CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Historically, there has always been a close link between
religion and education. For example, the Roman education was
rooted in the ideals of the Roman people. It endeavored to
shape the youth in such as way that he/she was able to fit in
the Roman society (Shiundu and Omulando, 1992). In
traditional African communities, initiation ceremonies (like the
removal of some teeth, tatooing etc), rituals, beliefs, habits and
practices, among others, were both religious and educative in
nature. For example, during initiation, blood was left to flow
into the soil which was believed to unite the initiate with the
ancestors. The pain an initiate experienced during the
initiation ceremony and the subsequent instructions during
the seclusion period after the initiation were to instill, in the
prospective adult, the virtue of endurance during times of

hardship while the instructions were to prepare him/her for

the adult life.
Education might be said to be concerned, in general, with
the formation of character. Certainly it is only in the last
hundred years that there has been any serious debate about
the legitimacy of the role of the school or college in character
education. Indeed for most societies, the purpose of the tribe,
community, family and the state, as well therefore as the school
system when such formally emerged, was to provide an
environment for the cultivation of good character and the
nourishing of the common good. The range of contexts involved
in the formation of character illustrates the over-arching
comprehensiveness of the task, its inter-disciplinary nature
and the community-wide responsibility for developing an
individuals commitment to the task to be of good character.
Regarding the Nigerian situation, although indigenous
education varied from one community to another, the goals
were almost the same. Indigenous African Education was for
living. It was concerned with the systematic socialization of the
2

young generation into norms, beliefs, collective opinions of the

wider society, practical skills and the acquisition of knowledge
which was useful to the individual and the society as a whole.
Sifunas (1990) description of the role of Indigenous African
Education has a lot of religious connotation and that is why
religion and education could not be separated. The description
is a reflection of Mbiti (1969) who, in his book African Religions
and Philosophy, expresses the difficulty in trying to define
religion in the African context. He says: A man carries his
religion everywhere: to the fields when planting seeds; into a
funeral ceremony; into a beer party; and if he [she] is a
student, into the examination room; or into the House of
Parliament. Religion, therefore, indicates total view of life and
separation would mean overlooking the dynamics of life. Thus
in the African context, religion may be defined as a way of
looking at life (p.187) Many countries are trying to maintain
religious ideals under the umbrella of what is known as
Religious Education (RE), thus in the context of this study,
Nigeria Joins the rest of the world to give an education centered
3

on the attainment of the right ideals through Christian

Religious Studies (CRS).
Christian Religious Education has been viewed as one of
the means to restore moral and social order in the society. For
example, after a lengthy description of the moral decay in
Nigeria which is portrayed in rampant fraud, evidence of
corruption in high and low places, bribery, stealing and
robbery with violence, scandalous nepotism and political
patronage and abuse of power, excessive materials and general
indiscipline, Iheomia (1995) concludes by saying: in the final
analysis what matters most to a nations well-being is its
spiritual and moral health. Everything else which a nation
strives for depends on thiswhether it is national integration,
political

stability,

economic

development

or

educational,

scientific and technological progress. Nigeria is a nation

morally and spiritually sick. A basic aim of moral education in
Nigeria schools must be to restore sanity to the nations way of
life through the entrenchment in peoples psyche such values
as honesty, discipline, respect and concern for others, justice
4

and devotion to duty. If formal and direct moral education were

to become a regular feature in the curriculum at all levels of
educational institutions, it could enable our schools, colleges
and universities contribute significantly to the moral health of
a nation (p.1).

Statement of the Problem

One of the objectives of Christian religious education and
moral education is the inculcation of the right attitude on the
individual, through effective instruction based on biblical
traditions and examples. Thus students of Christian religious
studies are taught the need of respecting their elders and being
obedient to instructions. Amidst all of these however, there
seems to be an increase on the rate of moral decadence on the
part of the young people who leave secondary school and are
still in secondary school. These trends have led to increased

rate of indecent dressing, dishonesty, drunkenness, armed

robbery and truancy. It is against this backdrop therefore, that
this study is aimed at investigating the influence of Christian
religious studies on the character and moral life of secondary
school students in Ethiope East local government area of Delta
state and sought to answer this question.
To what extent has the teaching of Christian religious
studies in secondary schools influenced character formation?

Research Question
To guide this study, the following research questions were
raised.
1. What extent does CRS influence the moral life of
secondary school students?

2. What is the relationship between the study of Christian

religious Studies and the development of self respect in
the lives of secondary school students?
3. What is the relationship between the study of Christian
religious studies and the development of moral virtues
amongst secondary school students?
4. What is the most influential societal virtue for character
formation portrayed in Christian religious studies?

Research Hypothesis
For the sake of this study, the following hypotheses were
tested.
7

1. There is no significant relationship between Christian

religious studies and the development of self respect
amongst secondary school students.
2. There is no significant relationship between the study of
Christian religious studies and the development of moral
virtues.
Purpose of the Study
This study is driven by the following objectives.
1. To determine whether Christian religious study have any
relationship with the development of self respect amongst
secondary school students.
2. To determine whether Christian religious studies have any
relationship with the development of moral virtues.
3. To determine the most influential societal virtue for
character formation portrayed in Christian religious
studies.
Significance of the Study
8

The study of moral and religious education is of

paramount interest and importance in the maintenance and
sustenance of a stable and balanced society. Therefore, this
study when completed would be of significance to the entirety
of society irrespective of race, colour, social class or religion.
The study apart from contributing to the existing literatures in
the formation of a morally stable society, the study is at the
forefront of evaluating the impact of Christian religious studies
in the life of the society. Thus this study will be useful to
subject specialists in religious education as it will serve as a
means of appraising the extent to which the objectives of their
classroom contact has been met. Data generated from this
study will act as a point of reference to researchers,
government administrators and parents as to identifying
alternatives to solving the challenges of moral decadence in our
country.
Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study focuses on the influence of Christian religious

studies on the moral and character formation of secondary
school students in ethiope east L.G.A. thus the study is limited
to a review of literatures on the place of Christian Religious
Studies in secondary school curriculum, the concept of moral
and character formation, determinants of moral and character
formation and an empirical investigation on the influence of
CRS on the development of self respect and moral values in the
society.

