WELCOME TO KENTERPRO:
POETRY AND GENDER: A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF BOYS AND GIRLS PERFORMANCE IN POETRY AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PANKSHIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background to the Study

The place of a qualitative education in the life of the growing child especially in the rapidly changing Nigerian society and the world at large has remained a major area of interest among both parents and educators alike. The world is simply on the move at such a speed that one who has hopes of moving on with the times must necessarily build capacity to change with and also move with the times as well.

In the education sector itself, there is no subject area or field of study that is exempted, but only those which are worst. One particular subject area that has suffered considerably is Literature. As a subject of study in the secondary school, literature is given the status of a core subject (Fed. Govt. of Nig., 2004) and is also considered as a pillar of the arts. Unfortunately, the education policy that makes literature a core subject as yet suffers from improper implementation including the very provision that designated literature as a core subject that should be studied by all students. Instead, all students seeking to pursue such professional careers as law, mass communication and the like must necessarily pass literature at a credit level at least. This is so even when it is a known fact that the teaching and learning of literature greatly improves language proficiency. Thus the gains of the teaching and learning of literature are far reaching to say the least. 

The bulk of the content of literature as a subject in the secondary school can broadly be divided into two; literary appreciation techniques and study of representative text. The literary appreciation part of the subject seeks to equip students with the background knowledge of literature and the concept of literary criticism. They learn devices necessary for appreciating literature and literary works. These include such language devices as figures of speech, literary terms, style and its constituents and types. The text on the other hand is drawn from the three traditional genres of literature to include poetry, prose and drama. This is so that the students have a holistic appreciation of what literature truly entails. The texts are further classified into two regional blocks; African and non-African texts. 

          However, the teaching and learning of this important subject, like the others in the country, is today being faced with a lot of problems and challenges ranging from the quality of teachers to the availability of texts and other teaching materials. There is also the issue of interest from among the students as a greater majority of them would rather not offer literature. This is not unconnected to the abominable culture of great disinterest, if not phobia, for reading in the country (Wikipedia, 2018). In plain terms, the reading culture in Nigeria is all but dead. Students would rather avoid letters in print than indulge in the reading exercise and from there get the encoded information. And since offering literature is seen as a boring if not senseless venture that involves a lot of reading, only a minute, if not negligible number of students offer to study literature. More so, the little interest that a few of the students have in the subject is not spread evenly across the different genres, with Poetry almost always the least favourite of students. They belief that poetry is unnecessarily difficult and incredibly boring. They simply cannot muster enough mental and emotional capacity to appreciate poetry the way it was supposed to be, opening up themselves, their minds, to enjoy the rhythm, the imagery, the symbolism and altogether the beauty and the wonder of poetry.

Gender comparison in the context of this study refers to the differences in the performance of boys and girls in poetry. In the light of this, Okoro (2008) observes that males and females show great differences in their interest and career choice. These differences may be attributed to the psychological differences and cultural influences. Females’ enrollment in vocations is quite different from those of males. Even parents generally encourage their daughters to opt for professions not masculine in nature. UNESCO (2000) has it that local customs, values have been developing in girls, and they are so deeply ingrained that some of them find it difficult to cope in areas that are believed to be male dominated professions. Lie and Syoberg (2004) observed that, invisible rules within the society have provided what is feminine and what is masculine. This could also be found in poetry classroom interaction as female students dominate the male folk in all sorts of poetry genre. 

The question of whether males and females differ in cognitive abilities has been the focus of considerable research in recent decades. While there is a general consensus that males and females do not differ in general intelligence (Halpern, 2000), gender differences are commonly observed for more specific cognitive abilities such as visual–spatial ability (Miller & Halpern, 2014). However, Hyde  had proposed the gender similarities hypothesis (GSH), which claims that males and females “are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. That is, men and women, as well as boys and girls, are more alike than they are different” (p. 581). It holds that most gender differences are small or trivial (close to zero) in magnitude. One exception to this hypothesis may be the gender gap in examination achievement, which is found cross-culturally (Lynn &Mikk, 2009; Reilly, 2012) and exceeds the threshold proposed by Hyde and Grabe (2008, p. 170) for nontrivial gender difference effect sizes. 

There is a growing body of evidence that males and females also differ in examination ability. Reynolds et al. (2015) noted that the issue of gender differences in examination has been overlooked because it is less frequently measured in educational assessments. In cases where examination ability is assessed, researchers should examine gender differences to determine if any meaningful differences occur. 

Achievement test results conducted by Onekutu (2002) has shown that boys and girls in the early ages perform equally in all subjects including poetry, and as they grow to higher classes, the girls begin to get more interested in language Arts, while the boys take more to sciences and Social Sciences. This has resulted to a situation where there are more boys than girls failing poetry. However, the issue of gender and students’ poetry achievement has remained a controversial one. While some propose that, males perform better than females, others argue that, the reverse is the case. Veinon (2002) reported that, many comparisons show average scores of boys and girls to be the same in poetry. 

