INFLUENCE OF PARENTING FORMS ON STUDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA  

ABSTRACT

This research work was carried out to determine the influence of parenting types on students‟ academic performance in financial accounting in Kano state, Nigeria. The study sought to determine the influence of step father and mother parenting on the students‟ performance in financial accounting. Six research questions were raised to guide the study and six null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 levels of significance.

Expo-facto research design was employed to find out the influence of parenting types on students‟ academic performance in financial accounting in Kano state, Nigeria. The population of the study was 17883 financial accounting students in Kano state. A sample of 216 financial accounting students was selected based on their parenting category. The students were categorized into 6 equal groups of 36 and every category has equal number of 18 male and female. Questionnaire and students‟ results were the instruments used for data collection. During the administration of the questionnaire, the financial accounting teachers in all the schools instructed the students to write their ID number on the questionnaire before filling. This was done to enable the researcher categorize the students based on their parenting way and compare their academic performances. The exercise lasted for four weeks. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions, null hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested with regression while t-test was used to test null hypotheses 3, 4, 5 and 6.

It was found among others that, the type of parenting does not influence the performance of secondary school students in financial accounting. It was concluded that, significant differences between the performances in financial accounting of students living with step-parents and that of students living with both parents exist and this will affect emotional and self esteem among student living with step parents. It was recommended among others that, step parents of school children should be informed of the effect of engaging their step children in too rigorous activities at home as this tends to hinder their academic progress.

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1            Background to the Study

Parents are the first point of contact with children. When both parents are present, it is expected that the child will be given better care. However, when one or both of the parents is/are absent in a child‟s life, a gap is created as the child would lose the support that would have emanated from that parent, while children who   receive support from both parents at home tends to enjoy great privilege which no other relations would offer them but in a situation where the biological parent is absent either father or mother or both as a result of death, separation, divorce or whichever, children would be left with step parents.

Step parenting can be defined as a situation in which a step-father or step-mother is being responsible for the upbringing of the child. Step-father is a man who is married to ones mother but is not ones real father while a step-mother is a woman married to ones father but is not ones biological mother. Salami and Alawode (2000) asserted that step-parenting could result from divorce, separation of various kinds, having children out of wedlock or death of one‟s spouse which leaves the roles of parenting in the hands of a step-parent. It is clear that many children are currently living under step-parents; nonetheless, parents are primarily responsible for the educational and career development of their children (Salami and Alawode, 2000).  Hence, children under step parenting family structure might not receive the necessary attention they require because the step parents might not give adequate attention to the children that are not theirs. According to Steck (2009), the number of divorce cases has risen considerably in Europe and the most affected countries include the United Kingdom, Portugal, Denmark and Belgium.

This type of situation has resulted in step parenting families soaring in Europe.

Family structure in this context refers to step parent and both parent. However, family structures usually have influence on the child‟s academic performance. Over the last two decades a stream of research consistently highlights the complexities and powerful influences that the home environment have on the academic achievement of students. Bassler, et al (1992) emphasize in their research on family structure that it was an important factor in student academic performance. They stressed that when parents and teachers work together, student‟s academic

performance could be positively affected. .

Gender is the classification of persons into male or female. Gender is a cultural construct that distinguishes the roles, behaviour, mental and emotional characteristics between female and male developed by a society. Umoh (2003) defined gender as a psychological term used in describing behaviour and attribute expected of individual on the basis of being born as either male or female.  Gender is a specially constructed phenomenon that is brought about as society ascribes different roles, duties, behaviours, and mannerisms to the two sexes, (Mangvwat, 2006). It is a social connotation that has sound psychological background, and it is used to refer to specific cultural patterns of behaviour that are attributed to human sexes. Gender relates to cultural attributes of both males and females (Akpochafo, 2009). Gender according to Lahey (2003) is a psychological experience of being a male or female. It has to do with personality and central components of self-concept. Unlike sex, which is concerned with, only the distinction between male and female based on biological characteristics, gender encompasses other personality attributes as roles, orientation and identity based on individual‟s conceptualization of self. For instance, Singh (2010) opines that gender refers to a socio-cultural construct that connotes the differentiated roles and responsibilities of men and women in a particular society.

