Influence of Home Ecology and Moral Upbringing on Moral Development of Junior High School Pupils in the Cape Coast Metropolis

There appears to be a notable gap in the literature concerning home ecology and moral upbringing within the Ghanaian context. This study aims to address this gap. Employing a descriptive survey design with a quantitative approach, the study used a simple random sampling technique to select eight Junior High Schools in OLA Circuit in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Purposive sampling was employed to select 25 Religious and Moral Education (RME) teachers and 30 parents. Data collection was facilitated through a questionnaire. The analysis involved descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations) and inferential statistics, thus, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (r), to address the research questions and hypotheses. The study revealed that the home is the foundational environment for nurturing morality and character formation, equipping pupils with practical moral reasoning and executive function skills. Moreover, schools, social media, peer influences, and extracurricular activities, such as clubs, sports, and games, play significant roles in moral development. It was also found that challenges persist in developing pupils morally. These include inadequate parental involvement, ineffective parenting styles, exposure to inappropriate media content, and the presence of unqualified Religious and Moral Education (RME) teachers. The correlation between home ecology and moral development was very high, positive, and statistically significant (r = .905**, p