DEVELOPMENT AND EFFICACY OF THEATRE-IN-EDUCATION PACKAGES ON SECONDARY STUDENTS’ LEARNING OUTCOMES IN YORÙBÁ ORATURE AND MORAL VALUE CONCEPTS IN ÌBÀDÀN, NIGERIA

Abstract

Yorùbá Orature (YO) and Moral Value Concepts (MVCs) are taught in Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) to instil rectitude in students. However, reports have shown that many SSS students are deficient in knowledge of and disposition to YO, and practice of MVCs in the Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria. Previous studies on YO and MVCs were more on survey than on the development and efficacy of Theatre-inEducation Packages (TiEPs). Therefore, this study was carried out to develop and determine the effects of two TiEPs (Devised-for-students and Devised-by-students) on SSS students’ knowledge of and disposition to YO, and practice of MVCs in the Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. The moderating effects of Motivation for Yorùbá Orature (MYO) and Peer Influence (PI) were also examined. The Theatre-for-Development Model, Affective Dispositional and the Àṣùwàdà Sociation theories provided the framework, while the study adopted the mixed (QUAN+qual) methods design. Three Local Government Areas (LGAs), out of the five existing in the Ibadan metropolis, were randomly selected. The simple random sampling technique was used to select six SSSs (two from each LGA), while six intact classes of Senior Secondary II students (one per SSS) were randomly assigned to TiEP Devised-for-students (87), TiEP Devised-by-students (115) and control (90) groups. The instruments used were YO Knowledge Test (r=0.81), Disposition to YO (r=0.76), Practice of Yorùbá MVCs (r=0.72), MYO (r=0.73), Students’ PI (r=0.75) questionnaires and instructional guides. Treatment lasted eight weeks. Focused group discussions were held with 10 students per school. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Analysis of covariance at 0.05 level of significance, while the qualitative data were thematically analysed. The participants’ age was 15.96±1.47 years and 52.4% were male. The developed packages were rated average (𝑥̅=2.99; threshold=3.00). Students’ knowledge of YO (18%) was low, while their disposition to YO (𝑥̅=2.80) and practice of Yorùbá MVCs (𝑥̅=3.20) were high, against the threshold of 2.50. Treatment had significant main effects on students’ knowledge of (F(2;279)=639.84; partial η2=.821); disposition to (F(2;279)=323.97; partial η2=.69) YO and practice of (F(2;279)=361.67; partial η2=.72) Yorùbá MVCs. The participants in the TiEP Devised-for-students had the highest postknowledge (𝑥̅=33.57) and post-disposition (𝑥̅=78.12) scores in YO, followed by TiEP Devised-by-students (knowledge 𝑥̅=19.04; disposition 𝑥̅=62.33) and the control (knowledge 𝑥̅=9.98; disposition 𝑥̅=49.05) groups. The participants in the TiEP Devised-by-students had the highest post-practice score (𝑥̅=73.61), followed by those in TiEP Devised-for-students (𝑥̅=52.50) and the control (𝑥̅=45.75) groups. The interaction effect of treatment and MYO (F(2;279)=3.48; partial η2=.024) was significant on disposition to YO in favour of participants with high MYO from the TiEP Devisedby-students group. The interaction effect of MYO and PI (F(1;279)=.6.57; partial η2=.023) was significant on knowledge of YO in favour of high MYO from high PI. Other two-way and three-way interaction effects were not significant. Students creatively wrote their play scripts on different thematic preoccupations and this propelled them to practise the Yorùbá MVCs. Theatre-in-education packages devised-for-students and devised-by-students improved senior secondary school students’ learning outcomes in Yorùbá orature and moral value concepts in the Ibadan metropolis. Teachers of Yorùbá should adopt these two packages.