Abstract

The study sought to examine the perceived utilization of Social Studies education for social engineering among secondary school students in Ondo State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population comprises all Secondary school students in Ondo West Local Government, Ondo State. A random sampling technique was used to select 10 secondary schools in Ondo West in which ten (10) students were chosen from each school to make a total of 100 as a sample for the study. Two (2) research questions were raised and answered in this study. The instrument's reliability was determined using Cronbach Alpha and data collected was analyzed using simple percentage, mean and standard deviation statistical tools. The research findings revealed that Education has been universally agreed as a sine-qua-non to national value re-orientation and the place of social studies education in accomplishing this task has not been doubted. It has been seen as a value-laden subject which is capable of influencing desirable values and attitudes among the young and upcoming generations. To make the subject more effective in doing this, Social Studies specialists should be made to handle the subject at all levels of education. More so, the latest approaches or methods to teaching and developing desirable societal values and evaluating desirable behaviours in learners should be applied in Social Studies classes. It is therefore recommended that, for the rich objectives of social studies to be achieved, henceforth, social studies specialists should be employed to teach the subject. Social Studies teachers should be aware of the fact that their subject is more affective than cognitive; it is a moral-oriented subject hence, value-laden methods like value clarification, value analysis, value identification, etc. and other learner-centred methods like problem-solving method, inquiry method, discussion method, to mention but few should be applied in Social Studies classes.