DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS IN BRIEF

The Department of educational Foundations was coined out of the Department of Education, which was one of the two departments in the Faculty of Education and Extension Services. The Department of Education admitted its first students in 1977. By 1991, three (3) units were created from this Department. And since then they have been operating as independent units until 2010 when they were formally upgraded to Departments of their own.

Following the upgrading of the three units into full fledge Departments: the Educational Foundations Unit in 2010 became the Department of Educational Foundations. The Department currently has twenty seven (27) academic staff of different cadres from Graduate Assistants to Professors. The Department is (in line with the rest of the university) operating a two semester system. Final examinations are held at the end of each semester.

The four degree programme introduced in 1984 gave rise to two sets of students:

1. Those with required ‘O’ levels and UME (now UTME) qualification are admitted into the four (4) year programme, while
2. Those with NCE/A-Level qualification came into the Department for three (3) year degree programme leading to B.A.Ed in different Art subjects.

The maximum periods of completion are as follows:

1. 4-year degree programme has a maximum period of 6 years.
2. Direct entry students have a maximum period of 5 years.

The students offer Education courses in the Department, while major and minor teaching subjects are taken from various discipline/ departments. The former Department of Education started to offer M. Ed programs in 1985. It started with M. Ed in Educational psychology and Educational Administration and Planning. In 1987, the department mounted a Ph. D programme in Educational Psychology. 1988 and 1989 saw the introduction of M. Ed in Sociology of Education and Guidance and Counseling respectively. Postgraduate Diploma in Education was introduced in 1997. In 2004/2005 academic session, M. Phil programmes in Educational psychology, Sociology of Education, Educational Administration and Planning, Guidance and counselling and Philosophy of Education came into existence. Presently, all these programmes are offered in the Department. At present there are about one hundred seventy five (175) postgraduate students running various courses at the Masters, M. Phil, Ph. D and Postgraduate Diploma levels in the Department.