Junior High School Mathematics Teachers’ Practice of Differentiated Instruction and Associated Challenges in Tano South Distict

Patrick Kyeremeh,Emmanuel Kojo Amoah,Rufai Sabtiwu

doi:10.29333/mathsciteacher/10914

Abstract

Drawing on convergent mixed methods research design, this study examined Junior High School (JHS) mathematics teachers’ practice of differentiated instruction and its associated challenges in Tano South district, in the Ahafo Region of Ghana. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 50 JHS mathematics teachers for the quantitative study with the aid of questionnaire, purposive sampling technique was used to solicit qualitative data for the study using interview guide. Inferential statistics and thematic analysis were used to analysis the quantitative and qualitative data respectively. It was generally observed that, there was no significant differences between special and general education teachers practice of differentiated instruction. Therefore, the study recommends that Ghana Education Service (GES) and stakeholders in education should implement professional development and training programmes for both general and special mathematics teachers on differentiated instruction.

Highlights

Ghana, like many other developing countries has consistently witnessed educational and curriculum reforms since the early 1990s (Chisholm & Leyendecker, 2008)
Among the general mathematics and special mathematics teachers who teach mathematics at the Junior High School (JHS) level, process was rated as the highest element of differentiated instruction sometimes practiced
The findings of this study revealed that JHS mathematics teachers who are general mathematics process, and product differentiation which attracted an average per item rating of 1.41, 1.45, and 1.39 respectively

Summary

Introduction

Like many other developing countries has consistently witnessed educational and curriculum reforms since the early 1990s (Chisholm & Leyendecker, 2008). Inclusive Education policy recognizes the varied learning needs of learners and requires all stakeholders in the education sector to address the diverse needs of different groups of students in the Ghanaian education system under the universal design for learning and within a learner friendly environment for all (MoE, 2015). This policy supports the National Development Agenda and the Education Strategic Plan that seeks an enabling environment for addressing the diverse educational needs of Ghanaians. Scientific research has not provided procedural models for differentiating instruction because of the ambiguity surrounding what DI is and the limited research on how to implement it successfully in classrooms (Gibson, n.d.)

Methods

Results

Conclusion