Ghanaian Schools Research Articles

Analysis of the Problematic Nature of Appointment of Public Senior High School (SHS) Head Teachers and the Governance of Schools in Ghana

This article examines the problematic nature associated with the appointment of head teachers in Ghanaian senior high schools (SHS) and how this is impacting the governance of schools. The Ghana Education Service (GES) is supposed to make appointments and promotions of head teachers, however there are external bodies that influence the appointment process. With data gathered from deputy head teachers, education officers, and senior teachers from selected schools, the study examined the problematic nature of head teacher appointment and the nature of school governance. The results showed that although the GES is making efforts to promote good governance through the school leadership, there are still some controversies and challenges that affect the effectiveness of their work. To address this, the study concludes that, the GES must streamline its appointments and promotion guidelines so as to eliminate any external pressures and influences to promote improvement and ensure continuity.

Geography education in Ghanaian senior high schools: a qualitative study of the gender differences in students’ geographical knowledge and interests

Although, a number of studies exists regarding students’ experiences of Geography as a school subject, the gender differences in students’ geographical knowledge and interests are rarely recognised. Drawing from the cognitive interest theory, and using a qualitative phenomenological design, this study explored the gender differences in the geographical knowledge and interests of 48 Ghanaian senior high school students. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 males and 24 females, sampled from two public schools in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Asante Region. Data obtained were analysed thematically, with specific normative and subjective views of participants presented as direct quotations. Both gender demonstrated appreciable level of knowledge regarding the subject matter of Geography and its relevance to daily life experiences. Gender differences were, however, observed in students’ understanding of the subject matter of Geography and conceptions of the importance of Geography. Congruent to the cognitive interest theoretical perspective, the findings suggest that there is a considerable link between geographical knowledge and geographical interests of both gender. The study findings have the potential of informing policy and curricula changes by relevant stakeholders to help bridge the gender imbalances in school Geography enrolments and also to secure the success of Geography.

Assessing Factors Influencing Pre-Service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) Mathematics in Ghanaian Basic Schools

Assessing Factors Influencing Pre-Service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) Mathematics in Ghanaian Basic Schools

Assessment of availability, awareness and perception of stakeholders regarding preschool vision screening in Kumasi, Ghana: An exploratory study.

Regardless of the importance of preschool vision screening (PSVS), there is limited data on the current state of these programs in Africa (particularly Ghana). This study sought to investigate the level of awareness and perception of stakeholders regarding PSVS, its availability and related policies/programmes in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. This descriptive cross-sectional study included 100 systematically sampled preschools in the metropolis (using probability proportional-to-size method); 72 private schools and 28 public schools. Convenience sampling was used to recruit stakeholders of preschools (teachers, head teachers, proprietors, administrators, directors, and educationists), and were interviewed using a well-structured questionnaire. Questionnaires were administered to all eligible respondents who were present at the time of data collection. A total of 344 respondents participated in the study; 123 (35.8%) males and 221 (64.2%) females. The overall mean age of respondents was 37.63 ±12.20 years (18-71 years). Of the respondents, 215 (62.5%), 94 (27.3%), and 35 (10.2%) were enrolled from private schools, public schools, and Metropolitan Education Directorate, respectively. 73.8% of respondents reported the absence of routine PSVS in schools whereas 90.1% reported no written policies for PSVS in schools. Only 63.6% of respondents were aware of PSVS whereas more than half (59.6%) of all respondents perceived PSVS to be very important for preschoolers. Private school ownership was significantly associated with availability of PSVS whereas age, teachers, private school ownership, and preschool experience > 10 years were significantly associated with awareness of PSVS (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant association between sociodemographic factors and perception of PSVS. PSVS is largely unavailable in most Ghanaian schools. Majority of stakeholders were aware of PSVS and agreed to its implementation and incorporation into schools' health programmes. There is the need to implement a national programme/policy on preschool vision screening in Ghana.

Transforming the Future of Music and Dance Education: Data-Driven Action Priorities for Ghanaian Senior High Schools

ABSTRACT This article explores the future of music and dance education in Ghanaian senior high schools as envisioned by administrators, teachers, and students. Participants illuminate issues requiring action, including (1) curriculum content, (2) access, (3) resources, and (4) infrastructure. The study employed a qualitative multiple case study approach incorporating post-colonial theory, interdisciplinary African arts theory, and educational leadership and organizational behavior theory. The study contributes to the literature on dance education in Ghanaian, post-colonial, and global contexts.