This definition implies that gender determines the role, which one plays in relation to general political, cultural, social and economic system of the society.

According to Betiku (2002), gender refers to all the characteristics of male and female, which a particular society has determined and assigned each sex. Also, Onyeukwu (2000) sees gender as the dichotomy of roles culturally imposed on the sexes. Avulata and Oniyama (1999) once described gender stereotype in school as “hidden curriculum” which send out messages to girls to conform to role expectation. In most societies, gender has roles based on the women folk, preventing their participating in, and benefiting from development efforts (UNESCO, 2000).

This has created a big psychological alienation or depression in the minds of the female students

(Joel and Aride, 2006). As a result, boys dominate Social Studies, Chemistry, Physics,

Mathematics and Environmental studies classes while the girls go into reading languages and

Arts. United Nations (UN) adopted various resolutions to ensure equal opportunities for all United Nations (UN) adopted various resolutions to ensure equal opportunities for all gender in education and empowerment.

Okeke (1997) affirmed that the proportion of girls in science classes in secondary and tertiary institutions or in employment as scientist, engineers, and technologists in Nigeria is quiet low. In line with the above claim, Akpochafo (2009) reported that in Nigeria as in many African societies, there is gender bias, a situation in which cultural beliefs and structural arrangement favour men over women. This can be witness in most of elective positions contestable by man and woman. People always see women as not fit to govern or rule since men are involved. The idea that female should be under and submissive to men have created negative influence in the life of women folk. Explaining further, Anele (2008) is of the view that the socio-cultural practices of the African societies have placed men on the position, which give them domineering influence on women folk. In an argument for, and attempt to debunk a belief that seems to be general in Africa to create a kind of relief for gender equality, Okoye (1987) argued that because of various biological differences in human make-up such as those between male and female, people assume that one sex may have a learning edge over the other sex. Intrinsically, there is practically no significant difference in the intelligence between male and female that can be traceable to gender difference. He argued that, the fact that men are regarded as the dominant and even superior sex does not mean that they are artistically better than women are, (Okoye, 1987).  Okeke (2007) equally observed that, the Nigerian school curriculum is not gender fair since its contents reflect mainly the concerns of males; science careers portray masculine images in the curriculum; and more still, female suffer discrimination from teachers overtly & covertly, knowingly and unknowingly. These actions automatically put the girls in a disadvantaged position for achievement in classroom interaction especially in Social Studies and science related subjects. It is obvious from points above that the role of gender in the academic performance of students is a controversial issue. This is because while some research findings revealed that gender plays active role in students‟ academic performance, others revealed otherwise.

Financial accounting is a business subject offered by students in Nigeria secondary schools. Financial accounting remains one of the cardinal subjects offered in secondary schools by commercial students. According to Udoh (2003), Financial Accounting is a specialized area of instruction that deals directly with business skills and techniques, business knowledge and facts, business understanding, economic understanding, business attitudes and appreciations necessary to understand and adjust to the economic and social institution called “business”. Financial accounting is a process involving gathering, sorting, recording, classifying, verifying, measuring and summarizing financial transactions and subsequently interpreting and communicating information to the owners and users of accounting information for decision making. However, experience and studies over the years had shown that most students generally regarded financial accounting as abstract and difficult subject, since it is drawn from many other field of study such as Mathematics, Economics, Commerce and Actuarial science.

Academic performance has to do with how well the students meet up with educational standard, aims, goals and objectives of education set up for them at a particular time. Academic performance is defined as student‟s progress, understood as the level of learning, comprehension and consolidation of the school curriculum. It is how students respond to their academic programmes designed for them and how they cope with accomplished different task given to them by their teachers. Academic performance is the outcome of education, the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals. This is further corroborated by Nnaobi (2007) who maintained that performance in the teaching and learning process has to do with attainment of set objectives of instruction. In financial accounting for instance, if a learner accomplishes a task successfully and attains the specified objectives for a particular learning experience, he is said to have achieved (Koko, 2008). In educational institutions, success is measured by academic performance or how well students meet standards set by the institutions (Mammam, 2011). As career competition grows in the working world, the importance of students performing well in school has caught the attention of parents, and other stake holders including government.

