Abstract:
The study was on the application of John Dewey’s Aims of education to the attainment of the UBE programme in Kogi state. The study adopted a descriptive survey design in which six research questions were posed and six null hypotheses tested. The population of the study consisted 20,862 (6413 teacher and 180,000 parents) presently in the 658 UBE schools in Kogi state. Simple random and stratified random sampling technique were used to select 2214 (128 teachers and 2086 parents) for the study. An instrument titled Universal Basic Education Questionnaire (UBEQ) together with a four point rating scale was developed and used for data collection. The instrument contained 30 items that dealt with Dewey’s theory of the aims of education in relation to the UBE programme in Kogi state. This was validated by three experts of the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The 30 items were pilot-tested on a sample of 20 teachers and 20 parents. The data obtained were computed using Crombach Alpha. This gave an overall score of 0.97. The research questions were analysed using Means and Standard Deviations, while the z-test statistics was used to test the six null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. An overview of the results showed that Western education is not relevant to the educational needs of Kogi state, but can still lay the foundation for the actualization of the UBE programme in Kogi state; the implementation of the UBE programme in Kogi state can generally help to up lift education in the state; John Dewey’s aims of education can improve the UBE programme in the state; Dewey’s aims of education can lead to the acquisition of competencies necessary for self-reliance in the UBE programme in Kogi state; the educational aims of Dewey can instill confidence in parents about the goals of the UBE programme; Dewey’s aims of education can give teachers the necessary strategy to meet the goals of the UBE. Based on these findings, recommendations were made and limitations of the current study were identified and suggestions for further study were made.
