NEW NORMAL POTENTIALS AS RECOURSE TO COVID-19 OVERBEARANCE ON EFFECTIVE TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS AMONG IBADAN MEGACITY SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS

Abstract

It is no gainsaying the fact that education constitutes the fulcrum of change in the society, the more reason why education and its associated activities cannot but experience change. In some cases, such changes might be as a result of unforeseen contingencies which may be man-made or natural hazard. A case in point is the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated devastations on virtually all aspects of the economy, education as a key player in this regard also have its fair share in the said saga. Thus, for the sector to be in the forefront and to be globally compliant, it has to inject ideals of the ‘new normal’ in the teaching-learning process where the bulk of the activities are being executed which is the crux of this study. Quasi-experimental research design was employed for the study while samples were drawn across the 11 local governments constituting Ibadan Megacity of Oyo State Nigeria with 15 Social Studies teachers (male and female) selected from each of the local government totaling 165 participants in all who were exposed to In-depth Interviews (IDIs) on the crux of the study. Data were analyzed though tables, frequency counts, simple percentages, and Rank order statistical test. Findings from the study revealed that Covid-19 negatively impacted on teaching-learning delivery [hardship witnessed in the nation’s education and schooling ranked first (143/95.33); panicky crisis approach and unwelcome students’ engagements (135/90.00) ranked 2nd; paralyzed education activities during the pandemic era (131/87.30) ranked 3^rd]; New normal impetus for effective teaching-learning include: introduction of variants of e-learning, the use of social media apps and blend of online and physical instructional delivery ranked 1st (134/89.33), 2nd (131/87.33) and 3rd (125/83.33) respectively. It is thus imperative that the nation’s education embrace technologically-driven teaching-learning and global best practices of the current ‘new normal’ vogue in all spheres of human endeavours, education sector, and educational programmes inclusive.