Enacting Relevant Basic Education to Bridge the Rural-Urban Inequality in Ghana. The Prospects and Approaches for Investigating Rural Educational Realities

Abstract

This conceptual and literature reviews study tracks the nexus of rural geo-cultural context, community participation, relevant pedagogy, and educational outcomes. The study traverse and synthesis existing theories/ concepts and methods to rural educational research. To identify the current gaps in knowledge and the methodological prospects in studying rural educational context. Â This is to lay the basis for a future detailed qualitative study into the cultural and lived educational realities of rural communities in Ghana. To inform innovative strategies on how the state, local communities and schools can better collaborate to enact an excellent Basic Education to bridge the rural-urban educational and socio-economic inequalities in Ghana. This paper argues that the methodological approaches to rural educational research should be focused on the concepts of culture, place and students' lifeworlds. And the methods should be underpinned by qualitative strategies in tune with the Ghanaian oral traditional context. Â Ethnographic participant observation approaches which socialise researchers, researched schools and their host communities to co-create critical knowledge offer better prospects for rural education research the seek to reconstruct equitable, fair and quality education for all. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijhss.11.1.5