ASSESSMENT OF TEACHERS READINESS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW CULTURAL AND CREATIVE ART CURRICULUM IN PRIMARY EDUCATION

ABSTRACT

This study assessed teachers’ readiness for the implementation of the new Cultural and Creative Art Curriculum (CCAC).  The purpose specifically found out the qualifications of teachers handling the subject, their content competences, their competences in the use of the suggested methods of teaching the subject, teachers access to varieties of professional development opportunities in CCAC, available instructional materials for the study of CCAC and teachers ability in improvising the unavailable ones. Six research questions guided the research project.  A survey research design was used.  Probability simple random sampling techniques was used to collect data from 120 sampled teachers in primary schools in Enugu State which were considered representative of the entire population.  Validated and reliable instruments such as questionnaire and observation schedule were used to collect data from the sample.  The data were analyzed and results that were obtained were interpreted as follows:  Primary school teachers are all qualified but those that specialize in CCAC are lacking.  Teachers in the lower basic educational level are content competent while those in middle basic educational levels are not.  The teachers are more used to the old methods of teaching but are not competent in using the newly suggested methods of teaching CCAC.  The teachers do not have access to varieties of professional development training in CCAC.  Most of the instructional materials needed for the implementation of CCAC are not available.  The teachers cannot improvise the unavailable instructional materials.r  Observational findings include: Little or no time is allocated for the study of CCAC in schools.  There is a change in the title of the subject alone and not in content.  These findings were judged and it was concluded that the teachers are not ready to implement the new Cultural and Creative Art Curriculum in primary education, in Enugu State. Certain recommendations or suggestions were made on how to solve the implementation problems that teachers are facing to bring about improvement.  The recommendations include: encouraging, upgrading and retraining of teachers on the new CCAC content, method of teaching it, and how to source and improvise unavailable materials.  Creation of awareness about the importance of CCAC and to preserve natural resources, which can be used as learning materials, was also suggested.  Lastly, the government should provide the learning materials that are very costly and are not easy to source and/or improvise.  Suggestions that were made for further research efforts, which include: Assessment of teachers’ readiness for the implementation of CCAC in upper basic educational level, Effects of parents / peer group influence on learner’s interest in learning CCA subject, and Evaluation of Cultural and Creative Art Curriculum.