10

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter reviews literatures related to the study and
establishes a conceptual and theoretical framework for the
study under the following headlines.
Historical Origin of Christian Religious Education
Objectives of Religious and Moral Education
Religious Education
What is Morality?
Character Formation: The Moral Self
Limitations to Traditional Forms of Character Education.
Character and the Moral Self.
The limitations of Reliance on Individual responsibility.
Contemporary Debates on Character Education
Conceptual and Theoretical Framework
Appraisal of Review
Historical Origin of Christian Religious Education

11

Christian Religious Education in Nigeria began with the

advent of Missionaries and Mission agencies in Mid 1800s. It
was not infact deliberate. It was introduced in the form of
Evangelism and as part of western missionary enterprise 5. In
other words, it was not altruism that made the Missionaries
introduce education in Nigeria. Prior to the coming of the
Missionaries, communities had their own traditional systems of
education and in some parts of the country; Islamic Religion
had already been entrenched. In trying to visualize the
cohabitation of Christianity and Islam in Nigeria, from a point
of view of Ecology of Religion in the etymological sense of the
word, their coexistence would naturally be gladiational, at best
adversarial for the following reasons:
Each religion has to come to a new environment in the
garments of the sending culture.
There is in every religion the human element which is the
vehicle of the divine. There is also the diabolical.

12

 Entry into a different religious worldview without love,

respect and humility, and abandoning ones critical faculty
often generates conflict (King, 1971).
Several factors and interplay of various motives were behind
the introduction of education in Nigeria by the various groups
and organizations. The Missionaries for instance, saw the
educating of the indigenous population as a means of
facilitating their conversion to Christianity. The Colonial
administrators saw in educating the local populace a means of
producing a literate being who would run errands for him as a
domestic hand messenger or orderly and at best a clerk. Both
approaches to education were based on giving to the African
what was considered to be best for him, and not necessarily an
educational system which was in accordance with his cultural
heritage and sociological environment and one that was aimed
at projecting and promoting the African Personality (Kaunda. in
Makulu, 1971).

13

Protestant missions came into Nigeria ahead of Catholic

Missions, Even though the North and West of Nigeria were
under Muslim influence; the missions were still able to make
some inroads in the East and the South. Their aims and
objectives and strategies differed from each other. While the
Catholic missions sought to provide moral and religious
education (1971) and to bring Christian influence to bear on
pagan communities, the Protestant missions aimed at training
the young by giving them liberal education to create well
prepared, well instructed and proven congregations. For
Protestant missions, education and the building of schools,
hospitals and centers for elementary industrial training were
all integral parts of evangelism. The need for such services were
great and the potentials abundant, and this led to the rapid
emergence of several mission agencies overseas within a very
short period between the last decade of the 1700s in UK and
the early decades of 1820 in the US. The Church Missionary
Society was established in 1799, Baptist Missionary Society
established in 1792, London Missionary Society in 1795,
14

Edinburgh and Glasgow Missionary Society in 1796 all in the

United Kingdom. In the US, the US Wesleyan Missionary
Society was established in 1813 and the American Bible
Society in 1816.These all had similar practices which could be
summarized as follows:
Creating new communities of those converted by moving
out

of

the

heathen

environment

to

Christian

homogeneous community
Building Mission Stations or compounds
Assisting the Missionary to replace the tribal chief by
making the most important building-the Mission House.
The next most important building was the Church
followed by the school in that order
The schools were generally boarding facilities supervised
by the missionary educationist or his wife.
The Mission Compound stood in stark contrast to the
surrounding community

15

 For the Tribesmen, association with Christianity offered

an attractive way of life and privileges such as education,
medical services and industrial training. Fascination for
the Whitemans knowledge and the promise of a better life
were more compelling factors for their conversion rather
than faith and understanding of Christian teachings.
While the motivation for education was evangelism for the
missionary, for the tribesmen, it was a way of entering into the
mysteries of western technological civilization. To this end,
education

helped

to

facilitate

the

spread

of

European

civilization in Africa. Tribal institutions contrary to this were

discouraged or suppressed. There was a tendency to measure
every part of the African life by the European standards. To
avoid conflicts among the numerous Protestant missions in
some areas, certain agreements were reached by which
missions confined their work to homogeneous groups. As a
result, some tribes became fortunate depending on the
missions agency that covered their area since missions varying

16

amount of both personal and material resources. Today such

tribes are still enjoying that advantage.
The issues of curriculum content and policy were extremely
in the hands of individual mission agencies until government
became interested in Education when they issued grants of 30
pounds in 1872, distributed among Anglican, Wesleyan and
Catholic missions in Lagos. In 1873 no grants were given out
but in 1874 the grant increased to 100 pounds to each agency.
By 1876 it had increased to 200 pounds for each mission
agency. Because he who pays the piper dictates the tune, in
1882, there was a promulgation of an ordinance by the British
Administration
neutralism

in

Nigeria-

the

declaration

of

religious

in matters of education. There was also

divergence of opinion on content and purpose of education.

