CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

This chapter is made up of the background to the study, statement of the problem, objectives, research questions, hypothesis, justification of the study, significance of the study, operational definition of terms, summary of the chapter.

Education is considered to be the corner stone for development. It forms the badis for literacy, skill acquisition, technological advancement, and ability to harness humans and material resources towards the achievement of social goals (FRN. 2004)

The school environment and the adjustment of children in primary schools.  The School and adjustment is one topic that many disciplines related to behavioral science all over the world attach importance to, as adjusting to school is of vital importance in raising healthy individuals. Research on school adjustment (Donelan-Mccall & Dunn, 1997; Duncan et al.., 2007; Fegusson & Horwood, 1995; Jiang & Collessen, 2005; Ladd & Price, 1987) has shown that children who adjust to their school are more likely to succeed in the future and are less likely to face dropout risks, whereas children with school adjustment problems have greater difficulty in their academic and social relationship in their in later educational stage.

Environment is the circumstances, objects  or conditions by which one is surrounded, the complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors such as climate soils, and living things, that act upon an organism  or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival.  In this study the environment includes all the external conditions and influences in the school that affect the adjustment of children in primary schools, such as the library facilities, qualified teachers, furniture, school buildings, good relationship, and school location among others. Environment for the purpose of this study can be divided into two parts thats is the home environment and school environment. The learning environment is both the natural and provided settings where teaching and learning takes place. (Maduewessi 1990) referred to teaching and learning environment as the setting physical and conceptual in which teaching and learning are carried out as deliberately planned. Environment is very important factor to the children’s adjustment in preschools. As it is said most children acquire most of their knowledge through the interaction with facilities provided in the environment of learning. As in the words of Piaget (1964) that active interaction with the environment is regarded as the most basic requirement for proper intellectual development. The physical appearance and general condition of school physical facilities are the bases upon which many parents and friends of an d friends of any educational institution make initial judgment about the quality of what goes on in the school and how the children can adjust to such environment. Parents and children are often turned off bu; dilapidated school blocks, writings on the walls, sinking roofs and broken walls, over grown hedges, unkept toilet and so many more. It is said that the physical environment is like a mirror reflecting the image of a school and through it the children, parents and friends or public decide whether or not to associate with that particular school (Mgbodile 2004).

Adjustment can see as the condition of a person who is able to adapt to changes in their physical, occupational and social environment. Adjustment in psychology is a behavioral process by which humans and other animals maintain an equilibrium among their various needs or between their needs and obstacle of their environment.  School adjustment is an interest and a comfortable school settings, school engagement, and school achievement. (Ladd 1996).Adjustment involves coping with new standards and values, in the technical language of psychology getting along with members of the society as the best in which one can call adjustment. The concept of adjustment is associated with other aspects of children’s perception of the school environment, school experiences, school engagement, school readiness and school performance (Birch & Ladd 1996). Studies on the school adjustment often focus on child related variables such as gender and behavior problems, children’s relationship with peers, family, teachers, or family involvement. Considering that the school adjustment is a multi- dimensional structure that affects both children and their environment. 

This chapter comprises of the background to the study, statement of problem, research objectives, research questions, justification of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study and operational definitions.

Background to the Study

Historically, Due to Cameroon’s colonial past, its education system is split into two distinct sub-systems: one based on the French colonial model and one based on the British colonial model. In the past, studies in French were more popular, but due to the increasing influence of globalization English is being taught more widely.

Two separate systems of education were used in Cameroon after independence. East Cameroon’s system was based on the French model, West Cameroon’s on the British model. The two systems were merged by 1976. Christian mission schools have been an important part of the education system.

The educational system in Cameroon is divided into primary (six years, compulsive), secondary (five years), high school (two years), and tertiary (University). The academic year runs from September to June, at which time, end-of-year-examinations are always written. The first six grades of compulsory schooling, normally provided to 6- to 12-year-olds (though with high repetition rates, students up to age 14 are often included) are considered basic, or primary, education in Cameroon.

Primary school education has been free since 2000; however, families must pay for uniforms and book fees. Tuition and fees at the secondary school level remain unaffordable for many families. Fewer girls enroll in primary school in Cameroon than boys. 2001, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child identified a number of problems with the education system in Cameroon, including rural/urban and regional disparities in school attendance; limited access to formal and vocational education for children with disabilities; children falling behind in their primary education; a high dropout rate; lack of primary school teachers; and violence and sexual abuse against children in schools. Early marriage, unplanned pregnancy, domestic chores and socio-cultural biases also contribute to low education rates. Domestic workers are generally not permitted by their employers to attend school.

But all this have changed over the time as we see the female dominating more in schools than the male. Taking an example in my practicum school 2 ,The form 2 A boys are just 8 and girls are 48 in number, the early marriages hasn’t stop the females now go to school and is very difficult for one to hear of such.

Conceptually, the School Environment is circumstance, by which one is surrounded, the complex of physical, chemical, soil and living things that act upon organism or ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival.  Physically, the appearance and general condition of schools physical facilities are based mostly on the structure and order physical facilities of the school, which many parents and friends of educational institution make initial judgment about the quality of what goes on in the school and how the children can adjust to such environment. The children, parents / friends are often turned off on attending certain schools if it is; Dilapidated school blocks, Writing on the walls, Sinking roofs and broken walls, Over grown hedges, Unkept toilets and  so many more.

The physical part of the school environment is like a mirror reflecting the image of a school and through it the children, parents or friends or the public decide whether or not to associate with that particular school; Mgbodile 2004).

