, drama productions and talent shows. Co-curricular activities are those which help in balancing personality of students/children. The aim of education is the overall development of students.

The student needs mental, physical, social, moral, and emotional development which we cannot overcome all these requirements only with book reading. To accomplish all these requirements of the students, we have to provide them with different types of co-curricular activities. That is why those activities which help in the mental, physical, social, moral and emotional development of a student are known as co-curricular activities.

Co-curricular activities allow for the learning objectives to be focused on improving student’s well-being and their knowledge and skill acquisition in areas such as adaptability, decision making, problem-solving, teamwork, intrapersonal development and competence, practical competence, leadership, cognitive complexity, ethics, humanitarianism and citizenship [Kuh 2001]

Sporting activities means athletic events [professional or amateur], athletic skills demonstration, sporting or recreational activities which engages participation by the public.

Sporting activities are games such as football and basketball and other competitive leisure activities which need physical efforts and skills. Sporting activities also refers to any form of competitive physical activities or games that aim to use, maintain, and improve physical abilities and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and in some cases, entertainment to spectators.

Club activities mean or refer to all activities conducted under the auspices of the club, including all meetings, exhibitions and displays of any kind of members. Club activities are integral to the life of a student. These activities are indispensable tools for the proper formation and all-round development of the students. These activities help them develop their innate but dormant talents and at the same time excel as team players.

The overall intention of club activities is to forester social consciousness and empathy, environmental awareness, healthy inquisitiveness, a scientific bend of mind, critical and creative thinking, and effective articulation of ideas. Involvement in club activities enables the members to broaden their perspective and sharpen their skills.

Debate competition is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, academic institutions, debate halls, and legislative assemblies. Debate has also been conducted for educational and recreational purposes, usually associated with educational establishments and debating societies. These debates put an emphasis upon logical consistency, factual accuracy, and emotional appeal to an audience.

In classroom debates, the topics of the debate are related to course content and material and during the debate, students on either side put forth arguments and proposals relating to class content as well as defenses of their own argument against the opposing side. The main goals of classroom debate and inter-school debate tournaments are to encourage student’s participation in debate, help students develop their communication and listening skills and ability to draw from given information, as well as to make and defend against arguments with logical and rational thinking.

A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather than contests, but some are actual contests. Talent shows can be seen as a way to help boost the self-esteem, confidence, and assurance of youth/students. Talent shows help cure stage fright because if you perform on stage once, you will not be as scared the second time. If you do it again and again, you can learn from your past experience and you won’t faint in front of everyone and embarrass yourself.

A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty. To compete, contestants must memorize the spellings of words as written in dictionaries, and recite them accordingly.

The concept is thought to have originated in the United States, and spelling bee events, along with variants, are now also held in some other countries around the world. Spelling bees allow individuals to compete in a supportive environment. The brain activity and excitement that goes with a spelling bee is just as stimulating as a physical competition, which means that the whole competition can pump up the adrenaline of the contestants and the audience alike.

A friendly rivalry is created and students are encouraged to interact with fellow participants and cultivate friendships the spelling bee will allow students to develop a range of cognitive skills including the ability to handle pressure. The learning process accompanying the spelling bee is likely to enhance the student’s memory and allow them to develop better learning skills; a student’s confidence level is usually boosted after entering into such competitions. A spelling bee helps them gain the confidence they need to speak in public

Theoretically, this section will focus on the theories related to the study which include multiple role theory of James Coleman who said that co-curricular activities provide additional, complimentary roles for a student academically because the added role of athlete, for example, increases self-esteem and overall participation/interest in school, which can boost grades [Hunt 2005]

Academic achievement theory of Herbert J. Walberg who said that psychological characteristics of individual students and their immediate psychological environments influence educational outcome [cognitive, behavioral, and attitudinal] [Reynold and Walberg, 1992]

The theory of academic performance by Don Elger [2007]

Contextually, the teaching of history in the Buea municipality is not void of problems; one of the problems manifesting itself in schools in the municipality is that of is the problem with co-curricular activities.

Co- curricular activities is well known for the holistic growth as well as the development of various facets of personality of students. Sporting activities for instance helps to improve cognitive functioning as well as overall psychological well-being of students but if these programs are not introduced or if students don’t indulge in these activities, they will be lacking in some developmental areas.

The researcher has noticed that the rate of poor academic performance in secondary schools in the Buea municipality today is increasing. Thus, there is need to investigate if and how co-curricular activities have an impact in the academic achievements of secondary school students In the Buea municipality

1.2 Statement of Problem

The government has done much in training teachers for history, there have been workshops and seminars, parents have also assisted through the PTA despite all these, student’s achievement in history is very poor. This is seen in the poor grade and marks they have in class tests and exams. The academic achievements of history students especially at high school level have been considerably low.

Regardless of the efforts made by the various stakeholders especially government and non-government organizations of increasing number of schools in the country, the above problem has kept the researcher worried thus necessitating an investigation to examine if co-curricular activities have any effect on the academic achievements of secondary school students in history.

1.3 General Objective

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of co-curricular activities on history student’s academic achievements in secondary schools in the Buea municipality

1.3.1 Specific Objectives

1. To find out if club activities have an effect on history students’ academic achievement
2. To find out if sporting activities have an effect on history students’ academic achievement
3. To find out if debate competition has an effect on history students’ academic achievement
4. To find out if talent shows have an effect on history students’ academic achievements
5. To find out if spelling bees have an effect on history students’ academic achievements

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