While the government was trying to intellectualism, the
missions wanted spirituality. The schism which began to grow
wide eventually led to the formation of the Phelps-Stokes
Commission which visited Africa between 1922-1925. It was a
17

major watershed in Africas educational policy. The commission

made a plea for religious and moral education as the basis for
lasting education. It stressed character training and other
major inputs itemized below:
Called attention to the need for clear objectives in
education to build effective systems of education as well
as the need to take into account childrens environment
and role in society.
The importance of language
Clarification of objectives of education to train masses
and to educate future leaders and train people to pass
conventional tests required by professional schools.
Adoption of education to conditions of life.
In 1952, there was a Cambridge Conference on African
Education and in 1961, the Addis Ababa Conference on the
development of Education in Africa held. There, far reaching
measures on African education were arrived at. In 1962, there
was another Conference for Higher Education in Africa, during
18

which participants expressed the desire to exclude religious

education from secondary school curriculum. There has been a
lot of criticism of missionary educational activity in Nigeria, but
whatever the failings, we can still identify quite a good number
of major contributions made by these missionaries to the
growth and development of our societies and communities.
Among these contributions include:
Preservation through writing of major Nigerian languagesIbo, Yoruba, Efik, Nupe, Hausa, etc, thus creating
linguistic homogeneity. For instance, we have what is
called The union Ibo into which the Bible was translated
synthesized three major indistinguishable dialects. This
became a bond unifying the third largest West African
tribe. (Ayandele 1966).
They also facilitated the social and moral development of
the Nigerian people.
They made the administration to create law and order in
place of inter tribal wars and anarchy. They ensured the
19

suppression of abominable crimes repugnant to Christian

morality, like Mary Slessor did in the abolition of killing of
twins in the Eastern part of Nigeria.
They also facilitated mobility by ensuring safety of travel
without the risk of being enslaved in Yoruba land or Ibo
land or elsewhere in Nigeria.
They also contributed to social and moral regeneration
through churches and schools as well as preventing the
demoralization of society
The objective of education for the missionaries was also to
discourage children from participating in their parents
pagan practices. Character training was emphasized along
with spiritual development. They were mainly interested
in primary education for converts. They felt that further
education would only make them opt for secular work to
improve them socially and morally. However, Christianity
could not be deeply rooted because the intellectual
development required to match the principles of the new

20

faith was not available. Traditional morality was however

destroyed without an appropriate replacement.
Objectives of Religious and Moral Education
According to Purpel and Ryan (Nwaomah, 1998) there are at
least four major objectives or roles of Religious and Moral
Education in schools curriculum;
i.

To develop moral responsibility and sound ethical and

moral behavior

ii.

To develop the students capacity to discipline himself

to work, study and play constructively

iii.

To develop a moral and ethical sense of values, goal and

process of free society and

iv.

To develop standards of personal character and ideas,

i.e. to develop morally autonomous individuals who can
make up their minds on matters of moral principles
rather than being mere consumers of moral dicta
In his part, Wilson cited in Nwaomah (1998: 14-15) adds:
to wean them (students) away from false
methodologies and standards like reliance on the
21

peer group, on authority or anti-authorities of also

ego ideas, e.t.c, in an age of moral vacuum or
anti-authoritarian
trend,
anxiety,
neurosis,
alienation, drift and a sense of being lost. Religion
therefore provides something to hang on to.

Consequently, one of the major roles of Religious and

Moral Education in the Nigerian secondary school curriculum
is that of the moral development of the students. And the only
subject that could satisfy this is Christian Religious Education.

Religious Education
Religious Education is the term given to the education
that is concerned with the teaching of religion; this includes
the practices that influence peoples lives in every time and
every place. It involves the forming of every human being to be
a true child of God, a perfect man, in other words to be a
finished man of character.3 Religious education is chiefly
concerned with building the sense of Sacred in man, teaching
him of where he comes from, why he is here on earth and
where he is going. Therefore, it reveals to man what he must
22

know and do about God, here below, in order to attain the

sublime end which is God. It is a life-long process which
involves fostering

within every human being a growing

understanding of his Creator, and relationship with Him.

Again, it helps individuals to understand themselves as well as
their faith and tradition, and appreciates the faith and
traditions of others. It heightens each individual's commitment
to bringing the light of their faith to a discerning encounter
with the surrounding culture and thus working towards its
transformation.5 According to a definition given by the
Christian Council of Nigeria, Institute of Church and Society in
Ibadan in 1976. It is says: Religious Education is a process
which seeks to convey the truths of the Christian faith to
individuals so meaningfully that they will become Christian
disciples and be built up to do the will of God in every
relationship, at home, in the Church, in the society at large,
and within the changing situations of each generation.
What is Morality?
23

A large part of the controversy surrounding moral or

character education has to do with how morality is to be
defined. In everyday discourse morality refers simply to the
norms of right and wrong conduct. At issue, however, is what is
meant by moral right and wrong, and whose criteria shall be
used to judge the wrongness of actions. As it turns out, this
diversity at the level of public opinion, has a corollary in the
underlying heterogeneity of the structures of the individual's
social concepts. Within the individual, concepts of social right
and wrong are not all of one type, but are organized within
distinct conceptual and developmental frameworks. In research
conducted over the past twenty years, it has been discovered
that individuals treat some forms of social behavior as moral
universals, other forms of social conduct as subject to
determination by local cultural or social norms, and still others
as matters of personal choice (Turiel, 1983). More specifically,
these conceptual differences emerge when formal criteria for
morality

are

employed

which

define

morality

as

those

interpersonal behaviors that are held to be right or wrong

24

independent of governing social rules, and maintained as

universally binding (Turiel, 1983). Prescriptions which meet
these criteria are those which refer to actions, such as hitting
and hurting, stealing, slander, which have an impact on the
welfare of others. Accordingly, concepts of morality have been
found to be structured by underlying conceptions of justice and
welfare (Turiel, 1983). Morality, then, may be defined as one's
concepts, reasoning, and actions which pertain to the welfare,
rights and fair treatment of persons.
Morality (defined in terms of justice, welfare, rights) can
be distinguished from concepts of social conventions, which are
the consensually determined standards of conduct particular
to a given social group. Conventions established by social
systems such as norms or standards of dress, how people
should address one another, table manners and so forth derive
their status as correct or incorrect forms of conduct from their
embeddedness within a particular shared system of meaning
and social interaction. The particular acts in and of themselves
25

