Conflict Management and Citizenship Education Notes
Course Development Team
- Dr. Adebayo T. Salami – Subject Expert
- Prof. A.J. Abosede – Course Reviewer
- Prof. A. Dare Samson – Language Editor
- Prof. Oyesoji Aremu – ODL Expert
- Mr. A.O. Ogundein – Instructional Designer
Vice Chancellor’s Message
- Welcome to Olabisi Onabanjo University Open and Distance Learning Centre.
- Goal: Massive and Democratisation of higher education via Open and Distance Learning.
- ODL one of the areas of focus since duty assumption.
- ODL Centre establishment approved in July 2016.
- ODL: tertiary eduction for all age, gender, location, space and other limiting factors.
- OOU via ODL Centre: quality, technology driven, flexible, self-directed and cost effective tertiary education.
- Course material: vital information relevant to our programme and schedules; make judicious use of it.
Course Study Guide
- Conflict Management and Citizenship Education: 2-Unit course for students acquiring a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.
- Course divided into 11 study sessions: introduces students to concepts, provides justification for its study in fragile political systems like Nigeria.
- Recommended Study Time: 3 hours in studying the content of each study Unit.
- What you will Learn: conflict management and citizenship education for skills and values necessary for peaceful co-existence societies/political systems.
- Course Aim: introduce students to the principal concepts in the knowledge and understanding of conflict management and citizenship education.
- Course Objectives: Each session has specific objectives; revise objectives of each session to ensure requirements are met.
- Understand conflict management and citizenship education as a subject matter of study.
- Know the significance/imperative of the study of conflict management and citizenship education, especially in plural political systems.
- Know the basic features, elements and defining characteristics of the Nigerian social/ political system.
- Understand conflict and conflict management within the context of the Nigerian political experience.
- Understand citizenship education in Nigeria.
- Know the models of conflict management and their distinguishing features and elements.
- Know the relationships between and among conflicts for the purpose of intensity of study.
- Know how to study and write reports on conflicts.
- Appreciate citizens’ responsibilities to the state, especially in countries of their origins.
- Know the contemporary issues and problems in the study of conflict management and citizenship education.
- Understand and know the techniques, elements and requirements for conflict management and their applications.
- Working through this Course: read, understand and practise module contents; course covers ~15 weeks, devoted attention required; do Tutor-Marked Assignments, submit to tutors via LMS.
- Course Materials:
- Course Guide
- Printed Lecture materials
- Text Books
- Interactive DVD
- Electronic Lecture materials via LMS
- Tutor Marked Assignments
- Assessment: tutor-marked assignments (40%) and written examination (60%); facts, information and problem solving gathered during the course submissions will account for 40% of total score; assignments uploaded to GNS 202 page on LMS.
- Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA): need to submit all TMAs; best 10 will be counted; contact tutor before deadline for possibility of extension, unless extraordinary cases.
- Final Examination and Grading: final examination for GNS 202 maximum 2 hours, value of 60% of the total course grade; examination will consist of questions which reflect the Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs), In-text Questions (ITQs) and tutor-marked assignments; all areas of the course will be examined; POP and CBT mode.
- Tutors and Tutorials: face-to-face tutorial provided; tutor marks/comments on assignments, keeps watch on progress, provides assistance; TMAs submitted via the same means of submission used to receive assignment; Contact your tutor if:
- You do not understand any part of the study units or the assigned readings.
- You have difficulty with the self-test or exercise.
- You have questions on or problems with an assignment, with your tutor’s comments on an assignment or with the grading of an assignment.
- Attend tutorials.
Study Session 1: Understanding Conflict Management and Citizenship Education
- Introduction: Introducing skills in technical expression; determination of approach assessment and evaluation of potentials.
- Option to start lecture disaggregating core concepts for holistic explanation (conflict management and citizenship education).
- Concepts disaggregated: 1) conflict, 2) management, 3) conflict management, 4) citizenship, 5) education, 6) citizenship education.
- Learning Outcomes:
- (a) Intimate students by independent explanation and analysis of dominant concepts and interrogation of concept relationships.
- (b) Use relationship between concepts to develop understanding framework subject especially in variegated systems.
- (c) Formulated idea used to extend content/methods possibility for subject matter demarcation from other subject matters.
- (d) Bases and justifications for subject matter study.
1.1 Understanding Conflict Management and Citizenship Education
- Answer to providing a subject matter definition = clarity and distinction.
- Definition: carefully formulated idea about subject matter, distinguishing it from other subject matters; an academic exercise ensuring clarity and distinction.
- Definition = perspective in study (social sciences/humanities) = possibility of many definitions as authors; intellectual pluralism (authors define diffirently in diverse perspectives).
- Reportive definitions: definitions containing report elements; expressed as a report; describes an event (phenomenon of study).
- Stipulative definitions: definitions with prescriptive values for description completion; also called prescriptive definitions.
1.1.1 Explanations and Analyses of Conflict Management and Citizenship Education
- Subject matter understanding exists in constitutive concepts independent exploration/examination.
1.1.2 What is Conflict?
- Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary definitions: Fight, Battle, War, Competitive/opposing action of incompatibles; antagonistic state/action (divergent ideas, interests, persons), contention in warfare/antagonism/irreconcilability.
- Broad ideas & descriptions can be taken for explaining what the course of study represents.