Improving students’ performance in Microsoft excel 2007 by using multimedia tutorials with quizzes

The use of demonstration during practical lessons for learners to observe without practice is very common in most Ghanaian schools. This does not enhance understanding. Demonstration without hands-on practical does not enhance learners’ understanding of Microsoft Excel. The main purpose of this study is to help students in level 200 in Bagabaga College of Education use Microsoft Excel 2007 to do calculations as prescribed in the syllabus. The Microsoft Excel 2007 is an improvedversion of the 2003 version with the ribbon feature. This makes it suitable for adoption to teach what the syllabus requires. Sixty (60) students out of the total population of 555 students were taken as sample to carry out the investigation in the form of experiment against the rest of the population. Instruments used are: test and observation. These were used at the pre-intervention and post-intervention stages of the research. Multimedia tutorials were developed as an intervention to help improve the students’ performance. A post-intervention information revealed that students’ performance improved significantly. Camtasia Studio 7 was used in developing the tutorial with natural Ghanaian narrations by the tutor. The findings of the researchrevealed practical lessons that are taught by mere demonstrations without students’ practice do not enhance students’ understanding of the subject-matter. Demonstration coupled with students practical are vital to student understanding ofclassroom lessons.

Effect of a theory-based hand hygiene educational intervention for enhancing behavioural outcomes in Ghanaian schools: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

The study sought to determine whether a hand hygiene educational intervention underpinned by educational and psychosocial theories is effective in enhancing behavioural intention and proper handwashing practices among school children. The study was a cluster-randomised controlled trial, with schools constituting the clusters. At baseline, 717 pupils organised in four clusters were recruited. Techniques for data collection included a structured observation. The Student's t test was used for data analysis. At follow-up, a statistically significant difference was observed between the study arms with regard to intention to wash hands with soap [after toilet use (p = 0.032, d = 0.5); before meals (p = 0.020, d = 0.2)]. Similarly, a statistically significant difference was identified between the study arms with regard to the practice of handwashing with soap (HWWS) [after toilet use (p = 0.005); before meals (p = 0.012)]. A theory-driven hand hygiene educational intervention involving school children can have a medium to a very large effect size, with respect to the practice of HWWS, and a low to a medium effect size with respect to behavioural intention.

Policy Analysis on ICT in Education: A Case of Public High Schools in New Juaben Municipal of Ghana

ICT has brought some degree of changes in every bit of our daily life from education, health, sports etc. Educators and governments have also devoted huge resources to the provision of technology in the learning environment. Despite the increase in ICT tools in Ghanaian Senior High schools, most of the schools seem to be teaching ICT literacy instead of complete integration of the ICT tools in the curriculum to enhance the teaching and learning process. This study assessed whether ICT policy has accomplished its aim, thus enhancing the teaching and learning process in all the five schools in the New Juaben District of the Eastern Region. A purposive sampling method was used in the selection of the participants. The selected participants consist of administrators and teachers which was taken from all the five senior high schools for the interview. The main findings of the study were that most of the teachers lack training and knowledge about computers and have no previous experience in the use of computers. Also, inadequate ICT infrastructure in the schools was the other major factors inhibiting the integration of ICT into the learning and teaching process. Furthermore, it was found that there were schools which after receiving technical equipment failed to use equipment properly due to negligence and irresponsibility. Moreover, the study revealed that lack of training and technical knowledge made it difficult for teachers to make use of the given equipment. Finally, it was revealed through the study that majority of the participants considered the use of the ICTs as the preferred of the younger generation and that ICT should be taught as a subject on its own and not integrated into all the other subjects.It is recommended that ICT infrastructures should be provided to the Senior High Schools for effective teaching and learning process since it is the basic stage of equipping the youth with the necessary skills and knowledge for national development. Teachers should be given the necessary training in ICT usage so that they become familiar with the modern pedagogy of imparting knowledge and skills, and possibly become part of the curriculum structure for their professional training. Governments ought to move forward the training of principals, teachers and computer staff on the utilize of computers and other ICT tools through seminars, workshops and in-service training. Keywords: ICT in Education, Policy Implementation, High School, New Juaben. DOI : 10.7176/PPAR/9-7-05 Publication date :July 31 st 2019