have no prescriptive force in that different or even opposite

norms (e.g., dresses for men, pants for women) could be
established to achieve the same symbolic or regulatory function
(e.g., distinguishing men from women). The importance of
conventions lies in the function they serve to coordinate social
interaction and discourse within social systems. In keeping
with this definition, concepts of social convention have been
found to be structured by underlying conceptions of social
organization (Turiel, 1983).
Character Formation: The Moral Self
The preceding discussion has highlighted the basic
reasons why moral education must attend to issues of social
cognition and moral reasoning. Knowing right from wrong is
more than a simple process of being aware of specific social
rules, and doing the right thing is not a simple matter of
putting those rules into practice. Social contexts are not fixed
and, therefore, do not always lend themselves to habitual or
formulaic ways of responding. Moreover, extant social rules
26

may themselves require changes to bring them in line with

morality. Reading and evaluating what is morally right,
therefore, entails judgment. Being a good person, however, is
more than a matter of understanding what is morally right.
In philosophy a distinction is made between deontic
judgments of what is morally right and aretaic judgments of
responsibility which involve a commitment to act on one's
deontic judgment. In everyday language we use the term
"character" to refer to the tendency to act in ways that are
consistent with what one understands to be morally right. A
person of good character is someone who attends to the moral
implications of actions and acts in accordance with what is
moral in all but the most extreme of circumstances. This
everyday usage of the term character captures an important
feature of what is ordinarily meant by a good person. The
question for us as educators becomes one of understanding
how these common sense notions of character map onto actual

27

human psychology, and what aspects of the educative process

can contribute to character formation.
Limitations to Traditional Forms of Character Education.
Traditional character education, which had its way in the
early part of last century, had as its central aim fostering
formation of elements of the individual's personality and value
structure which would constitute socially desirable qualities or
virtues. In the late 1920s a major research effort was
undertaken by Hugh and Mark

to identify the factors that

contributed to the formation of character. The design of their

research was based on the reasonable premise that the first
step should be to identify those individuals who possessed
moral virtues. What they had expected to find was that the
population of 8000 students they studied would divide up into
those who displayed virtuous conduct nearly all of the time,
and

those

who

would

not.

To

their

surprise

and

disappointment however, they discovered that few students

were virtuous, and that instead, most children cheated,
28

behaved selfishly, and lacked "self control" a large amount of

the time.
Virtue, according to their data, seemed to be context
dependent as students cheated, or lied et cetera in some
situations and not in others. As Clark Power (1989,) noted:
Hartshorne and May concluded that there were no character
traits per se but "specific habits learned in relationship to
specific situations which have made one or another response
successful." The reference to habit by Hartshorne and May is
concordant with traditional views of character formation. Since
Aristotle, the development of virtue has been thought to emerge
out of the progressive building up of habits. Contemporary
character educators (Ryan and McLean, 1987; Wynne in Nucci,
1989) likewise rely heavily on psychological theories that
emphasize punishment and reward systems to reinforce desired
behavior, and systems of inculcation which are presumed to
instill values and virtues in the young. It is worth remembering
that in response to their findings, Hartshorne and May
29

concluded that such traditional approaches to character

education through the use of didactic teaching, exhortation,
and example probably do more harm than good since such
practices do not take into account the practical demands of
social contexts.
In other words, such rigid instruction runs counter to the
evaluative and contextualized nature of moral life. By focusing
solely on efforts to instill proper values and habits, such
approaches fail to develop students' capacities to make the
social and

moral judgments that

contextualized

actions

require. Moreover, these rigid approaches run counter to the

multifaceted

and

complex

nature

of

human

personality.

Research on personality conducted over the past 30 years

(Sarbin, 1986) has served to confirm the view of character
offered by Hartshorne and May by demonstrating that people
cannot be accurately described in terms of stable and general
personality traits since people tend to exhibit different and

30

seemingly contradictory aspects of themselves in different

contexts.
Character and the Moral Self.
In Blasi's (Noam, 1993) work on the moral self, he makes
the point that morality may or may not be a central element of
the general narrative we construct about who we are. In other
words, morality may or may not be a salient issue in
constructing one's personal identity. The fact that virtually all
children construct basic moral understandings about fairness
and human welfare does not mean that being a person who
acts on that knowledge in relation to others is necessarily an
important part of how one self defines. For the adolescents
described above, or for some businessmen for that matter,
being moral may not be as integral to their self definition as are
other facets of their personal identities (e.g., gang member,
successful businessman). According to Blasi, the experience of
"guilt" or moral responsibility emerges in those situations in
which one acts counter to what one knows to be morally right
31

only for those for whom morality is an integral part of personal

identity. In other words, from Blasi's work, we can infer that a
central feature of what we mean by moral character is the
degree to which being a moral person attains salience as a part
of one's self definition. Acting in consonance with one's deontic
moral judgments is for someone of "good" character important
for that person's sense of intrapersonal coherence in the vast
majority of contexts.
From

an

educational

standpoint

this

means

that

character formation is not a curricular issue in the usual sense

of a course or program designed to teach a particular content.
Character

emerges

from

the

more

general

individual

environment interactions from which students construct their

sense of themselves. There is no simplistic model or formula for
"building" character. And, as much as those of us who each
year brave Chicago's character building Winters would like to
believe, no specific set of experiences that lead to good or
strong character. Schools contribute to character to the degree
32

