Impact of Responsive Pedagogy and Functional Literacy on Learning Outcomes of Internally Displaced Children (Published)
The study addressed how the use of responsive pedagogy and functional literacy enhanced learning outcomes (reading and writing) of internally displaced children in Benue and Plateau States, Nigeria employing quasi experimental designs. The target population for the study consisted of approximately 749 (pupils = 713 as well as teachers and headmasters for FGD = 36) internally displaced children and teachers residing in selected IDP camps in Benue and Plateau States, Nigeria. The available sample for the study was 488 pupils (male = 274 and female = 209) and 18 teachers (male = 12 and female = 6). To ensure a representative sample, the researchers employed both purposive and stratified random sampling, accounting for variations in gender, and level in primary school (grades 4 and 5). However, all pupils in the 3 schools and 6 schools from Plateau and Benue States were respectively used as intact classes. A data collection instrument “Literacy Ability Test” (LAT) comprising reading and writing components with reliability index of 0.90 using Kuder Richardson 21 formula was deployed. The intervention lasted eight weeks and resulted in the following findings: Responsive pedagogy and functional literacy leads to a significantly higher improvement in reading and writing outcomes compared to the conventional strategy. There is however no significant difference in the mean reading outcome of internally displaced male and female children taught reading using responsive pedagogy and functional literacy and there is however no significant difference in the mean writing outcome of internally displaced male and female children taught reading using responsive pedagogy. Further, responsive pedagogy and functional literacy has a clear advantage in improving the writing skills of internally displaced children. It was recommended among others that teachers, school administrators, curriculum designers should integrate responsive pedagogy and functional literacy that focus on the functional application of literacy skills in real-world contexts in the curriculum for the displaced children.
Keywords: Functional literacy, internally displaced children, reading outcomes, responsive pedagogy, writing outcomes