Schools In Ghana Research Articles

Predictors of Learning Disabilities Among Visual Arts Students at The Senior High School in Ghana

Learning disabilities do not occur in isolation but as a result of certain environmental factors such as school, class, and home with various underlining conditions which immensely present barriers to students learning. The study, therefore, employed a triangulation mixed research approach with a questionnaire, observation, and focus group discussion aimed at identifying learning disabilities and their various causal factors at the SHS, typically among students who seems to be a repository of BECE under-performance at the visual arts department. Data was sourced from 119 visual arts students (85 males; 34 females), 59 “BECE under-performance” (33 males; 26 females), 5 visual arts practical lessons, and 8 focus group members (4 males; 4 females). The findings revealed that students with underperforming BECE grades were admitted to pursue visual arts programme at the SHS. This was due to varied environmental deprivations in school, classroom, and at home that presented an unconducive learning environment for these students. It was therefore recommended that strategic educational interventions should be adopted to help avert the situation.

Role of Administrators in Promoting Positive School Environment For Tutors and Student Well-Being: A Case Study of Some Schools in Ghana

Creating a positive school environment that promotes the well-being of students is an essential aspect of education. Teachers and administrators are instrumental in shaping this environment. The study investigates the role of administrators in fostering a positive school environment and supporting teachers and students at schools in Ghana's Volta Region. The study was underpinned by the theory of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) theory helps teachers and administrators understand their role in fostering a positive school climate and student well-being. Social and emotional skills are crucial to academic and personal success, according to this view. The study employed a case study approach as its research design. Interviews were conducted with 10 informants who were carefully selected from the basic to the tertiary institutions in Ghana. The study findings indicate that creating a culture of respect, inclusion, and collaboration among students, teachers, and administrators is essential for fostering a positive school environment. Teachers and administrators can promote student well-being by offering emotional and psychological support, promoting healthy habits and lifestyles, and fostering a secure and supportive learning environment. The study emphasises the significance of ongoing professional development for teachers and administrators to equip them to effectively promote a positive school environment and support the well-being of students.

When the push and pull factors in digital educational resources backfire: the role of digital leader in digital educational resources usage

The study investigated the impact of digital leadership on teachers’ usage of digital educational resources (DERs). The study collected data from teachers and headteachers in four pre-tertiary schools in Ghana. Also, trust was included as the interacting variable to examine its mediating role in digital leadership and digital educational resource usage to better disentangle the relationship between digital leadership and digital educational resource. The study used symmetrical (Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and asymmetrical approaches (fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) for the analysis of the relationships. The results underpin digital leadership’s importance in digital educational resource implementation outcomes in developing countries’ pre-tertiary schools. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis findings confirm that exclusively using symmetrical approaches for digital educational resource studies may not be sufficient to understand the expected relationships within a proposed model. Under the partial least squares path modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis, trust did not mediate the relationship between digital leadership and teachers’ usage of digital educational resources. Sharply from the PLS-SEM findings, the fsQCA revealed that the presence of digital leadership and trust are necessary conditions to predict teachers’ usage of digital educational resources. These results and their implications for theory and practice are discussed.

A Study of Employee Motivation in Organization

Motivation as a meaningful construct is a desire to satisfy a certain want and is a central pillar at the workplace. Thus, motivating employees adequately is a challenge as it has what it takes to defines employee satisfaction at the work place. In this study, we examine the relationship between job motivation factors and performance among teachers of basic schools in Ghana. The study employs a quantitative approach on a sample of 254 teachers from a population of 678 in the Efate Municipality of Ghana, of which 159 questionnaires were duly answered and returned (representing 62.6% return rate). Using multiple regression and ANOVA, the study finds compensation package, job design and environment and performance management system as significant factors in determining teacher’s motivation in the municipality

Coinage in Akan Among Senior High School Students: A Case Study of Selected Schools in Ghana

Coinage in Akan Among Senior High School Students: A Case Study of Selected Schools in Ghana