It is in the light of the above discussion that this study sees to make a gender comparison of students’ achievement in poetry in Senior Secondary Schools in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

      As teachers of literature, it is not enough to simply speculate the possible problem(s), but there is the need to investigate and present in measurable terms, the immediate and remote causes of the problem of poor performance and general fear of poetry as a genre of literature. Therefore, it must be stated clearly whether the problem is with the language of poetry, the technique of literary criticism, or is it even the quality of teachers vis-a-vis the appropriateness of their methods. This project therefore seeks to comparativel6 evaluate the performance of boys and girls in poetry in four selected secondary schools in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State.  

Over the years, there has been series of arguments and research on the effect of gender on performance of students in educational pursuit generally. However, based on the knowledge of the researcher, no study has been carried out on gender comparison of students’ achievement in poetry in Pankshin Area of Plateau State. Furthermore, the massive failure of students in poetry termly examination and external examinations have given rise to the quest for many researchers to find out the reasons behind these failures. It is in the light of this that the researcher is also interested in findings out whether gender is a factor which influence students’ academic performance. In doing so, the researcher will make a comparison of students’ achievement in standardized poetry in Pankshin Local Government Area.

1.3. Aims and Objectives of the Study

The main aim of this research is to make a gender comparison of students’ achievement in poetry in PankshinArea of Plateau State.

Other specific objectives of the study include to: 

1. examine the difference in the performance of boys and girls in analyzing subject matters and themes of poems.

2. find out the differential performance of boys and girls in determining poetic tone and mood.

3. determine the difference in the performance of boys and girls in analyzing figures of speech in poems.

1.4. Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to examine the differences in the performance of boys and girls in poetry. The evaluation shall be done using aspects of interest, subject matter and themes, poetic tone and mood; and figures of speech in the selected poem.

1.5. Research Questions

In order for the researcher to have a guide in the course of the investigation, the following ‘questions have been postulated which will be answered at the end of the research:

i. What is the difference in the performance of boys and girls in analyzing subject matter and theme of poems?

ii. What is the differential performance of boys and girls in determining the poetic tone and mood?

iii. What is the difference in the performance of boys and girls in analyzing figures of speech in poems?

1.6. Significance of the Study

It is hoped that, when this research is concluded, suggestions would be offered towards improvement of the art of teaching poetry with a view of solving the problems encountered by teaching of poetry and also, students will demonstrate a better appreciation and understanding of poetry. The teacher will also understand the learners better so as to capture their attention and change their perceptions and attitudes towards the subject. Motivation, reinforcement and relevant instructional strategies by the teachers might help the learners get directions on what is expected.

Parents as would have a lot to gain from this seemingly important survey through their wards as the knowledge students may acquire from this survey would go a long way to shape their attitudes and to positively influence the manner they relate with others, and their parents at home. The value of poetry will therefore, change the perception of parents and their non-challant attitude towards poetry and Literature as a whole.

In addition to its intrinsic educational value, this research can reinforce the rest of the school curriculum. The school administrators, curriculum planners as well as the Ministry of Education would understand the challenges confronting the subject and when setting policies, they will take note of these challenges and remedy them accordingly.

As the body which has pulls the purse strings, the government will benefit from this study because with the knowledge of the effect of gender on the learning poetry of students, they will organize workshops for teacher and orientate them on these differences and as well provide instructional materials which will be used in the teaching process.

Finally, the research would also be useful to other researchers in supplementing the existing Literature on the same study area and would also, provide a rich ground for further research based on the gaps left out by this study. In this way, Poetry can accomplish several goals at once-enriching students’ school experience through Art as well as reinforcing traditional academics.

1.7. Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study covers Gender (male vs. female) comparison of students’ achievement in poetry. The study is limited to senior secondary schools in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State. However, it is of pertinence to not that despite the fact that the study is restricted to the selected local government area, the findings from this research can be generalized to other parts of the state and country at large.

1.8. Contextual Definition Of Terms

For the purpose of clarity, the following terms are defined as follows; 

Gender: This is the state of being a male or female. In the case of this study, gender refers to either a young boy or girl in secondary school.

Students: Learners studying poetry in a classroom in a secondary school.

Learning:  The act of acquiring a new knowledge and skills from a poetry expert.

Poetry: A genre of Literature that is coated in lofty words or grand language which is engulfed with figurative expressions.

Teachers: Those saddled with the responsibility of inculcating poetry knowledge and skills into the learners. 

Performance: Is used here to refer to achievement in examination.