Effects of Value Clarification Approach on Social Studies Students’ Values Re-Invention and Achievement in Jos North, Plateau State, Nigeria

This study investigated the effects of value clarification approach on Junior Secondary School students’ value re-invention and achievement in Social Studies in Jos North LGA of Plateau State. From the specific objectives two research questions guided the study with one null hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance. This study was anchored on two theories: the theory of Character Development by Cronbach in 1954, which addresses the independent variable that is, values re-invention, and Social Learning Theory of Banduras 1977 which addresses the dependent variable which is academic achievement. The design used in this study was quasi-experimental research design specifically the non-randomized pre-test-post-test design with one experimental group and one control group. The population of this study consisted of all public JSS II Social Studies students in Jos North Local Government Area. There are 22 registered public Junior Secondary Schools in Jos-North Local Government Area with a population of 1,637 JSS II Social Studies students comprising of 828 males and 809 females. The study sample consisted of One hundred and ninety-three (193) Junior Secondary School II students from two selected schools and two intact classes. The researchers made use of two instruments to collect data for the present study. The instruments are Students Values Re-invention Questionnaire (SVRQ) and Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT). Content and Face validity were established for the two instruments by experts in Social Studies and Measurement and Evaluation from the University of Jos. The reliability of the Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT) was determined through a pilot study to ensure consistent and accurate measurement. The internal consistency of the Students Value Reinvention Questionnaire (SVRQ) was estimated using Cronbach alpha method, while the reliability of the Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT) was computed using the KuderRichardson 21 method and coefficients of 0.874 And 0.825 were obtained respectively. The researcher adopted the descriptive and inferential statistics using Statistical Package for Social ciences (SPSS) version 25.0 in analysing the data for the study. The descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation was used to answer all the research questions while inferential statistics especially, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that value clarification approach does improve JS II students’ honesty as a value in social studies and that there is no significant difference in the achievement of male and female students in Social Studies. It was concluded that, Value clarification is an important goal of Social Studies education that improves students value reinvention. It was recommended among others that Principals and management should develop positive values within school through trust, respect, student motivation, common vision and democratic values within school regarding teaching learning decisions.