Socially, the classroom social environment is comprised of students’ perceptions about how they are encouraged to interact with and relate to others (e.g., classmates, the teacher), and encompasses dimensions of: teacher support, promoting mutual respect, promoting student task-related interaction, and promoting performance goals. Recent research has indicated that these various dimensions of the classroom social environment are separate, can be measured quickly and reliably, and relate significantly to students’ motivation, adjustment , self-regulated learning, classroom behavior (both positive and negative), social relationships, and achievement (Ryan & Patrick, 2001).The emphasis on the importance of the classroom social environment, including support, mutual respect, task-related interaction among students, and a lesser focus on competition among students, is apparent in reform recommendations.

Cognitively, the perspective on learning is based on the assumption that knowledge acquisition lies at the very heart of learning. Once children acquire new information in learning environments, they are supposed to use that information in completely different situations later in life. This is only possible if they have understood it correctly and stored it in a well-organized manner in their long-term memory. The cognitive aspects entails active role students play in learning: how students acquire knowledge depends on their goals in life, their more specific learning goals, their learning strategies, their confidence in themselves as problem-solvers, and other similar factors.

Adjustment of children refers to children’s interest and comfort in the school settings, school, engagement and school achievement (Ladd 1996). According to Mathur (1999). Children’s abilities, skills, adjustment characteristics and interpersonal environment underlie their school adjustment process. There are several adjustment areas of children include; Externalizing behaviors significantly influences children adjustment , Students teacher relationship significantly influences children adjustments and also family involvement also influences children’s adjustment .Adjustment are also seen as behavior modification or actions which are taken that enables children to access educational content and outcomes on the same basis as their pairs.

 Theoretically, The Environmentalist Learning Theory, Environmentalist learning theory is the understanding that the child’s environment shapes learning and behavior. It is also thought that behavior and learning are reactions to the environment. This perspective encourages families, schools, and educators to understand the child develops and learns new skills in reaction to items she finds around her. Psychologists such as Albert Bandura found through observational learning, that the young child will observe and copy behaviors of others, leading to decision-making skills and development.  Another that finds the environment as an important factor in learning and development of the young mind includes Julian B. Rotter. His social learning concept focused on the idea that personality represents an interaction of the individual with his or her environment. Along with taking into consideration the individual’s reaction to the environment, the individual’s experience plays a role, too. The combination of the environment, the individual, and her reaction encourages behavior and learning. Bronfenbrenner recognized there are multiple aspects of a developing child’s life that interacts with and affects the child. His work looked beyond individual development, taking into account wider influencing factors and the context (or ecology) of development. He proposed the ‘Ecological Systems Theory’ based on these dynamic interactions that the environments have on the developing child.

Contextually, The school environment is the combination of physical, social, and learning environment, a set of facilities which include structure, moral, social, values and some of the issues of the school environment are classroom sizes, technology, family factors , child’s altitude in the  Buea municipality . The adjustment of children can also be children disorder some issues faced by children in adjustment include; crying a lot, anxiety,   Sleeping slot, avoiding school, friends and family, anger are all disordered character by children in the Buea municipality, that is why learning has been made useful as It draws upon students’ diverse skills, interests, experiences, and cultures and integrates these into what and how students learn and how they are assessed. In other words, contextual teaching situates learning and learning activities in real-life and vocational contexts to which students can relate, incorporating not only content, the “what,” of learning but the reasons why that learning is important Lifelong learning is an indispensable tool for every career and organization. Today, learning forms a necessary part in acquiring critical thinking skills and discovering new ways of relating to people from different cultures and the adjustment of children in wherever they are.

Statement of the Problem

A study to show the adjustment of children in primary schools. During my observation number 1 at Government school Bueatown (primary school) it has been observed  that new pupils especially those who leaves from a different school they are familiar with and come to the new school for their first time nursery or primary one find it difficult to adapt to the new environment. They find it difficult to make new friends or playmates and most of them are shy and don’t interact with friends and find it difficult to interact with peers. This study in-order to see how the school environment can affect the children adjustment for example looking at the physical environment how well is it built for it to be made comfortable for new children to adjust in the new area they find themselves. The adjustment of children is difficult due to the school environment which could be the physical, cognitive and social environment factors that’s affects children’s adjustment and learning in primary school in the Buea Municipality.

Research Objectives

General Objectives:

To investigate the extent to which school environment affects adjustment of children in primary schools.

Specific Research Objectives

1. To find out the extent to which physical environment of the school affects adjustment of children in primary schools in the Buea Municipality?
2. To determine the extent to which the social environment of the school affects the adjustment of children in primary schools in the Buea Municipality?
3. To what extent does the cognitive aspects of the school environment affects the adjustment of children in primary school?

Research Questions

General Research Question

To what extent does school environment affects adjustment of children in primary schools?

Specific Research Questions

   2   .To what extent does physical environment affects adjustment of children in primary schools? 

4. To what extent does the social aspects of the school environment affects adjustment of children in primary schools? 
5. To what extent does the cognitive aspects of the school environment affects the adjustment of children in primary school?

Research Hypotheses

General Research Hypothesis

Ho: There is no significant relationship between school environment and the adjustment of children in primary schools.

Ha: There is a significant relationship between and adjustment of children in primary schools.

Specific Research Hypotheses

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between social aspects of the school environment and the adjustment of children.

Ha1: There is a significant relationship between social aspects of the school environment and the adjustment of children in primary schools.

Ho2: There is no significant relationship between the physical environment and the adjustment of children in primary schools.

Ha2: There is a significantly relationship between the physical environment and the adjustment of children in primary schools.

Ho3: There is no significant relationship between cognitive aspects of the school environment and the adjustment of children in primary schools.

Ha3:  There is a significant relationship between cognitive aspect of the school environment and the adjustment of children in primary schools.