Influence of Lecture Method on Political Awareness Among Civic Education Students in Senior Secondary Schools, Nigeria

Despite gaining political independence in 1960, Nigeria still faces a plethora of citizenship (political) issues hindering desirable nation building and national development. In all of these, the school cannot be left out, because the school is a potential agent of socialization which helps in influencing the formation of political norms, social values and attitude (political awareness) in citizens. Nigeria’s educational curriculum is planned to reflect the national political issues and concerns translated into national goals of education. But has this helped Nigeria as a nation, the answer will be to some extent, but certainly not to a large extent. This has necessitated the introduction of civic education at the senior secondary school level to inculcate national consciousness, civic literacy and civic competence. One of the ways of achieving these laudable objectives is through various teaching methods in civic education of which the lecture method is one of them. This paper therefore, took a look at clarification of concepts such as, civic education, lecture method and political awareness; it focuses on the advantages of lecture method; importance of political awareness in senior secondary schools in Nigeria; it also examined the influence of lecture method on political awareness among civic education students in senior secondary schools in Nigeria. The paper concluded with some recommendations such as: After a lesson on political awareness, students should be taken out to visit political institutions to have firsthand knowledge and information of their methods of operation from the sources; the lecture method should be used to combat misinformation and propaganda that can lead to unhealthy democracy among students; there is the need for the students to enact the political processes in Nigeria to enable them have better understanding, with the teacher leading the process during the lesson; the lecture method should be more interactive and augmented with adequate and appropriate instructional resource materials to facilitate the comprehension of the political institutions and processes leading to the acquisition of political awareness by the students in senior secondary schools in Nigeria.