Improving School Quality in Junior High Schools in Ghana: Teachers’ Myth and Reality of a Decentralization Policy

In the education decentralization processes, community participation in education governance has been argued to be essential for improving accountability to service beneficiaries. Therefore, this paper examined the perspectives of key actors on the impact of an educational decentralization policy on improving school quality education in Junior High Schools in Ghana. Participants in the study were 54 School Management Committee (SMC)/Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) members, 106 teachers, and 11 head teachers in 11 schools drawn from two districts in the Central Region of Ghana. Teachers filled out questionnaires and interviews were conducted with SMC/PTA members using a semi-structured interview guide and with 11 head teachers. The paper reveals that the education decentralization policy, with community participation at its heart, has given schools some autonomy in their decision-making process. However, the involvement of community members in school activities has been limited mainly to financing, with little emphasis on the decision-making process in school governance. The study recommends that there should be adequate support for communities to become more involved in the decision-making process, especially in implementing the School Performance Improvement Plan for Ghana to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.

Alternative assessment challenges of teachers in inclusive senior high schools in Northern Ghana

The paper presents findings of teachers’ challenges in using alternative assessment procedures to assess learners with visual impairment in two purposively sampled inclusive senior high schools in the Northern part of Ghana with particular reference to Sirugu and Wa Senior High Schools in the Upper East and Upper West Regions, respectively. The study’s population comprised teachers in inclusive senior high schools in Ghana. Experts in authors’ institutions reviewed and validated the content and construct validity of the instrument. The reliability was established by pilot testing the instrument using respondents from Wenchi Methodist Senior High School, an inclusive school in the Bono Region of Ghana. The Cronbach’s coefficient alpha derived for the questionnaire was 0.79. The study used a cross-sectional descriptive survey design and a sample size of 136 teachers selected using the simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using the authors’ self-developed questionnaire after pilot-testing for its refinement. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that most teachers had constraints using alternative assessment methods to evaluate learners who are visually impaired in the classroom due to their inadequate expertise. Overcrowded classrooms leading to large teacher-learner ratios, lack of assessment materials and logistics also posed formidable challenges to using alternative assessments. The study recommends the expansion of existing infrastructure and equipping teachers in inclusive schools with the requisite skills and competencies to use alternative assessment methods effectively. It is also imperative for the government and stakeholders to provide the required logistics to facilitate effective teaching, learning and assessment of learners with visual impairment in schools.

Teaching of STEM Subjects in Africa: Perspectives of Gender, Difficult Topics, School Ownership and Recommendation of CTCA

The new senior secondary computer studies curriculum for multilingual West African schools came into use in 2015. Since the beginning of its application, there have been few reported studies on the difficulty level of the content as perceived by students, gender equity, and school ownership. The study had two main purposes–to find out (a) the topics in the new computer studies curriculum that secondary school students perceive to be difficult; (b) if gender, and school ownership impact students’ perception of the difficulty of the computer studies topics. Participants were 1,501 computer studies students from nine public and 12 private senior secondary schools in Nigeria and Ghana. About 51% of the respondents were females. Three-quarters of the schools are in urban areas, the rest are in rural locations. Rich qualitative data on the sources of difficulty (unique for this study) are reported. Slight gender differences and marked rural/urban differences were found. Recommendations were made for improving the teaching and learning of computer studies in African schools with the use of Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA).

INVESTIGATING HINDRANCE FACTORS WHICH FORESTALLED TEACHERS’ PARTICIPATION IN PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN GHANA

An online survey was conducted on a sample of 32 senior high school mathematics teachers in Kumasi senior high technical school using virtual snowballing technique. The study investigated the hindrance factors to teachers’ participation in performance contracting in senior high schools in Ghana. The study sought to conduct principal component analysis (PCA) on teacher contracting construct to identify the most important factors which had forestalled the implementation of teacher contracts in senior high schools in Ghana. Data was collected using researcher designed questionnaires of close-ended types on an evaluative continuum ranging from strongly disagree (SD) to strongly agree (SA) with alpha-reliability of 0.72. Data was analysed using both descriptive and multivariate inferential statistical techniques, particularly Exploratory Factor Analysis. Three (3) important factors (Teachers’ Perception, Information on PCs and Relevance of PCs) were extracted by principal component analysis of teachers’ responses. The results revealed that there should be strategies to develop positive perception of performance contracting in teachers through the provision of appropriate information on the relevance of teachers’ participation in performance contracting in senior high schools in Ghana.