- Conflicts: expressions of fights, battles, wars; physical and mental expressions
- Underlying conflict elements: competition, antagonism, opposing actions that can lead to fights, battles and wars; competition and disagreement between interests and persons.
- Advantages: Detailed, comprehensive, provides useful information about conflict underlying elements.
- Disadvantage: confusion of knowledge/understanding between physical and mental conflicts expressions.
1.1.3 What is Management?
- Yalokwu (2006:31) - process of achieving organizational goals four major functions: planning, organizing, leading, controlling.
- Definition stress: management includes goals achievement; attainable goals critical to management
- Goal attainment contingent upon performance major functions: planning, organizing, leading, controlling.
1.1.4 What is Conflict Management?
- Totality of efforts/initiatives/actions/procedures/processes/plans at domestic and international levels (governmental and non-governmental) for ensuring struggles/disagreements/conflicts do not lead to law and order breakdown.
- Responsibility for conflict management deliberate invention/formulation/establishment/entrenchment of diverse and multi-talented mechanisms/frameworks targeted at frustrating its occurrence from leading to breakdown of law and order.
- Conflict management goal: Competitions between real-and-potential terms do not lead to the breakdown of law and order.
- Conflict management theory and practice: body of knowledge subject matter in literature; daily experiences dictate vs conflict prevention.
- Complete breakdown of law and order: the existence of conflict manifesting as ‘fight’, ‘battle’ and ‘war’ (Webster’s Dictionary).
1.1.5 What is Citizenship Education?
- Knowing what citizenship/education concepts mean is important to the citizenship education understanding formulation/development.
- Citizenship: legal concept (modern terminology) from legal theories/analyses.
- Citizen Discussions exist in subject matter history.
- Discourse should be placed in 1999 Constitution (as amended).
- 1960 Independence Constitution, the 1963 First Republican Constitution, the 1979 Second Republican Constitution and the 1989 Constitution.
- Citizenship encompasses matters/procedures of law - how to acquire status - civic/political obligations and privileges relating between nation/state; national question symbolises management needs in fragile systems like Nigeria (citizenship education needs).
- What is Education?
- Webster’s Dictionary definition: the field of study dealing mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools requires caution /not generally ‘field of study’ = field of knowledge (Nigeria context).
- Webster’s definition caution/inapplicability exists as technical/professional understanding.
- Citizenship education ≠ 'methods of teaching and learning in schools'.
- Alternative definition: the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process applicable Citizenship education.
- Webster’s definition of education emphasis (knowledge resulting from education process) helps justify citizenship matters study especially from politics perspective = simplifies contentious citizenship problems/issues fragile political systems.
- Citizenship education: type of education for citizens to understand/appreciate country’s challenges as historically propelled/development-influenced (public support by policies); orients citizens to culture: citizen understands and takes responsibility in social progress matters.
- Includes instructions on functions and public enlightenment particularly during emergencies.
Study Session 2: Significance/Imperative of the Study of Conflict Management and Citizenship Education
- Significance/importance of discipline: contribution towards knowledge advancement.
- Knowledge advancement critical to existence (ontologically given). Society debates knowledge types/advancement generating counter debates/innovative ideas.
- Security/existence debates on knowledge generation and on society’s peace/progress.
- Knowledge depends on disciplines sophistication from regular contents/methods refinement, clear demarcations clarification and discipline contribution to solve our social problems.
- Lecture focus: Relevance and benefits emanating from course relevance, advantages, significance etc words = appreciation of knowledge, understanding and study).
- Relevance, benefits, justifications, advantages, significance etc providing basis/establishment and imperative/necessity for course study and inclusion as general degree requirement (Olabisi Onabanjo University).
2.1: Significance/Imperative of the Study of Conflict Management and Citizenship Education
- Relevance revolves around important points requiring articulation.
- Systematic appreciation/understanding made through epistemology of reasoning/amplification/justification for course formulation investing in contents/methods.
2.1.1 Appreciation of Extremely Fragile Political Systems
- Knowledge/understanding course critical to appreciate fragile systems/ensure stability.
- Conflicts inevitable to political life/sophistication level determinant.
- Conflicts: fundamental disagreements respect public policies /institutionalisation/governance structures for state goals achievement.
Conflicts management brings fore fundamentals management techniques/mechanisms (citizenship education).
2.1.2 Opportunity for Researching into the Nature and Character of Conflicts
- Course opportunity nature/character/forms research and differences/similarities across political systems world helpful for generalisations.
- Supports Research questions – What? How? Why questions validating hypotheses important advance conflict relationships w progress/dev /societies (threatened statehood).
- Course provides intellectual framework can deploy t study violence/battles/wars characterising domestic and relations between states.
- Domestic and international Politician/policymakers assist comprehension matters impacts a ‘global village‘.
- Tensions envelope connections between cultures/individuals publicly/privately for common goals (epistemological platform).
2.1.4 Realisation and Understanding of the Progress and Development of a Nation
- Progress/dev are (understood to be) tied to state relationship w groups/individuals.
- Most Third World states - colonially founded hence under scrutiny so statehood exists legally while citizens are divided ethnicity Parochial.
State problems disrupt social life then conflicts, require government/ relations attention.
- Course opportunity for important students training towards national progress/development (linked between studentship and citizenship within).
- Responsibly trained student benefits citizen now, and training produces society members.
- Trained students willingly seek in community activities (discharge responsibilities/duties critical stability).