21ST CENTURY LITERACY AND LEARNING SKILLS NEED OF ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE WORK TEACHERS IN NORTH WEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed the 21st-century literacy and learning skills needed by electrical installation and maintenance work teachers in North West, Nigeria. The study employed the use of descriptive survey research design. The targeted population was 333 respondents comprising 156 School Administrators and 177 Electrical Installation and Maintenance Work (EIMW) teachers from technical colleges in North West, Nigeria. A researcher-developed instrument, titled, ‘21^st Century Learning and Literacy Skills Need Questionnaire’ (21^st CLLSNQ) was used to collect data for the study. The 21^stCLLSNQ was validated by two experts from the Department of Industrial and Technology Education, Federal University of Technology, Minna and one expert from the Electrical Installation Department Abdu Gusau Polytechnic Talata Mafara, Zamfara State. Cronbach’s Alpha reliability formula was used in testing the reliability of the instrument. The result of school administrators recorded 0.75 and 0.77 and the overall reliability index of the instrument was 0.93. For the EIMW teachers, the reliability index yielded 0.74 and 0.64 and the overall reliability index was 0.91. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test null hypotheses 0.05 level of significance. After the analyses, all the null hypotheses were rejected. The study found that EIMW teachers in technical colleges need skills improvement in both literacy and learning skills. Hence, it recommended that the EIMW teachers actively seek out professional development opportunities tailored to enhancing their 21st-century literacy and learning skills.