History teachers’ pedagogical reasoning and the dynamics of classroom implementation in Ghana

Gideon Boadu,Debra Donnelly,Heather Sharp

doi:10.14324/herj.17.2.04

Gideon Boadu, Debra Donnelly + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.14324/herj.17.2.04

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Abstract

The Ghanaian senior high-school history curriculum encourages teachers to guide students to explore, question and construct historical interpretations, rather than accept established historical narratives. This study investigates how those teachers conceive and implement the curriculum intent by exploring their pedagogical reasoning and classroom practices. The project described in this paper draws from a range of investigative instruments including in-depth interviews, classroom observations, post-lesson interviews and teachers’ planning paperwork from 15 public senior high schools in Ghana’s Central Region. This research found that teachers’ pedagogical reasoning was consistent with constructivist educational theory as well as responsive to the history curriculum, but that their stated understandings did not align with classroom practice. The findings indicate limited constructivist strategies in history lessons, as most teachers were didactic in approach and tended to teach history as a grand narrative.

Highlights

Over the last few decades, there has been a growing acceptance that students should be positioned as the developers of their own knowledge and understanding
This paper reports on the following research questions: (1) How do history teachers reason about their pedagogy? (2) Do teacher practices align with constructivist principles? (3) What is the relationship between these teachers’ stated pedagogical reasoning and classroom practices?
All participants recognized the history curriculum as a guide that specifies the knowledge and competencies that students should attain in history and, acknowledged its importance in the selection of topics and instructional planning. (Pseudonyms have been used for participants to protect their identity.) Nelson stated: ‘I plan with the syllabus

Summary

Introduction

Over the last few decades, there has been a growing acceptance that students should be positioned as the developers of their own knowledge and understanding (see, for example, Power et al, 2019; Sharan, 1990). Research suggests that best practice in history teaching involves encouraging students to progress in their search for historical knowledge in order to attain understanding of concepts and acquire useful intellectual and practical dispositions (Wineburg, 2001). To this end, researchers have made repeated calls for history teachers to involve students in activities and processes that allow for active engagement with the discipline (Lee, 2011). This paper explores how secondary history teachers in Ghana reason about their pedagogy and implement their classroom practices, and evaluates

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