to which they constitute environments conducive to more

general

social

and

emotional

development,

and

more

specifically moral environments in which students are treated

fairly and with respect, and which convey and enact through
teacher behavior and school policy a general climate in which
morality (as opposed to arbitrary adult authority) is valued.
The limitations of Reliance on Individual responsibility.
Much of what we see in present day society by way of
criminal activity, and juvenile crime in particular needs to be
understood as a rational response to objective social conditions
rather than simply a lack of morality or character of
individuals. A study which (Sapiro and Nucci, 1991) conducted
in Brazil of adolescents' and young adults' conceptions of
everyday forms of corruption is highly instructive. Nearly all of
their young subjects across social classes and economic levels
engaged in what they considered to be corrupt social practices
(e.g., paying a police officer to avoid a ticket, paying for
physician services without receipt to enable the physician to
33

avoid taxes and charge a lower fee) at least some of the time.
When asked to evaluate these practices nearly all of the
subjects argued that they were wrong.
However, lower class subjects irrespective of educational
level were five times as likely as upper middle class young
people to state that engaging in such practices was justified in
the face of an overwhelmingly corrupt social system. In
contrast, upper-middle class university students were more
than twice as likely as lower class subjects irrespective of
educational level to argue that it was important not to engage
in such practices in order to offer individual resistance to the
corrupt

social system

and thereby

change

it. What

is

instructive for us at the policy level is to recognize that these

observed class and educational differences in orientation to the
immorality of corrupt public behavior did not reflect a
difference in the morality of individuals (nearly all subjects saw
the acts as objectively wrong), but rather

social class

differences in the sense of political and social empowerment to

34

effect change in the objective social situation, and the belief on

the part of the poor and uneducated that such actions
constituted a rational form of self protection from victimization
by the general system.
Contemporary Debates on Character Education
Alan Lockwood (1997) has offered a tentative definition of
character

education

as

school-instituted

program,

designed in co-operation with other community institutions, to

shape directly and systematically the behaviour of young
people by influencing explicitly the non-relativistic values
believed directly to bring about that behaviour. He assumes
that goals of moral education can be pursued, that behavioural
goals are part of character education and that antisocial
behaviour on the part of children is a result of an absence of
values. One might add too, that character education is not a
matter of changing behaviour but of bringing about certain
kinds of behaviour. It is not simply concerned with behaviour
control, but with personal transformation; it therefore includes
35

education in schools, families, and through the individuals

participation in societys social networks.
Lockwoods definition of character as inculcating nonrelativistic values is a brave one in a constantly changing
pluralistic society, where it seems increasingly unreasonable to
believe that there could be agreement about a common set of
values. Suspicion is quickly aroused by any suggestion that
there could be underlying values which characterise the best in
human nature. Any such proposals are deemed problematic
and challengeable, provoking the question how do you feel
about it?, rather than is it true? Significant criticisms of
moral education have acknowledged these difficulties. David
Purple (1997), for example, attacks moral educators because
they do not examine the complexity of the social context that
underlies the social statistics to which they draw attention.
Moreover, he argues, according to what frame of reference do
they consider teen-age pregnancy to be a moral transgression?
Timothy Rusnak (1998) believes that most moral education is
36

driven by fear when in fact there never was a golden age of

moral behaviour; every generation has had its own litany of
alarm as Harry McKown (1935) showed when he wrote of
America in the nineteen thirties. Terry McLaughlin and Mark
Halstead (1999) take issue with current practices of character
education in America, which, they claim, focus on a narrow
range of virtues, use traditional pedagogy and attempt to
demonstrate their effectiveness by the changed behaviour of
students.
Conceptual and Theoretical Framework

37

Fig. 1.0 The combination model of Character formation

Source: Huit, 2004.
This study is anchored by the systems theory which
believes that character and moral development in students or
young people is as a result of a resultant interaction of the
three components of the mind which is cognition, affect and
volition. The study is further anchored by an interaction
between values education, analysis, and moral development
approaches in the combination approach shown above. Thus
students put their thoughts and feelings into action in a variety
of social actions as suggested in the action learning (e.g.,
Cottom, 1996; Gauld, 1993; Solomon et al., 1992) or service
learning (e.g., Champion, 1999) approaches.
From the perspective of a systems view, which is most
compatible with the action learning and service learning
approaches to character education, we need to define character
development in terms of the three components of mind:
(cognition, affect, volition) and the component of behavior as
38

depicted in the systems model of human behavior (Huitt, 1996).

The cognitive component of character consists of both a
knowledge base of right and wrong as well as the rational and
creative processes necessary to work with that knowledge base
to make sound moral decisions. There is a related value system
that defines what the individual holds in high esteem or to
which he or she is attached. These are the criteria that
students use to make moral or ethical judgments. Students
learn to value what is in their knowledge base; they will also
more deeply esteem what they critically and creatively think
about. These two components influence what students are
willing to commit to, what they are willing to set goals for, what
they

are

willing

to

plan

for

and

put

energy

towards

accomplishing. As students make these commitments and

plans, it adds to their knowledge base and strengthens their
thinking skills and values.
These

three

components

then

influence

the

final

component, overt behavior. This behavior has two aspects:

39

personal virtues such as being courageous and self-disciplined

and social virtues such as being compassionate, courteous,
and trustworthy. As students reflect on their behavior, it adds
to the knowledge base, strengthens their thinking skills, and
impacts their values. Of course, behavior can also be directly
influenced

through

the

application

of

consequences

as

described by operant conditioning theory (Huitt and Hummel,

1997a) and through observation and modeling as described by
social learning theory (Huitt and Hummel, 1997b). The basic
principle of this model is that much of the knowledge and
values that students hold are implicit and have been obtained
though

observation,

modeling,

and

the

application

of

consequences. As important as it is to impact overt moral

behavior, it is equally important to help students make explicit
one's own knowledge base, value system, and the process of
committing and planning so as to make that behavior more
intentional.
Appraisal of Review
40

This review started with an historical review of the origin

of Christian religious studies in Nigeria. It further discussed
the concept of morality and the moral self while establishing a
theoretical and conceptual model behind the study.

