ILLUSTRATIONS IN TOTEMISM AND MYTHOLOGY AS PANACEA FOR ENHANCING CULTURAL STUDIES AMONG IGBO SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Totemism is the philosophy in which animals and inanimate objects called totems are accepted as harmless co-habitants of man. Myths are folkloric tales of origins and existence, which are as doubtful as they are credible. In assessing Totemic and Mythological Imagery for cultural studies, the study specifically sought to; (i) measure the extent to which Igbo cultural images can hold students’ attention during cultural studies, and (ii) explore Igbo totemic and mythological themes for traditional synthesis in art. The research was experimental and descriptive survey. The 4-week long vacation experiment comprised 40 Junior Secondary School students of ages 12-14 (treatment, n=20; control, n=20) randomised from 60. The subject foci were; (i) Cultural Studies; Igbo, Social Studies and Agriculture, and (ii) Art; Fine art, Poetry and Drama. Three study instruments were used; (i) Igbo Totemic and Mythological Illustrations Scoring Chart (ITMI-SC), (ii) Igbo Totemic and Mythological Illustrations Mean Rating Table (ITMI-MRT), and (iii) Igbo Totemic and Mythological Illustrations Post-test Impact Assessment Mean Rating Table (ITMIPIA-MRT).  The post-test course tagged; Igbo Totemic and Mythological Illustrations Post-test Impact Assessment Test (ITMI-PIAT) involved the treatment and control groups in a free-topic choice of artistic contents. Findings showed that the treatment group progressed in cultural studies with artistic illustrations and subsequently explored Igbo mythological contents freely in art. During the ITMI-PIAT post test, the treatment group excelled beyond the control group members who were significantly atelic. It is recommended that teachers adopt artistic pedagogies for ethnographical studies while injecting traditional contents in art learning processes.