Homophonous Realization of Contrastive English Lexical Items: The Case of the English Spoken in Some Ghanaian Schools

Homophonous Realization of Contrastive English Lexical Items: The Case of the English Spoken in Some Ghanaian Schools

Exploring instructional leadership practices of leaders in Ghanaian basic schools

ABSTRACT In the past decade learning outcomes in public basic schools in Ghana have fallen far below the targets of the Ministry of Education as less than a third of primary school children reach proficiency in English or in Mathematics. In the wake of this low performance, there has been a call for the professionalization and strengthening of instructional leadership in Ghanaian basic schools to facilitate effective teaching and learning. Employing qualitative research strategy through interviews, this study sought to investigate instructional leadership practices of 14 school leaders in the basic schools of one educational district of Ghana. The study found limited shared instructional leadership aimed at improving instruction. It seems instructional leadership was related to managerially focused idiosyncratic teaching and learning practices underpinned by behaviourism. Head Teachers had entrenched a leadership culture driven by central policies and expectations.

A Multi-Case Study of Instructional Decision-Making Processes of Teachers in Kindergarten Classrooms in the Cape Coast Metropolis

The study contributes to the on-going debate regarding the significance of early childhood teachers’ instructional decision-making that take into consideration their theoretical knowledge (explicit theories) and practical experiences (implicit theories) and how they impact their instructional decision-making processes in diverse socio-cultural contexts of children. To address this gap in the literature, a qualitative multi-case study into the perceptions and classroom practices of four kindergarten teachers in two Ghanaian schools, Tata and Kariba, was carried out over a six-month period. One research question that sought to explore factors and beliefs influencing teachers’ instructional decision-making in a kindergarten classroom guided the study. Data sources used were semi-structured individual interviews and pair-based interviews and fieldnotes of classroom observations. Both within and across case interpretative analysis, as outlined. The study’s findings revealed that these teachers’ explicit theories and implicit theories of teaching influenced their instructional decision-making processes in kinder garten classrooms.

Inclusive Schools’ Teachers’ Perspectives about the Academic Achievement of the Type of Emotional and Behavioural Difficulty

Teachers in inclusive schools in Ghana are expected to have positive perception and believe in the Special Educational Needs children that they can achieve academically. This study was conducted in inclusive schools where teachers teach various children with special educational needs who have learning difficulties. The problem was that most teachers believe that children with emotional and behaviour difficulties cannot achieve academically. In all, there were 243 teachers and three educational directors involved in the study. The study revealed that majority of the teachers believe that children with emotional and behaviour difficulties cannot achieve academically. On the contrary, the Directors of Education who were involved in the study revealed that if children with emotional and behaviour difficulties are handled well, they can perform better, but the problem is about how to identify the needs of these children. The research confirmed that, the Directors of Education believe the children with emotional and behaviour difficulties can be high academic achievers provided there is a positive change in behaviour. The findings of this study have important implications for policy and practice for growth and performance of children with emotional and behaviour difficulties in Ghanaian schools.

Language representation in the Ghanaian lower primary classroom and its implications: the case of selected schools in the Central and Western Regions of Ghana

ABSTRACTGhana’s language-in-education policy, which mandates the use of L1 as medium of instruction at the lower primary classroom, is not strictly adhered to in majority of Ghanaian classrooms. One factor that has militated against the smooth implementation of the policy is the multilingual nature of Ghana and its classrooms. This sociolinguistic survey, therefore, aims at examining the language representation and practices in selected 104 lower primary schools in Southern Ghana. The study found that multilingual classrooms in urban schools range from mild (low) to severe (high). The study also found relatively fewer cases of multilingualism in the classrooms of rural schools; rather, most of them are linguistically homogenous. One intriguing finding of the study is that though there are multilingual classrooms, L1 was used as medium of instruction, especially when teachers understood the L1 of the community. It was also observed that there was mismatch between the L1 of some teachers and the L1 of the learners. This study is crucial because it begins the mapping of language representation in Ghanaian schools at the district level, especially in the lower primary classroom.

