Assessment of the Challenges of Teaching and Learning Clothing and Textiles Education as A Panacea for Sustainable Family Living In Plateau State

The study was to assess the challenges of teaching and learning Clothing and Textiles education as a panacea for sustainable family living in Plateau State, Nigeria. The study was guided by four research questions. A sample of 816 respondents (768 students and 48 teachers) from a population of 1,510 were selected for the study using a simple random technique. Data was collected through a questionnaire and analyzed using Minitab Statistical Package Version 21.1.3. The findings of the study revealed that attitudes of Plateau State secondary school students that constitute problems to the teaching of Clothing and Textiles include students not regularly attending clothing and textiles classes, students’ considering money spent on doing clothing and textiles projects as a waste and students do not feel confident that they will do well in the subject. Inadequate clothing and textiles teachers, the inability of teachers to teach the subject very well, lack of innovative and unresourceful, and lack of good teaching methods by teachers are major challenges for teachers teaching Clothing and Textiles. Instructional materials as a challenge to the teaching and learning of clothing and textiles are lack of good materials needed for learning, lack of funds and failure of teachers to improvise, inability of school authorities to provide materials needed for learning. Curriculum issues as a problem in the teaching and learning of clothing and textiles are the wideness of the syllabus, inappropriate methods in the curriculum, to lack of pedagogical skills among teachers, lack of seminars and workshops. The study concludes that negative attitudes of students, lack of good, qualified teachers and instructional materials as well as curriculum issues are challenges of teaching and learning of clothing and textiles in Plateau State, Nigeria. Therefore, programs on attitude change, high-quality teachers, sufficient instructional time and materials, as well as an appropriate methodology should be designed and implemented for effective teaching of the subject by the school authorities, NGOs, and governments.