GLOBALIZATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON  TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ECONOMICS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Learning is vital to man's life, and it is geared toward the outside world. The contact of man with his environment causes a change in his behavior as a result of experience. A variety of personality variables influence the amount to which people engage with their surroundings. Continuous membership to society necessitates some level of compliance. Unlike previous centuries, the twentieth century experienced unprecedented expansion in the global economy, despite being in the inter-war period. The globe had ago abandoned basic methods of living. According to Gregory (2015), the features of the twentieth century include access to international capital flow, technology, cheaper imports, a larger export market, increasing competition, division of labor, and the application of the comparative cost advantage concept. Some nations, particularly those in Asia, have benefited from their per capita earnings rapidly approaching those of the industrial countries since 1970, all as a result of the perceived importance of globalization. As a result, a new world order arises, indicating the integration of power relations.

Economists depict globalization as a situation in which artificial barriers such as tariffs, quotas, and exchange controls are eliminated, followed by an environment of liberal market forces heralding a culture and era of free flow of investments, characterized by shared artifacts, identical production processes, and tastes. Globalization is a phenomenon that has had an impact on many aspects of human existence, including education. Many developing nations saw an increase in educational facilities accessible to them in the twentieth century as a result of the admission of institutions from the West. Some feel that this method is a great chance for developing-country citizens to improve their abilities and educational levels.

Importantly, education is always changing as a result of globalization. The consequences of globalization on education are foreseeing changes within educational systems throughout the world as ideas, values, and knowledge, changing the roles of students and instructors, and generating a shift in society from industrialization to an information-based society. The advent of a global civilization, fueled by technological and communication advancements, is transforming children, the world's future citizens, into 'global citizens,' clever individuals with a diverse set of skills and knowledge to apply to a competitive, information-based society.  Globalization of education, or knowledge transfer from Western nations to developing countries, aims to increase the skills and capacities of those receiving it. Globalization, as it stands today, is one of the few tools that can be used by a developing economy to achieve high levels of development and economic stability, whereas for a developed nation, globalization will be one of the tools to use in order to stay afloat of the world ocean, particularly in the face of economic adversities, natural and man-made disasters, disease outbreaks, war, and so on.

The introduction of technology into the classroom is gradually changing the nature of delivering education to students, giving way to a new form of electronic literacy as more programs and education materials are made available in electronic form, teachers prepare materials in electronic form, and students generate papers, assignments, and projects in electronic form. As a result, for developing countries like Nigeria, the part of ICT and globalization that should concern them is the inequality issues and the unequal distribution of advantages throughout the world.This was reinforced in the globe by Kofi Annan's (1999) statements, as cited in Jojoku (2019), that "the internet bears the greatest promise to mankind ever known." The internet can be used for long-distance learning and universal access to high-quality education."

As a result, technology predicts a shift in the educational environment toward a dependence on electronic sources to supply curriculum. Due to the main component of globalization, such developments and the introduction of video conferencing and the Internet are breaking down distance barriers at a rapid rate. According to Mustafa, Kemal Ataturk (2020), "in order to stave off covetousness, greed, and spite, citizens world over must be educated." This addition explains how education can unite an egalitarian society, make a strong and self-sufficient nation, and create a great and dynamic nation, particularly in Nigeria. With its degree of developments, today's society demands the same level of competence for things to move at par, and this can only be achieved via education. At this point, it must be said categorically that in this information era, globalization has a significant influence on the learning and teaching processes, among other things, and so has the potential to change the outcome of educational input and output.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The ability of countries to compete in a global market where industrial-based economies are giving way to knowledge-based sectors, appreciating the value of knowledge, skills, and intellectual capacity to address the difficulties of accelerating change and unpredictability, frequently determines their destiny. Economic knowledge and the capacity to apply it to relevant problems and concerns are critical components of responsible citizenship in a democratic society. Citizens must be able to understand and apply fundamental economic principles in order to function effectively as producers, consumers, investors, critics, analysts, commentators, and agitators' voters in public elections. Individuals and the nation will gain greatly from widespread increases in their capacity to execute these tasks. However, the teaching of economics in Nigerian Secondary Schools does not come easy. Such hard knots includes; students interest and commitment to study, inadequate qualified and professional teachers, employment and use of crude materials for teaching, governmental non-support in terms of provision of modern tools, family background, societal and environmental factors, non-existence of a serene environment for learning, etc. All these problems has eaten deep into our educational system thereby leaving it miles behind when compared with other nations of the world in the same category with Nigeria. Consequently, to education and all its challenges, it is also highly imperative that the teachers and the students should learn how to use and integrate the new technologies, and they should be encouraged to develop curiosity in them.

Though the expense of modern information and communication technologies is excessive, the cost of not employing them in education is significantly greater due to a lack of access to information, communications, and innovation. It means perpetuating the cycle of poverty and ignorance for the next generation. It also means losing one of the most straightforward techniques of sustaining work. Therefore, the research work will examine the impact of globalization on the teaching and learning process of economics as a subject.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The broad objective of this study focused on globalization and its effects on  teaching and learning of economics in secondary school. Other purpose of this research is stated as follows:

i.          To determine the level of educational development before the advent of Globalization.

ii.        To ascertain the  significance  of Globalization in secondary education.

iii.      To determine the effects of Globalization on teaching and learning in secondary schools.

iv.      To examine the extent at which global technology  affects teaching and learning of economics in secondary school.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

The research questions that will be generated in this course of study are: -

i.          What is the level of educational development before the advent of Globalization?

ii.        What is the significance of Globalization to  secondary education?

iii.      What are the effects of Globalization on the teaching and learning of economics in senior secondary schools?

iv.      What is the extent at which global technology  affects teaching and learning of economics in secondary school?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of the research work will be of help to teachers, students, school management and educational planners as well as the entire society. It will guide the teachers on the need to instil appropriate knowledge into the students at the right stage and at the right place. It keeps educational planners alert of the pros and cons of Globalization and education.

1.6 SCOPE  OF THE STUDY

The research study will look at the assessment of the impact of globalization on the teaching and learning of economics. The study will hovever be delimited to selected secondary schools in Lokoja Local Government in Kogi State.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering only selected secondary schools in Lokoja Local Government in Kogi State. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for secondary schools in other States within Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work will impede maximum devotion to the research. Howbeit, despite the constraint  encountered during the  research,  all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

GLOBALIZATION: it refers to the act or process of globalizing: the state of being globalized; especially the development of an increasingly integrated global economy.

ECONOMICS: it is defined as a science which study human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.

TECHNOLOGY:  it is a systematic way of doing things or solving problem for the good of mankind.

COMMUNICATION: it is the transfer of messages between two parties and it being understood by both parties, i.e. the sender and the breceiver.

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