The Effect of the Deductive Method on Students’ Performance in Grammar in an SHS Classroom

The current study aims at investigating the effect of using deductive and inductive methods on students’ grammar in a Senior High School (SHS) in Ghana. It examines the effect of the deductive method on students’ performance in grammar and to find out the statistically significant difference between students taught using the deductive method and those taught using the inductive method. 100 students were chosen for the purpose of the study. There were two groups consisting of 50 students each. One of the groups is made up of the experimental while the other is the control group. The research instrument used is a pre-test and a post-test. The current study used quantitative approach to analyse data from control and experimental groups. Whereas the experimental group was taught using the deductive approach, the control group was taught through the inductive approach. Firstly, a pre-test was administered to both groups, after which the experimental group had a treatment stage lasting for four weeks. Data was collected and analysed through a t-test. The results of the analysis show significant differences between the means of the two groups of students’ scores in the post-test. The result is in favour of the experimental group (the group taught using the deductive approach of teaching). Findings revealed that there were differences in the mean grade point average of both groups, and statistically significant difference was observed. The questions that guided this study were: what is the effect of the use of the deductive method on students’ performance in grammar? And is there any statistically significant difference between students taught using the deductive method and those taught using the inductive method? There was, therefore, support for the research’s hypothesis. It was hypothesized that there is a good effect of the deductive method of teaching on students’ performance in grammar which resulted in the high performance of students in the experimental group.

Are They Good Enough for Student-Centered And Constructivist Class? Investigation into Teachers’ and Students’ Perception towards Mathematics Textbooks for Junior High Schools in Ghana

Are They Good Enough for Student-Centered And Constructivist Class? Investigation into Teachers’ and Students’ Perception towards Mathematics Textbooks for Junior High Schools in Ghana

Promoting safe and inclusive water and sanitation services for students with physical disabilities in primary schools: a concept mapping study in Ghana

Abstract Improving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in schools is crucial to providing inclusive environments for all children to thrive. Particularly for children with disabilities, the school environment can serve as a barrier to their access to and use of WASH facilities. This paper examines strategies and programs needed to promote safe and inclusive WASH services for students with physical disabilities in primary schools in Ghana. We recruited 22 stakeholders from the Upper West Region of Ghana to complete an online concept mapping exercise. Participants identified eight themes for promoting safe and inclusive access to WASH services for students with physical disabilities. These themes included ‘building special schools,’ ‘guidance services,’ ‘ensuring non-discrimination and fair treatment,’ ‘additional programs for PWDs,’ ‘local government interventions,’ ‘public sensitization,’ ‘teacher training,’ and ‘supervision.’ These findings can assist stakeholders in identifying strategies and prioritising programs in the short run to improve WASH among students with physical disabilities.

Adolescent girls’ menstrual hygiene management: evidence from rural northern Ghana