The poor performance in the West African Examination Council researched by Albert

(2001) university of Nsukka, Nigeria has been of great concern to educationists, guidance and counselor in particular. Despite all guidance programmes and counseling strategies mounted in schools to improve the students‟ academic performance were recorded yearly. It becomes necessary to find out the causes of such poor performance in Nigeria secondary institutions. Though these poor performance have been attributed to a lot of industries such as students‟ factors, like student‟s attitude to school, approach to learning and academic self concept. Apart from students‟ factors, school factors and parent‟s factors, there are other indicators that cause poor performance. On the part of the parents, there are certain factors which influence children‟s success, such as parents‟ social class, parents‟ education as well as parental input and other factors, the family structure and birth order may contribute positively or negatively to students‟ academic performance.

The focus of this study was Kano State.  Kano State is one of the most populous and first generation states in the North Central zone of Nigeria. Kano State is no exception among the state where poor performance in is prevailing in student academic performance in financial accounting and this accounts for the reason why the researcher is interested in Kano State as central focus of the study.

        1.2       Statement of the Problem

Every parent wants his or her child to perform appropriately in school. Parents expect their children to imbibe acceptable norms, value and attitude of the society. No parent is happy to see his or her child lives contrary to the norms of the society. The society, in general expects it citizenry to be loyal and literate. This is why the National Policy on Education (2004) has among its aim is out “To inculcate the right type of values and attitudes in the child”. The school is a mirror of the society and parents depend upon the school to make their children what they are supposed to be. Many informed Nigerians, government, educationist and the public alike are deeply worried over the problem of academic performance in schools as reported in the 2004 Joint Admission and Matriculation Board Examination results (Jamb 2004). It is argued generally that if the issue of poor performance in Nigerian schools is left unchecked in our school system the aims and objectives of education as stipulated in the National Policy on Education (2004) would perpetually remain an illusion.

However, the blame of this academic performance is place only on the school. For example the poor performance in the West African Examination Council researched by Albert (2001) university of Nsukka, Nigeria. It is necessary to realize that the school is not the only agency for the education of the child. The family of the learner equally plays significant role and there is a family-school relationship as stipulated in the family-school relationship model, (Ryan & Adams, 2000). It is within the family that the child acquires and organizes his first experience and then move to the school for his or her secondary experience (Ryan, 2000). It is also a proven fact in psychology that intelligence and most types of abilities are not necessarily innate but that they are usually modified by environmental factors such as learning motivation, nutrition and encouragement of parents, schools and the likes (Spencer & Aber 2004).

The well-being of the Nigerian children has become a focal concern for a variety of political, governmental, schools and parenting groups. One question often addressed by such groups focuses on children‟s academic success and the effectiveness of the school in assisting intellectual development, mental health and well-being. As community, leaders, teachers and parents become more involved in their children academic growth, there is increased consideration of how the parents and school have unique and interacting influences on children‟s academic success.

It is explicitly clear that academic performance of some students may not entirely be attributed to the school environment alone. It is generally acknowledged that family environment is the most powerful influence in determining a child‟s academic success and motivation (Ceci, 2004). This is as a result of the confusing situation that prompted the researcher to carry out the study. The interest of the researcher is in determining the influence of parenting type on students‟ academic performance in financial accounting in secondary schools in Kano state, Nigeria using empirical evidences.

                                                                              1.3       Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to find out the influence of parenting type on academic performance of Secondary Students in Financial accounting in Kano State, Nigeria. The specific Objectives are to:

1. Ascertain the influence of step-fathers on the academic performance of secondary school students in financial accounting in Kano State, Nigeria.
2. Determine the influence of step-mothers on the academic performance of secondary school students in financial accounting in Kano State, Nigeria
3. Establish the extent of difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of male students living with steps-fathers and that of male students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state.
4. Determine the extent of difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of male students living with step-mothers and that of male students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state.
5. Find out the extent of difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of female students living with step-fathers and that of female students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state.
6. Establish the extent of difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of female students living with step-mothers and that of female students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state.

