Strategies for Integrating Peace Education into Social Studies Curriculum for Junior Secondary (Basic 7-9) Schools in Nigeria

Abstract

This study sought to identify strategies for integrating peace education concepts into the Social Studies curriculum for junior secondary schools in Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses were used. The entire population of two hundred and twenty-six respondents comprising 190 graduate of Social Studies and 36 graduates of curriculum studies spread across secondary schools and three tertiary institutions in Anambra State were used as the sample for the study. A 20-item questionnaire structured on a 4-point scale was used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer research questions while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses. The findings identified strategies like the integration of peace education contents such as cultural similarities, human rights, global challenges, hostage taking, imperatives of evolving democracies, value systems, inter tribal marriages, Nigerian local languages and natural resources and resource problems in Nigeria and religion concepts into the social studies curriculum. The findings also identified co-curricular and instructional strategies for use in teaching the identified peace education concepts. It was recommended that the identified peace education concepts could be added to the Social Studies curriculum and the thematic approach should be used in restructuring the Social Studies curriculum was to reduce curriculum overload while integrating the peace education concepts.