TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF MORAL REASONING AMONG BASIC SCHOOL CHILDREN IN ILORIN SOUTH, KWARA STATE

Abstract

The study investigated teachers’ perception of moral reasoning among basic school children in Ilorin South, Kwara State, in response to increasing societal concern over moral decline and the crucial role of teachers in shaping ethical behaviour. Previous studies have largely focused on behaviour management and emotional intelligence, with limited attention to how teachers perceive pupils’ moral reasoning. This study therefore aimed to identify teachers’ perceptions of children’s moral reasoning and to determine whether such perceptions differ based on gender, teaching experience, and educational qualification, as well as to examine any interaction effects among these variables. A descriptive survey design was adopted, targeting a population of 1,994 basic school teachers in Ilorin South. A total of 100 teachers, representing 5% of the population, were selected through simple random sampling. Data were gathered using a validated researcher- designed questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.78. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and Factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyse the data and test two hypotheses at the 0.05 significance level. Findings revealed that teachers generally held positive perceptions of pupils’ moral reasoning (grand mean = 2.99). Significant differences were found based on gender (F(1,86)=5.227, p=.025) and teaching experience (F(4,86)=3.397, p=.013), while the interaction effect among gender, experience, and education was also statistically significant. The study concluded that teachers’ perceptions vary by personal characteristics and recommended that teacher training programmes should emphasise strategies for fostering moral reasoning through empathy-based and discussion-oriented pedagogies.