GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT The study examined teachers’ characteristics and the implementation of Junior Secondary School social studies curriculum in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. Two specific objectives, two research questions were raised and two null hypotheses formulated to guide the study. Ex-post facto research design was used for the study. The population of the study comprised of 300 teachers teaching social studies in the 244 Junior Secondary Schools in Akwa Ibom State.The population was divided into three educational zones such as East, West and Central. A stratified Random sampling technique was then used in selecting 65 teachers from the central and 60 from each of the Western and Eastern educational zones. This gave a sample size of 185 respondents. The main instrument used for this research was a research questionnaire. This instrument was made of two sections (sections A and B). The instrument was given to two research experts for face validation; my supervisor and a lecturer in test and measurement. Cronbach’s Alpha technique was used in determining the reliability of the instrument and a reliability coefficient of .87 was obtained. The collected data were analyzedwith the use of appropriate statistical techniques such as independent t-test analysis and one-way analysis. The calculated values were tested for significance at 0.05 level. The findings of the study revealed that the age of the teacher is an essential factor in the implementation of the Junior Secondary School Social Studies Curriculum in Akwa Ibom State. Academic qualifications of Social Studies teachers have remarkable influence on the implementation of Social Studies Curriculum in Akwa Ibom State. Therefore, it was recommended among others that in any Social Studies teachers’ recruitment exercise, experienced teachers should be considered first before inexperienced teachers. This is because they perform better than less experienced teachers using their wealth of experience. KEY WORDS: Teachers characteristics, age, academic qualification, Social Studies, Curriculum