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This chapter is discussed under the following sub
headings
Design of the Study
Population of the Study
Sample and Sampling Techniques
Instrument for Data Collection
Validity of the Instrument
Administration of Instrument
Method of Data Analysis
Design of the Study
41

The study adopted the descriptive survey research design.

Survey research is a method of collecting information by asking
questions, Sometimes interviews are done face-to-face with
people at home, in school, or at work. Other times questions
are sent in the mail for people to answer and mail back.
Increasingly, surveys are conducted by telephone. However, the
present study employed the face to face contact with the
respondents.
Population of The Study
The population of the study includes all students offering
Christain religious studies in Senior and junior secondary
Ethiope East local government area. This population is
estimated to be the entire population of students in public
secondary schools in the area given at 8,000 according to the
Data provided by the state ministry of Secondary and Basic
Education.(www.deltastate.gov.ng)
Sample and Sampling Techniques

42

A sample of 200 students which comprises of 2.5% of the

total number of students was randomly selected from 10
schools across five locations in the area of study. Participants
were drawn from both senior and junior secondary schools
males and females alike.
Instrument for Data Collection
To guide this research, an instrument labeled Christain
religious

studies

and

Character

formation

Questionnaire

(CRCFQ) was developed. This was used to elicit information

from the subjects of the study. The questionnaire was made up
of two sections; the first section is the bio data which consist of
items such as Name of school, gender, age, and Class. The
second section considered factors that dealt with the effect of
CRS

on

character

and

moral

formation/development

of

secondary school students. Respondents were free to agree or

disagree with the statements made on a continuum scale of
strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and strongly disagree.
Validity of the Instrument

43

In the development of the research instrument, past

research

questionnaires

retrieved

from

instrument,

them.

the

were
To

analyzed,

ascertain

instrument

was

the

given

and

ideas

validity
to

the

were

of

the

research

supervisor and after due consultation, it was ascertained valid

reflecting face and content validity.
Reliability of Instrument
In

research,

reliability

determines

the

degree

of

consistency to which an instrument measures what it is

expected to measure. To determine the reliability of the
instrument therefore, the test retest method will be employed. A
sample of 20 teachers in a different location of the study will be
sampled at an interval of two weeks. At the end of the sampling
process, their responses will be correlated employing the
Pearson product moment correlation.
Administration of Instrument
A total of 150 questionnaires will be administered personally
by the researcher. The researcher will also employ the aid of
44

research assistants so as to aid the effective and quick

completion of the field work. The content of the questionnaires
will be explained to respondents. Completed questionnaires will
be collected on the spot and their responses compiled and
analyzed later.
Method of Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. Thus
frequency counts were done and the data represented in simple
percentages. Thereafter, the hypotheses were tested using the
chi-square statistics.

45

CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
This chapter presents the outcome of the statistical and
data analysis of the study. It will follow a step by step recap of
the research questions followed by the test of hypothesis and
discussion.
Presentation of Result
Table 1:
GENDER

Gender Distribution of Respondents

FREQUENCY
PERCENTAGE

MALE

65

43%

FEMALES

85

57%

150

100

TOTAL

Table 1 shows that 65(43%) of respondents were males while 85(57%) of

respondents were females.

Table 2:
GENDER

Location of Respondents
FREQUENCY
PERCENTAGE

URBAN

75

50

Rural

75

50

150

100

TOTAL

46

Table 2 shows that 75(50%) of respondents are from urban area while 75(50%) of
are from rural.

Table 3:

Class Distribution of Respondents

GENDER

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

JSS

75

50%

SSS

75

50%

150

100

TOTAL

Table 3 shows that 75(50%) of respondents are in the JSS and SSS classes
respectively.

Section B: Test Variables

Answer to Research Question
Research Question 1: What extent does C.R.S. influence the
moral life of secondary school students.
This research question was answered by items 1-5 of the
research instrument as shown in the table below.
Table 4:

Influence of CRS on Moral life

S/N ITEM
1.

2.

3.

SA
F (%)
it is right for one to ask 20(13)
for answers from friends
in difficult examination?
Is it right for a student 15(10)
who is late to sneak into
the class if he will not be
caught?
Is it right to use ones
0(0)
late relatives certificate

A
D
SD F
F (%) F (%)
(%)
30(20) 60(40) 40(27)

15(10) 40(27) 80(53)

0(0)

80(53) 70(47)
47

to work?
4.
If you see a man that will 100(67) 50(33) 0(0)
0(0)
want to pay your school
fees and your father is
not willing, will you
agree?
5.
In an examination where 40(27) 45(30) 35(23) 30(20)
you know you cannot
pass because you did not
read, would you cheat to
pass?
From the table presented above, all of the test items gave a
positive credence to the positive influence of CRS on moral life.
Item 1 of the research instrument indicates that 50(23%) of the
respondents affirmed to asking questions in exams against the
100(97%) that declined such acts. Item 2 which sought to know
if students will sneak into classrooms when they come lat
discovered that 0nly 30(20%) of the students affirmed to this
claim while 120(80%) declined such claims. Contrary to the
expectations however, item 5, indicated that 85(57%) of the
respondents agreed to cheating in examination halls against
the 65(43%) that declined such.

48

Research Question 2: What is the relationship between the

study of Christian religious studies and the development of self
respect in the lives of secondary school students?
This research question was answered by items 6-10 of the
research instrument as shown in the table below.
Table 5: Influence of CRS on the Development of Self Respect

S/N ITEM
6

7.

8.

9.

