JOURNAL OF LIAONING TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN NIGERIAN SCHOOLS: A SOCIOLOGICAL ADVOCACY FOR TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION IN THE CURRICULUM

ODUDELE ROTIMI, Ph D*, FAMILUGBA, JONATHAN OLUROPO, Ph D, IDOWU, EZEKIEL KAYODE, Ph.D, OGUNBADEJO, ADEBAYO VICTOR

Abstract

Previous works have been written on different areas of Christian religious education in Nigerian schools with little attention paid to its sociological advocacy for transformative education in the curriculum. This paper examines Christian religious education in Nigerian schools, with particular interest in integrating African moral values into its curriculum which we considered as transformative education. At this point in Nigeria's history, there is a moral crisis within the various strata of society. Over time, people became more and more indifferent to moral values than young people tend to think that the odd situation of moral decadence is common. The loss of positive African values in the lives of today's Nigerian citizens is a contributing factor. Some of these values are akin to the values of Jesus Christ which he taught in the scriptures. The methodology employed in this study is phenomenal-descriptive which means that the phenomenon of moral laxity as found to exist in Nigeria was studied over time and the remedy to embrace morality evidenced in uprightness of character through integration of African moral values in the school curriculum presented in the discourse. The findings of this paper revealed that the transformative education held as sacrosanct in the traditional society have been compromised. This work, therefore advocates for the transformative education in the school curriculum to help boost the morality status of Nigerians.

Keywords: Christian religion, Nigeria, Advocacy, Transformative education, Curriculum