Abstract:
Yorùbá Orature (YO) and Moral Value Concepts (MVCs) are taught in Senior
Secondary Schools (SSS) to instil rectitude in students. However, reports have shown
that many SSS students are deficient in knowledge of and disposition to YO, and
practice of MVCs in the Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria. Previous studies on YO and
MVCs were more on survey than on the development and efficacy of Theatre-inEducation Packages (TiEPs). Therefore, this study was carried out to develop and
determine the effects of two TiEPs (Devised-for-students and Devised-by-students) on
SSS students’ knowledge of and disposition to YO, and practice of MVCs in the Ibadan
metropolis, Nigeria. The moderating effects of Motivation for Yorùbá Orature (MYO)
and Peer Influence (PI) were also examined.
The Theatre-for-Development Model, Affective Dispositional and the Àṣùwàdà
Sociation theories provided the framework, while the study adopted the mixed
(QUAN+qual) methods design. Three Local Government Areas (LGAs), out of the five
existing in the Ibadan metropolis, were randomly selected. The simple random
sampling technique was used to select six SSSs (two from each LGA), while six intact
classes of Senior Secondary II students (one per SSS) were randomly assigned to TiEP
Devised-for-students (87), TiEP Devised-by-students (115) and control (90) groups.
The instruments used were YO Knowledge Test (r=0.81), Disposition to YO (r=0.76),
Practice of Yorùbá MVCs (r=0.72), MYO (r=0.73), Students’ PI (r=0.75)
questionnaires and instructional guides. Treatment lasted eight weeks. Focused group
discussions were held with 10 students per school. Data were analysed using
descriptive statistics, Analysis of covariance at 0.05 level of significance, while the
qualitative data were thematically analysed.
The participants’ age was 15.96±1.47 years and 52.4% were male. The developed
packages were rated average (𝑥̅=2.99; threshold=3.00). Students’ knowledge of YO
(18%) was low, while their disposition to YO (𝑥̅=2.80) and practice of Yorùbá MVCs
(𝑥̅=3.20) were high, against the threshold of 2.50. Treatment had significant main
effects on students’ knowledge of (F(2;279)=639.84; partial η2=.821); disposition to
(F(2;279)=323.97; partial η2=.69) YO and practice of (F(2;279)=361.67; partial η2=.72)
Yorùbá MVCs. The participants in the TiEP Devised-for-students had the highest postknowledge (𝑥̅=33.57) and post-disposition (𝑥̅=78.12) scores in YO, followed by TiEP
Devised-by-students (knowledge 𝑥̅=19.04; disposition 𝑥̅=62.33) and the control
(knowledge 𝑥̅=9.98; disposition 𝑥̅=49.05) groups. The participants in the TiEP
Devised-by-students had the highest post-practice score (𝑥̅=73.61), followed by those
in TiEP Devised-for-students (𝑥̅=52.50) and the control (𝑥̅=45.75) groups. The
interaction effect of treatment and MYO (F(2;279)=3.48; partial η2=.024) was significant
on disposition to YO in favour of participants with high MYO from the TiEP Devisedby-students group. The interaction effect of MYO and PI (F(1;279)=.6.57; partial
η2=.023) was significant on knowledge of YO in favour of high MYO from high PI.
Other two-way and three-way interaction effects were not significant. Students
creatively wrote their play scripts on different thematic preoccupations and this
propelled them to practise the Yorùbá MVCs.
Theatre-in-education packages devised-for-students and devised-by-students improved
senior secondary school students’ learning outcomes in Yorùbá orature and moral
value concepts in the Ibadan metropolis. Teachers of Yorùbá should adopt these two
packages.
