Teachers’ Perception of Senior Secondary Three Home Economics Students’ Soft Skills and their Career Development for Family Sustainability in Owerri Education Zone

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of soft skills on senior secondary school III students in Home Economics in career development for family sustainability. The design of the study was a descriptive survey. The area of the study was Owerri education zone of Imo state with a population of 40 Home Economics teachers. A purposive sampling technique was used for the study in which the 40 teachers were selected due to fewness of the population using census techniques. The instrument for data collection was researchers’ made questionnaire titled; Teachers’ Perception of Soft Skills on Career Development for Family Sustainability Questionnaire (TPSSCDFSQ),with a 34 question items using four-point modified Likert scale response options of Very High Extent(VHE), High Extent(HE), Low Extent(LE), Very Low Extent(VLE) which weighted 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. The instrument was validated by an expert in Measurement and Evaluation and two experts in Home Economics curriculum. The instrument had a reliability index of 0.78 using Cronbach Alpha reliability method. Data collected were statistically analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Findings of the study revealed that, soft skills impact positively on the students, by enhancing their career development in Home Economics, it also revealed other challenges that hinder students imbibing soft skills, and solutions were proffered. Recommendations were made such as students linear development should be monitored for proper directives hinged on the needed soft skills.

Keywords: Soft Skills, Family Sustainability, Impact, Secondary Education, Career Development.