Theorising School Failure in Nigeria: A Multi-Level Explanatory Framework

This study develops an original multi-level theoretical framework for explaining school failure in Nigeria, integrating macro-structural, institutional, interpersonal, and individual level explanations to provide a comprehensive and empirically grounded account of why schools consistently fail to produce adequate learning outcomes for significant proportions of their students. School failure, defined as consistent failure to meet minimum learning standards across multiple years, is endemic in a substantial proportion of Nigerian public schools. Existing explanations tend to focus on single levels of analysis, either blaming individual teachers or students, or pointing to systemic underfunding, without providing integrated multi-level causal models. This study employs a theory-building research design, combining systematic meta-analysis of 80 Nigerian school quality studies published between 2015 and 2024 with original qualitative fieldwork in 10 chronically failing and 10 improving schools across Sokoto (North West), Enugu (South East), and Oyo (South West) States. Fieldwork includes 120 interviews, 200 hours of observation, and document review. Causal loop diagramming and cross-case matrix analysis are applied. The original Multi-Level School Failure Framework identifies causal mechanisms at four levels: macro (fiscal policy, governance culture), institutional (leadership quality, organisational culture), interpersonal (teacher-student relationships, peer dynamics), and individual (learner identity, efficacy beliefs). Feedback loops between levels generate self-reinforcing failure dynamics. Improving schools show interruption of these loops through leadership, community, and external support combinations. The study contributes the most comprehensive theorisation of school failure in the Nigerian context and recommends a multi-level school turnaround strategy addressing mechanisms simultaneously across all four levels.

Keywords: school failure, multi-level framework, theory building, Nigeria, school improvement.