Problem Learners in Selected Elementary Schools in Ghana: Toward Understanding, Prevention and Action

Problem learners in Ghanaian schools are often marginalized and/or ignored during the teaching and learning processes in the classroom. The study was carried out using the convergent parallel mixed method design with questionnaire, focus group discussion, and one-on-one interviews as the data collection instruments. The purposive, convenient, and stratified random sampling techniques were used in selecting a total sample size of 112 participants consisting of identified problem learners, teachers, parents, heads of institutions, and experts in childhood learning and development. The quantitative data set were analyzed using the descriptive statistics while the qualitative data set were analyzed using the data analysis spiral. The findings revealed that the main causes of the learning and retention challenges among problem learners are more of environmental factors than the perceived hereditary and spiritual factors. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education should organize sensitization education workshops and seminars for teachers, heads of institutions, and the student body in the elementary schools in Ghana aimed at fostering an understanding of the conditions of problem learners. This would help eradicate the stigmatization against problem learners while equipping the teachers with the pragmatic strategies to improve their learning outcomes.

SUPPORT PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS RECEIVE IN THE TEACHING OF MUSIC IN OFFINSO MUNICIPALITY, GHANA

The study investigates the support teachers receive in teaching music in the Offinso Municipality. Fifty (50) primary school teachers were purposively selected for the study while pupils were observed. The major research instruments for data collection were interview and questionnaire. It was revealed that music helps young children synthesize experiences, transition into new activities, calm down during naptime, share cultural traditions, and build self-esteem and a sense of community. As part of teaching and learning materials for teaching music in the primary schools, it was revealed that at the primary level there are a lot of teachers who are not professionally trained. What it implies is that, a lot of teachers who are at this level do not have enough training in the content and the methodology on how to handle children at the primary level. It was indicated that primary school teachers in Ghanaian primary schools do not get any form of support or motivation since they were posted to their various schools and this confirms the responses from the interviewees during the interview. It was suggested that, music INSET should be organised to equip them handle the subject effectively. It was also recommended that the authorities make provision for appropriate teaching and learning materials to enhance effective teaching and learning of the subject. Primary school teachers are reminded to learn to improvise teaching and learning materials from the environment for their lessons. Article visualizations:

Comparative Analysis of School Life Expectancy in Two Randomly Selected Basic Schools in Ghana: Using Life Table Functions and Survival Analysis

This study applies life table functions and survival analysis to determine school life expectancy in Ghanaian private and public Basic Schools from grade 1 to grade 9 (JHS 3). The Kaplan Meier statistics such as Log Rank (Mantel-Cox), Breslow (Generalized Wilcoxon), and Tarone-Ware tests consistently showed a statistically significant difference between the male and female school dropout rate for private school pupils but showed statistically insignificant difference between male and female pupils’ dropout rate in public school pupils. The school life expectancy of grade 1 pupil in private and public schools were respectively found to be approximately 7 years for female and 8years for male; clearly showing that a grade one pupil in a private or public school who is a female has lower school life expectancy than the male counterparts. The survival curves for both private and public school cohorts showed that male pupils generally performed better than female counterparts. The survival curves and life table methods all established that peak dropout among male and female pupils generally occurred between grades 6 and 8 inclusive. It was also evident that average school life expectancy decreases with increasing age (i. e. with increasing grade levels). The study recommended further research to explore the effect of adolescent stage on the girl child education.

Growing Acts of Indiscipline in Ghanaian Schools: Perception of Students and Teachers at Abuakwa South Municipality

Indiscipline in schools has attracted the attention of many people and has eventually become the focus of discussions on many platforms. The purpose of the study was to find out the perceptions of teachers and students at the Abuakwa South Municipality of Ghana on student indiscipline behaviours. The study employed the descriptive survey and the approach was concurrent mixed method, involving both quantitative and qualitative paradigms. Purposive and simple random sampling methods were used to obtain a sample size of five hundred and thirty (530) respondents. The main instruments used for the study were questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide. Data was analysed using inferential statistics and content analysis. Findings from the study revealed that; there was no perceptual difference between students and teachers views on acts that constitute disciplinary behaviours. Additional, there were differences in the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the influences of peer pressure on students’ disciplinary behaviours. It was recommended among others that peer counselling sessions should be organized periodically among students for them to be aware of acceptable behaviours in the school system and how they can maintain desirable behaviours.

