School-Based Teacher Motor Interventions for Pupils with Cerebral Palsy in Ghana

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a study that utilized three focus groups in unearthing school-based teacher motor skill interventions for pupils with cerebral palsy and related challenges in Ghana. Overall, 23 teachers (12 males; 11 females) selected through maximum variation sampling constituted the different focus groups. Whereas teachers implemented a number of motor skill activities for pupils with cerebral palsy on a daily basis, majority emphasized fine motor skill activities, utilized task-specific motor training strategies and applied explicit motor skill instructions. Teachers generally did not utilize the concept of stages of motor learning in their respective motor skill interventions. Furthermore, some teachers found implementing developmentally appropriate motor skill interventions challenging. It is recommended that teachers endeavour to incorporate more gross motor skill activities as they have the potential to boost fine motor skills. Again, teachers should incorporate implicit motor skill instructions in teaching motor skill activities to pupils with cerebral palsy as these pupils may have limited capacity for explicit motor skill instructions.