Responsive Pedagogy and Functional Literacy: Enhancing Numeracy Outcomes for Internally Displaced Children

The study addressed how the use of responsive and functional literacy pedagogy to enhance numeracy outcome for internally displaced children in Benue and Plateau States, Nigeria. Employing quasi experimental designs, the target population for this study consisted of approximately 713 internally displaced children residing in selected IDP camps in Benue and Plateau States, Nigeria. The available sample for the study was 488 pupils (male = 274 and female = 214). To ensure a representative sample, the researchers employed both purposive and stratified random sampling, accounting for variations in gender, and level in primary school (grades 4 and 5). However, all pupils in the 3 schools and 6 schools from Plateau and Benue States were respectively used as intact classes being a characteristic of quasi experimental study where full randomisation was not possible. Numeracy Ability Tests (NAT) with reliability index of 0.84 was deployed in data collection. Results show that there is significant difference in the mean numeracy outcome of internally displaced children taught numeracy using responsive and functional literacy pedagogy and those taught using conventional strategy; F(1,485) = 39.786; p = 0.000 < 0.05]; there is significant difference in the mean numeracy outcome of internally displaced male and female children taught numeracy using responsive and functional literacy pedagogy; F(1,212) = 4.607; p = 0.033 < 0.05]. It was recommended among others that teachers, school administrators, curriculum designers should integrate responsive and functional literacy pedagogy that focus on the functional application of literacy skills in real-world contexts in the curriculum for the displaced children. Education policymakers should provide emergency education curriculum with a clear framework on the use of responsive and functional literacy pedagogy to tailor their approaches to meet the pedagogic needs of the displaced populations