INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL SELF CONCEPT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The purpose of this study is to find out the influence of social self-concept on the academic achievement of senior secondary school students in Rivers State, Nigeria. The population of the study consists of 42,624 SSII students. Self-concept is conceptualized as social self-concept. The Ex-post factor research design is used. Stratified and systematic random sampling techniques are deployed to obtain a sample of eight hundred (800) SSII students in twenty three (23) secondary schools. Data are collected using Students opinion questionnaire and academic performance of students in Mathematics and English language (SPME). A trial test of the instrument gave a reliability estimate between 0.63 and 0.94. Seven hypotheses are tested at 0.05 alpha levels using One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Fisher’s Least Significant Difference t-test where appropriate. The results obtained show that social self-concept does not have significant influence on academic achievement. It is necessary to improve the social skills of students to engender social self-concept, eliminate anxiety, increase in the social resilience of students in the school and motivate students to perform better and these should be the core counselling activity of the school counselors. A. Introduction Background to the Study It has been observed in Nigeria and of course globally that, individuals grow up from children to adult largely through school. In school, they learn and acquire knowledge and skills necessary for their functionality in the society as adults. The progress they make as they move from lower to higher classes and levels in the education system is measured through a system of examinations. So in school, children are expected to perform creditably well in their various examinations. However, from observations, what is happening in the Nigerian schools in general, and schools in Rivers State in particular is far from the expected. When studied, results of past Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) released by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for students in Rivers State present a dismal picture. Of more concern is the fact that in recent times, instead of improvement, one is observing sharp decline in students’ West African Examination Council (WAEC) achievement, especially in key subjects like Mathematics and English language. For example, when WAEC released its’ May-June 2014 WAEC Examinations results, only about 31.28% of the candidates obtained credit pass in Mathematics and English Language. In August 12, 2014 at WAEC office at Yaba, only 31.28%, obtained credits in five (5) subjects and above, including Mathematics and English language. Comparing 2012 and 2013 WASSCE results, there was a marginal decline in the achievement of candidates as 38.81% was recorded in 2012 and 36.57% in 2013. This development has become a source of serious concern to educators, parents, policy makers and government officials and has widely become a subject of National discourse. Such dismal achievements are counter-productive for the Nigerian society. First, it has increased the rate of school dropout and has limited secondary school graduates access to higher education. The odd fact is that, when children drop out of school, they become a burden to the society. When individuals drop out of school, they have limited access to employment; so many get easily recruited into criminal gangs, thus end up being a nuisance to the entire society. In the Rivers state, most drop outs turn to militancy, robbery and even terrorism. Academic achievements have become subject of discussion among parents/guardians and form the bases of academic debate and stakeholder are interest in it. They form the Centre CEKA IJSSOB VOL.4 NO.2 MARCH, 2018 2 of educational policy. According to Igwe (2004), “academic achievement is of great concern to parents/guardians all over the world. It is a subject of discussions and debate among scholars. It is one of the most vital educational policies and is one of the indicators stakeholders are interested in. Students’ achievement is very important because, it appears to be the major criterion by which the effectiveness and success of any educational institution could be judged and a fundamental criterion by which all teaching-learning activities are measured, using some standard of excellence and the acquisition of particular grades in examinations that measures candidate’s ability, mastery of the content and skills in applying the knowledge acquired to a particular situation”. Viewed this way, informed people are really restive about poor examination achievement in the state. In response to the situation, schools have been organizing extra classes and tutorials involving extra hours of drills to help students improve on their achievements. Parents most times engage private lesson teachers to help their children in such key subjects like Mathematics and English language. Inter schools, competitions are now frequently organized to expose students to higher challenges, and raise their problem solving abilities as an equipment for better school achievement. Research efforts have made tremendous recommendations to address the problem of poor achievement. However, inspite of the steps so far taken, the problem of students’ poor academic achievement still persists. The focus in this study is therefore to find out if poor academic achievement among secondary school students is influenced by social self-concept. Self-concept as used here refers to the individual’s image of himself or herself. According to Spinthall and Collins (1995), it refers to “the composite of ideas, feelings and attitudes that organize our notions, sentiments and approach about issues”. It is seen as being associated with academic achievement because Isangedighi (2007) views it as one’s image of oneself, thus occupies a central place and directs behavior when one wants to determine its relevance in explaining students’ academic achievement. A positive social self-concept and emotional stability could generate selfconfidence and may influence academic achievement. Therefore, self-concept, which has to do with how an individual sees himself or herself, serves to direct behaviour and if possible could drive one to work hard and consequently perform well academically. In essence, social selfconcept is a concept of behaviour and when one sees himself in a positive light socially, it could influence one’s behaviour towards his studies and therefore, influence his academic achievement. It is also a pointer to knowing what schools should do to tackle poor achievement of students in examinations. Spinthall and Collins, (1995). This could be a ground for students’ perception about examinations in the school system and a means for tackling poor achievement. B. Theoretical Framework Carl Rogers Theory on Personality (Self-Concept, 1902 – 1987) Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist. He believed that “every person can achieve their goals, wishes and desires in life. When they did so, self-actualization took place. This was one of Carl Rogers most important contributions to psychology and for a person to reach their potentials, a number of factors must be satisfied”. Central to Roger’s personality theory is the notion of self. This is defined as “the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself”. He said “we want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are consistent with our self-image which reflect what we would like to be like and the more consistent or congruent we are with our self-image, the higher our sense of self-worth. A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of their experience is unacceptable to them and is denied or distorted in the selfimage”. The humanistic approach states that “the self is composed of concepts unique to us. The self-concept includes three components: Self-worth (or self-esteem) – what one thinks about oneself. Rogers believed feelings of self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from the interaction of the child with the mother and father. The ideal self – This is the person we would like to be. It consists of our goals and ambitions in CEKA IJSSOB VOL.4 NO.2 MARCH, 2018 3 life, and is dynamic – i.e. forever changing. The ideal self in childhood is not the ideal self in our teens or late twenties”. For Rogers (1959), “a person who has high self-worth, that is, has confidence and positive feelings about himself or herself, faces challenges in life. He rejected the deterministic nature of both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and maintained that we behave as we do because of the way we perceive our situation. As no one else can know how we perceive ourselves; one is the best experts on oneself. ” Rogers believed that “every person could achieve their goals, wishes and desires in life. When they did sos self-actualization took place. Unconditional positive regard is where parents, significant others (and the humanist therapist) accepts and love the person for what he or she is”. For Rogers (1961), the development of congruence in one’s personality is dependent upon an unconditional positive regard and this helps to achieve self-actualisation. In his view, the development of positive self-concept is relevant in the formation of a congruent personality which serves to direct behavior towards achievement. Therefore, Rogers self-concept as “the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself (what we think), self-worth, (how one sees ourselves), self-image and the person we will like to be-(ideal self), are critical in the formation of the self, the ideals we pursue and achieve self-actualization that comes as a result of congruence”. Self concept essentially, is the core of behaviour and it serves to direct behaviour. The way we see ourselves can be a controlling factor in influencing behaviour. This means that if our academic, physical, emotional and