10

SA
A
F (%) F (%)
Parents
who
always 40(27) 20(13)
punish
their
children
should not be greeted in
the morning.
We
should
not
run 45(30) 64(43)
errands for parents who
do not always help us.
Parents who correct us 30(20) 45(30)
harshly should not be
obeyed.
We should not respect 27(18) 13(9)
teachers
who
have
offended us.
We should only greet 28(19) 10(7)
people that are kind to us.

D
F (%)
10(7)

SD F
(%)
80(53)

41(27) 0(0)

50(33) 25(17)

69(46) 41(27)

88(58) 24(16)

From the table shown above, items 6 indicated students

feelings that parents who punish their children should not be
greeted with a 90(60%) decline and 60(40%) affirmation. Item 7
on the contrary showed that respondent feel errands should
not be run for parents who do not help them as 109(73%)
49

affirmed to this and 41(27%) declining. On the other hand,

items 9 and 10 saw the respondents declining the claims that
teachers who offend them should not be greeted and that
kindness should only be extended to those who are equally
kind

to

them

with

110(73%)

and

112(74%)

decline

respectively.
Research Question 3: What is the relationship between the
study of Christian religious studies and the development of
moral virtues amongst secondary school students?
This research question was answered by items 11-15 of the
research instrument as shown in the table below.
Table 6:

Relationship between CRS and development of

Moral Virtues
S/N
11
12

13

14

ITEM

SA
A
F (%) F (%)
Is it good to love others 48(32) 64(43)
more than ones self.
Is it always good to say 34(23) 78(52)
the truth even if it will
cause ones life?
Is it good to expose 0(0)
0(0)
some sensitive parts of
your body?
If you broke your 0
0
mothers plate and you
know she will beat you
up, is it right to put the
blame
on
other
persons.

D
F SD
F
(%)
(%)
24(16) 14(9)
10(7)

27(19)

40(27)

110(73)

110(73) 40(27)

50

15

Is it right to deny ones 0

0
78(52) 72(48)
parent because of poor
financial status.
From the table above, item 11 shows that 110(75%) of
respondents believes it is good to love others more than ones
self against the 27(26%) that declined. In response to item 13
and 14 all of the respondents said that it is not good to expose
sensitive parts of ones body and denying ones parents due to
poor financial status.
Research Question 4: What is the most influential societal
virtue for character formation portrayed in Christian religious
studies?

S/N
ITEM
FREQUENCY
PERCENTAGE
16
A
Honesty
60
40
B
Self respect
40
27
C
Moral virtue
12
8
D
Humility
38
25
Table 7: Most Influential Society Virtues Portrayed by
CRS
From the table shown above it shows that 60(40%) of
respondents believes honesty is the most influential virtue
while 40(27%) asserts self respect; 12(8%) believes moral virtue
and 38(25%) claims humility.

Test of Hypothesis

51

Hypothesis one: There is no significant relationship between

Christian religious studies and the development of self respect
amongst secondary school students.
This hypothesis was tested using items 11-15 of the research
instrument as shown below.
Table 8:

Test of Significant Relationship of CRS and the Development of Self

Respect.

S/N

ITEM

Agreed

Disagreed

11

Is it good
to love
others
more than
ones self.
Is it always
good to say
the truth
even if it
will cause
ones life?
Is it good
to expose
some
sensitive
parts of
your body?
If you
broke your
mothers
plate and
you know
she will
beat you
up, is it
right to put
the blame
on other
persons.
Is it right to

112

38

112

38

150

150

150

12

13

14

15

X2Cal

X2Crit.

DF

Decision

484.34

9.48

0.05

Reject Null
Hypothesis

52

deny ones
parent
because of
poor
financial
status.
Expected
Frequency

44

106

From the table above, the X 2 calculated is greater than the X 2

critical thus the null hypothesis is rejected which implies that
there is a significant relationship between CRS and the
development of moral virtue
Hypothesis Two: There is no significant relationship between
the study of Christian religious studies and the development of
moral virtues.
This hypothesis was tested using items 6-10 of the research instrument as
shown below.
Table 9: Test of Significant Relationship of CRS and the Development of Moral
Virtues.
S/N
6

7.

ITEM
Parents
who
always
punish
their
children
should not
be greeted
in the
morning.
We should
not run
errands
for
parents
who do

Agreed
60

Disagreed
90

109

41

X2Cal
96.44

X2Crit.
9.48

DF
0.05

Decision
Reject Null
Hypothesis

53

8.

9.

10

Expected
Frequency

not
always
help us.
Parents
who
correct us
harshly
should not
be
obeyed.
We should
not
respect
teachers
who have
offended
us.
We should
only greet
people
that are
kind to us.

75

75

40

110

34

112

64

86

From the table above, the X 2 calculated is greater than the X 2

critical thus the null hypothesis is rejected which implies that
there is a significant relationship between CRS and the
development of moral virtue.
Discussion of Findings
This study focused on the influence of Christian religious
studies on the moral life of secondary school students in
Ethiope East local Government Area of Delta state. The study
therefore made its generalizations based on the analysis of data
generated from the field work.
54

The demographic data presented shows that 65(43%) of

respondents were males while 85(57%) of respondents were
females. Also, 75(50%) of respondents are from urban area
while 75(50%) are of rural origin the data also showed that
75(50%) of respondents are in the JSS and SSS classes
respectively. In answer to research question one which sought
to know the extent to which learning of CRS influences the
Moral life of students found out that all of the test items gave a
positive credence to the positive influence of CRS on moral life
except item 5. Item 1 of the research instrument indicates that
50(23%) of the respondents affirmed to asking questions in
exams against the 100(97%) that declined such acts. Item 2
which sought to know if students will sneak into classrooms
when they come lat discovered that 0nly 30(20%) of the
students affirmed to this claim while 120(80%) declined such
claims. Contrary to the expectations however, item 5, indicated
that 85(57%) of the respondents agreed to cheating in
examination halls against the 65(43%) that declined such. The