Background: Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) among adolescents has emerged as global public health concern in low and middle-income countries. Although research on MHM among adolescents is vast, the peculiar cultural and economic barriers faced by Junior high schoolgirls in menstrual hygiene management in the deprived settings of northern Ghana are seldom explored, even though sanitation coverage in this part of the country does not exceed 20 percent. We thus explored menstrual hygiene management barriers among adolescent schoolgirls in Junior High Schools in the Upper West region.
 Methods: A case study of adolescent girls’ menstrual practices and management in selected schools in the Jirapa Municipality was conducted. We employed a qualitative approach in the collection and analysis of the data. A mix of purposive and convenience sampling procedures was used to select 44 diverse participants, comprising: basic schoolgirls (n=32), and mothers (n=12), who participated in semi-structured interviews. The data collected were analysed using the thematic analytical framework.
 Results: Underpinned by Gusfield’s cultural and structural analysis of public problems as well as Bronfenbrenner’s socioecological theory, we found that limited knowledge of menstruation and its management, cultural beliefs, and high costs of menstrual care products to be main barriers to effective MHM among adolescent girls in basic schools in Ghana. This has often resulted in school absenteeism and dropout, girls engaging in commercial sex to raise funds to buy menstrual hygiene products, menstruation-related stigma and seclusion and exclusion during menstruation.
 Conclusion: Our findings have implications for MHM policy planning and implementation. The Ministries of Education, Health and Water Resources need to collaborate and develop an MHM Policy as part of the National Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy, and a strategy to provide direction on how to implement MHM activities in basic schools in the country.

Mudling Through Intersectionality Theory for Leadership Futures: Pathways Toward Policies for Reinventing Gender Spaces for Educational Leadership in Two Male Schools in Ghana

This paper examines the advances made on gender issues in Ghana, particularly regarding how far misogyny is being watered down in educational leadership. The article thence reflects on how society might resolve the question of the effects of misogyny on educational leadership futures and the associated possibilities, and decisively address this enervating question in the decades ahead. The paper discusses how individuals and groups are resisting and challenging their experiences of gender inequalities, as well as attempting to intervene and correct the causes and consequences of gendered power imbalances. The paper does not intend to assess all the facets of gendered life and inequality. Instead, it discusses arguments that have been put forward regarding re-engineering gender spaces for educational leadership futures. Data obtained from two all-boys’ schools suggest that gendered inequality is visible in both public and private spheres. However, the validity of the arguments that gender inequalities are still entrenched and persisting over time, place, and culture is contrasted with alternative claims from the data that gendered power relations, and for that matter inequalities, are gradually being eroded. Furthermore, the current academic focus on the concept of intersectionality regarding how variables like gender, tribe, religion, and culture intersect to define people’s gendered experiences, is used as the analytical framework. The study of women’s educational leadership experiences in this paper is used as a framework to further examine these issues and address some of the debates. The paper concludes with an argument that the study of inequality in relation to gendered identities, relations, and experiences must continue with an exploration of the study of men and masculinities if the theoretical analysis of gender is to be enriched to re-invent genders spaces for educational leadership futures. We also argue the view that to set the agenda for a more equal educational leadership future, society must see the need to link gender closely to other forms of social inequalities.

Exploring the Impact of Quality Education Management on Pupils’ Academic Performance. A Case Study of Basic Schools in Ghana

Generally, research on educational management omits its impact on pupils’ academic performance in basic schools. This research fills this gap by assessing the effect of quality education management functions on the academic performance of pupils in government basic schools in Ghana. A questionnaire was used to obtain data from headteachers, teachers, pupils, and the Parents’ and Teacher Association, totalling 240 respondents from 15 schools in Accra-Ghana. The findings indicated that teachers’ effort has the highest impact on pupils’ academic performance among all the managerial function variables in the research. The research recommends that the Ghana government and educational stakeholders emulate Singapore’s system of teacher development, which has enabled them to achieve educational excellence acknowledged across the globe.

Gender digital health literacy gap across age: A moderated moderation effect on depression among in‐school adolescents in Ghana during COVID‐19

AbstractThe COVID‐19 pandemic amplified the need for digital health literacy aimed at reducing the psychological distress levels of people, including in‐school adolescents. Available evidence suggests the presence of a gender health literacy gap among adolescents in schools in Ghana and beyond. Previous literature has established the role of age in digital health literacy levels. What is unknown is how gender and age interact with digital health literacy levels to influence the levels of depression. This research assessed how gender digital health literacy gap across different age groups relates to the depression levels of adolescents during the COVID‐19 pandemic. A cross‐sectional survey was conducted using 942 students from secondary schools in Ghana who were sampled using the stratified sampling technique. Study participants completed the digital health literacy scale and World Health Organization (WHO‐5) well‐being index. Results from the two‐way analysis of variance revealed a nonsignificant interaction between age and gender on digital health literacy, with significant main effects for gender and age. Further analysis from the moderated moderation analysis revealed that gender and age interact to moderate the relationship between digital health literacy and depression. The findings of this research stress the need for gender‐age‐specific intervention programs on digital health literacy to moderate depression levels during pandemics and other stressful situations.

