EFFECT OF PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE ON TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EFFECTIVE TEACHING OF HISTORY IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) on teachers’ professional development and effective teaching on learning of history in senior secondary schools in Southwest Nigeria. This study was guided by Pedagogical Content Knowledge Model of Grossman (1990). The study answered 6 research questions and tested 4 hypotheses. The study adopted descriptive survey and quasi-experimental research design. The sample size of the study consisted of 69 and 12 History teachers randomly selected from 3 states out of 6 states in South-West, Nigeria. The research instruments used were Teachers’ Questionnaire Level of Awareness and Possession of Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Teachers’ Questionnaire Assessment of PCK Package, Students’ Questionnaire Assessment Feedback on PCK Package, History Achievement Test, Interview Schedule for History Teachers, Observation Schedule, and Checklist on Availability of Teaching Materials. The multi-stage sampling technique was adopted. The research questions were answered using mean while hypotheses were tested using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that the teachers’ level of awareness and possession of PCK was very low. The finding also revealed lack of effective teachers as a major factor in the performance gap among students. The study also established that instructional resources are not available for the teaching and learning of history. The study recommended that Pedagogical Content Knowledge should be infused into the history curriculum for Nigerian secondary schools to enhance the teaching and learning of history to boost the performance of students