55

implication of this is that CRS influences the moral life of

secondary school students to a great extent.
In answer to the second research question which asked if
CRS influences the development of self respect amongst
students shows that items 6 indicated students feelings that
parents who punish their children should not be greeted
with a 90(60%) decline and 60(40%) affirmation. Item 7 on
the contrary showed that respondent feel errands should not
be run for parents who do not help them as 109(73%)
affirmed to this and 41(27%) declining. On the other hand,
items 9 and 10 saw the respondents declining the claims
that teachers who offend them should not be greeted and
that kindness should only be extended to those who are
equally kind to them, with a 110(73%) and 112(74%) decline
respectively. A test of the significant influence however of
CRS on the development of self respect indicates that the X 2
calculated is greater than the X2 critical thus the null
hypothesis is rejected which implies that there is a
significant relationship between CRS and the development of
56

moral virtue. This observation is in agreement with the

opinions of Wilson as cited in Nwaomah (1998) that one of
the major roles of Religious and Moral Education in the
Nigerian secondary school curriculum is that of the moral
development of the students; and the only subject that could
satisfy this is Christian Religious Education.
The third research question sought to know if there is any
relationship between CRS and the development of moral
virtues. The data presented in table 6 above, indicates in
item 11 that 110(75%) of respondents believes it is good to
love others more than ones self against the 27(26%) that
declined. In response to item 13 and 14 all of the
respondents said that it is not good to expose sensitive parts
of ones body and denying ones parents due to poor financial
status. In the same vein, a test of hypothesis also showed
that there is a significant relationship between CRS and the
development of moral virtues thus giving credence to the
earlier claims made by the study in answer to research
question one. This observation may also have risen due to
57

the high level of peer interaction that occurs during school

hours and learning thus bringing to affirmation the old aged
saying that a man is a product of not only what he hears but
also of the environment in which he or she lives.
In answer to the fourth research question, the study
found out that 60(40%) of respondents believes honesty is
the most influential virtue while 40(27%) asserts self
respect; 12(8%) believes moral virtue and 38(25%) claims
humility. From this therefore, it implies that honesty and
humility is the greatest moral virtue influenced by CRS in
the lives of secondary school students.

58

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary of Study
This study focused on the influence of Christian religious
studies on the character and moral life of secondary school
students. The study stated as its research objectives the
determination of the extent to which CRS influences the moral
life of secondary students, the development of self respect and
moral virtues. In a bid to get a clearer picture of the concept
59

under study, a thorough review of related literature was done

and a survey research method was employed sampling the
opinions of 150 secondary school CRS students in Ethiope east
LGA of Delta state. The study however, asked four research
questions

and

tested

two

hypotheses.

Based

on

the

observations made during the field work, the following can be

summarized as the major finding s of the study.
1.

There is a significant relationship between CRS and

the moral life of secondary school students amongst
secondary school students.

2. There is a significant relationship between CRS and

the development of moral virtues amongst secondary
school students.
3.

There is a significant relationship between CRS and

the development of self respect amongst secondary
school students.

60

4. Honesty and Humility is the most influence moral

Virtue influenced by CRS in the life of secondary
school students.
Conclusion
Based on the observations made above, this study wishes
to conclude that the teaching of CRS in secondary schools have
contributed greatly and is still contributing to the attainment of
a morally just society.
Recommendations
Based on the conclusions made above, the study wishes
to make the following recommendations:
1. Christian Religious Studies should be made compulsory
at all levels of learning so as to promote and sustain the
ideals and gains observed by this study.
2. Students

should

be

encouraged

to

take

seriously

Christian religious studies education in other to sustain a

good future.
61

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66

APPENDIX I
CHRISTAIN RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND CHARACTER
FORMATION QUESTIONNAIRE (CRCFQ)
Dear Respondent,
I am carrying out a research on the influence of CRS on
character formation of Secondary school students. Please
kindly fill the questionnaire and be rest assured that your
responses will be used for research purposes only.
Okomeh, Omamokeh
Researcher.
SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES
Gender: Male ( ) Female ( )
School Location: Urban ( ) Rural ( )
Age: 10-14 ( ) 15-18 ( ) Above18 ( )
Class: JSS ( ) SSS ( )
67

SECTION B: TEST VARIABLES

INSTRUCTION
Please tick SA (Strongly Agreed), A (Agreed), Disagree (D)
Strongly Disagree (SD) in all of the following statements. Be
aware that your responses will e graded in a continuum scale
of 4, 3, 2 and 1, With SD having the least score of 1.
In your opinion what is your view on the following statements
about Christian religious studies.
Importance of CRS
S/N
1
2
3
4

Item

S
A

D SD

CRS helps in modeling young people

toward been responsible
CRS have contributed to my knowledge
about GOD
CRS have helped me in identifying the
right role model for life
CRS helps in the development of spiritual
values.

CRS and SELF RESPECT

S/N
ITEM
SA A
6
Learning CRS have helped me to always
tell myself the truth about life
7
I have learnt not to tell lies through CRS
8
I learnt not to masturbate through CRS
10
I have learnt to obey instructions
through CRS
11
Through CRS I have learnt to dress well
all the time
12
I learnt how to give a helping hand to
someone through CRS
CRS and Moral Virtue

SD

68

S/N
ITEM
11
CRS taught me to be obedient to my
parents and seniors
12
CRS encourages me to greet my elders
13
I have learnt that fornication is bad
through CRS
14
CRS have helped me to identify the right
value in the society
15
CRS is essential for the attainment of
humility in life
16
CRS have helped me to always tell the
truth.
16. in your opinion which is the most influential societal
value influenced by CRS
1
Honesty
12 Humility
13 Obedience
14 Faithfulness to duty
15 Diligence

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