                                                                                  1.4       Research Questions

In line with the specific objectives, the following questions are raised.

1. What is the influence of step fathers on the academic performance of secondary school students in financial accounting in Kano State, Nigeria?
2. What is the influence of step- mothers on the academic performance of secondary school students in financial accounting in Kano state, Nigeria?What is the difference between  the academic performance in financial accounting of male students living with step fathers and that of male students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano

state?

3. What is the difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of male students living with step-mothers and that of male students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state?
4. What is the difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of female students living with step-fathers and that of female students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state?
5. What is the difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of female students living with step-mothers and that of female students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano State?

                                                                                     1.5       Null Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses are postulated based on research questions, to be  tested  at 0.05 levels of significance.

1. Step fathers have no significant influence on the academic performance of secondary school students in financial accounting in Kano State, Nigeria.
2. Step-mothers have no significant influence on the academic performance of secondary school student in financial accounting in Kano State, Nigeria.
3. There is significance difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of male students living with step-fathers and that of male students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state.
4. There is no significance difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of male students living with step-mothers and that of male students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state.
5. There is no significance difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of female students living with step-fathers and that of female students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state.
6. There is no significance difference between the academic performance in financial accounting of female students living with step-mothers and that of female students living with both parents in secondary schools in Kano state.

                                                                            1.6       Significance of the study

The findings of this study are expected to be useful to the following stakeholders: teachers, step-fathers and step-mothers, family therapist and family life educators, curriculum planners and educational administrators, school counsellors, student and the society at large. The finding of the study will be of immense help to the teachers. The teachers will realize the necessity of individualizing their teaching by structuring their teaching methods and instructional resources to take care of the students with step parents. This method may yield more positive result than the traditional system which assumes that all children have similar family structure. It will also benefit teachers by putting gender into consideration when teaching, handling and assigning task to student on the basis of their sex. This work would reach the teachers via their respective school libraries and would also be presented during PTA meetings.

The outcome of this study will also assist in providing step-father and step-mother with vital information concerning their children academic performance, which will be use to assist, guide and encourage their children through various interactions and shared activities, including reading, school work, indoor activities, chores, play and everyday talk which will enhance their children academic performance in financial accounting.

It will benefit family therapist and family life educators by providing them with essential information on the academic performance of male and female step children living with their stepparent. This information will be use by family therapist and educators to provide advice and encouragement to step parents on how to give practical and emotional support to their step children in order to enhance their children academic performance. Curriculum planners and educational administrators will definitely benefit from the result of this study as it will assist them with the information on influence of parenting types on student academic performance. The information will help them to consider learners‟ family background when reviewing and designing curriculum for financial accounting students.

The outcome of this study will help counsellors with information on academic performance of step parent children which will enable them to be better equipped with necessary tool to guide and counsel student from step parent background with the zeal and courage to forge ahead in life especially in their academic pursuit in order to discourage any form of distractions. It will also assist students from step parent background to be informed of the need to aspire to improve in their educational performance without considering the consequence of step parenting. The findings of this study will help the society at large in identifying how parenting types influences students‟ academic performance and as such discouraging it among our youths due to the consequences.

                                                                           1.7       Assumptions of the Study

In this study, the following assumptions were made:

1. Children living with step-parents may not be treated well like biological children.
2. Female step-children may not be in good term with step-mothers.
3. Male step child is not likely to find the favour of step-fathers.
4. Parents are sex biased and have preference for gender.

 

                                                                           1.8       Delimitation of the Study

This study was delimited to the following:

1. family structure i.e. step parenting and both parenting as it reveals the influence of biological and non-biological parenting on child‟s academic performance.
2. the secondary school i.e. public secondary school in Kano State because information about students can be obtained at the central place e.g. Teaching Service Commission unlike private schools which there is no central place of obtaining information.
3. the study is also delimited to SS I students because they have acquired the basic knowledge of financial accounting

INFLUENCE OF PARENTING FORMS ON STUDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA  

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