Structural Equation Modeling of Cognitive Determinants of Technology Integration Literacy in Ghanaian Higher Education

Technological innovations are altering the lives of the poor, rich, nation‘s economics, and education globally. Hence, Ghana‘s commitment to formulate the ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Policy in 2003 to achieve the transformative vision of competing favorably in the knowledge economy in addition to the introduction of ICT- related subjects in the Ghanaian schools to develop the human resources for indigenous knowledge development is laudable. However, instructional technologists feared that the Ghanaian ICT curriculum from basic to tertiary level might be too generic and lacking curriculum-specific integration literacy, thereby likely to widen the digital divide. To support Ghana‘s vision for ICT integration into higher education lessons, the current study sought to predict university graduates‘ integration literacy from cognitive constructs using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. The measurements and structural model fit indices were tested with SmartPLS Version 3. The results showed that students‘‘goal-setting and need for achievement significantly predicted over 15% (R2 = .155) of ICT integrate skills. However, self-efficacy was not an important predictor (t = 1.74, p &gt; .05) for students ICT integration literacy in the Ghanaian setting. We concluded that whilst graduates‘goal-setting and need for achievement traits motivate them to acquire technology skills in the Ghanaian public universities, certainly, 85% of latent variables such as pedagogy, lecturers‘ computer integration competencies, and access remain unaccounted for per our structural model. The study recommends that career counsellors could design cognitive interventions to improve students‘ self-efficacy traits and educational administrators should encourage formative assessment by ICT instructors in their schools to enhance skills developments.

Lin’s creative pedagogy framework as a strategy for fostering creative learning in Ghanaian schools

Educating students who have higher order thinking skills and making sure they develop conceptual understanding of the various concepts learnt in school makes it imperative for educators, to help students develop creative learning strategies. It is for this reason, among others, that the concept of creative learning has been identified as the way to mould the 21st-century learner, and compelling evidence can be adduced from the Finnish and Singaporean models of creative learning environment. Apart from these models from these two countries, extant literature has proved that children can live more independently when they are allowed to use their creative abilities and when this is enhanced in the school setting. We, in this light, gleaned and reviewed relevant literature pertaining to fostering creative learning and its concomitant challenges. In the end, we positioned Lin’s creative pedagogy as a framework that is instrumental in fostering creative learning in Ghanaian classrooms and that in spite of the challenges that may arise from implementing this framework, there are inherent strategies that are helpful in making learners creative.

Improving spatial prediction of Schistosoma haematobium prevalence in southern Ghana through new remote sensors and local water access profiles.

BackgroundSchistosomiasis is a water-related neglected tropical disease. In many endemic low- and middle-income countries, insufficient surveillance and reporting lead to poor characterization of the demographic and geographic distribution of schistosomiasis cases. Hence, modeling is relied upon to predict areas of high transmission and to inform control strategies. We hypothesized that utilizing remotely sensed (RS) environmental data in combination with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) variables could improve on the current predictive modeling approaches.MethodologySchistosoma haematobium prevalence data, collected from 73 rural Ghanaian schools, were used in a random forest model to investigate the predictive capacity of 15 environmental variables derived from RS data (Landsat 8, Sentinel-2, and Global Digital Elevation Model) with fine spatial resolution (10–30 m). Five methods of variable extraction were tested to determine the spatial linkage between school-based prevalence and the environmental conditions of potential transmission sites, including applying the models to known human water contact locations. Lastly, measures of local water access and groundwater quality were incorporated into RS-based models to assess the relative importance of environmental and WASH variables.Principal findingsPredictive models based on environmental characterization of specific locations where people contact surface water bodies offered some improvement as compared to the traditional approach based on environmental characterization of locations where prevalence is measured. A water index (MNDWI) and topographic variables (elevation and slope) were important environmental risk factors, while overall, groundwater iron concentration predominated in the combined model that included WASH variables.Conclusions/SignificanceThe study helps to understand localized drivers of schistosomiasis transmission. Specifically, unsatisfactory water quality in boreholes perpetuates reliance on surface water bodies, indirectly increasing schistosomiasis risk and resulting in rapid reinfection (up to 40% prevalence six months following preventive chemotherapy). Considering WASH-related risk factors in schistosomiasis prediction can help shift the focus of control strategies from treating symptoms to reducing exposure.