Cooperative Learning Method For Teaching Practical Citizenship Education For The New Social Studies

Abstract

Citizenship education is a field of study that many countries of the world are beginning to show interest. Great and developing nations are introducing citizenship education into the curricula of their schools. This is because the world is experiencing political, socio-economic and security challenges. The rate of crime has increased in many countries. Leaders of the world therefore are looking for ways to reduce or even eliminate the crimes. Sadly, criminals have come up with more sophisticated ways of committing crimes. In Nigeria, there is an unprecedented rate and types of crimes going. Criminals freely roam about killing, kidnapping or abducting people and huge ransoms are paid to secure the release of the people abducted. For many years now the government has set up agencies with the hope of dealing with these social vices. This approach has not yielded the desired result. Many countries of the world that have faced similar challenges as Nigeria have resorted to teaching people about good values of life, respect of law, human life and appreciating differences in status through citizenship education. Social Studies is the recommended field of specialization for teaching the course content in citizenship education. This is because of the close relatedness of the content in citizenship education and those of Social Studies. To achieve change in behavior of citizens, it is recommended that teaching citizenship should commences as early as possible in the life of the child. However, the methodology to use in the teaching is an area of concern to experts. It is recommended that methods that give room for interaction, discussions inclusiveness and team work including field trip or interaction with the environment should be adapted.