NUUN (TeacherStudent, StudentTeacher) role reversal. An original educational, pedagogical and therapeutic method based on building self-esteem and self-awareness among students in physical, mental and non-material spheres

The aim of this article is to present an original educational, pedagogical and therapeutic method NUUN (TeacherStudent, StudentTeacher). The method is addressed to students with whom one may experience difficulties in communication due to language barrier or cultural differences. The contents of the article are a result of the authors search for a new educational model in the face of modern changes, including information technology revolution entailing mental crisis. There has been presented an aspect of the awareness of both students and teachers as a value that should dominate in new education and lead to discovering the surrounding world, including a non-material one, as a human being composed of body, mind and spirit. The article includes the main methods assumption based on repositioning of the roles both of students and teachers by putting an equal sign between them in a process of teaching and discovering the world. There is an emphasis on the importance of self-awareness of teachers and building self-awareness and self-esteem among children as well as discovering their talents. The presented method is a result of many years of observation of human behavior in different cultures and the authors experience of working in extremely difficult educational conditions in schools in Asia and Ghana in an institution for street children.

Subjective social status and well-being of adolescents and young adults in Ghanaian schools: conditional process analysis

BackgroundWith the growing concern and interest in the mental health and well-being of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) including those in schools, many studies have explored the bivariate relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and AYAs’ subjective well-being (SWB). Acknowledging the spurious nature of this relationship, we assessed the relationship between SSS and SWB of AYAs in schools within Northern Ghana, focusing on the conditional indirect effect of monetary resource (MR) and sense of coherence (SoC).MethodsWe utilised a cross-sectional descriptive design to survey 1096 senior high school students from two regions in Ghana’s Northern zone through a stratified sampling method. A questionnaire consisting of a number of calibrated standardized measures was used for the data collection. The data were processed using SPSS and PROCESS Macro and analysed using Hayes’ conditional process analysis.ResultsThe results revealed that students’ MR significantly moderated the relationships between SSS and SoC as well as SSS and SWB. A significant moderated mediation effect of MR and SoC on the relationship between SSS and SWB was found. Particularly, AYAs who reported higher levels of MRl, SSS and SoC reported a better SWB.ConclusionThe findings underscore the relevance of providing sufficient financial support for students in secondary schools in Ghana; thus, highlighting the sheer relevance of economic capital as a leading factor for better well-being. The findings also place much emphasis on building students’ personal coping mechanisms as a key variable in explaining how the students’ SSS and MR translate into having positive mental health outcomes.

Assessing the Operational Challenges of Private Senior High Schools in Ghana: The Case of Action Senior High School

The number of public Senior High Schools (SHSs) in Ghana take about 68% of the Junior High School graduates leaving the rest to their fate. Private Senior High Schools therefore become relevant in absorbing the difference. Yet, these private SHSs are without operational challenges. This paper looked at some of the operational challenges of private Senior High Schools in Ghana using Action Senior High School as a case study. Using a descriptive research approach to gather data primarily from the management staff of Action Senior High School through questionnaires, and secondly from magazines and other sources such as quotes by researches on related topics, challenges including funding, lack of working capital, poor staff motivation and remuneration, lack of facilities and equipment, increasing staff turnover, lack of conducive environment for learning and poor conditions of service, were gathered as some of the operational challenges confronting private senior schools in Ghana. These challenges greatly impact academic performance of students and smooth teaching and learning in privates SHSs in Ghana.

The Effectiveness of Visual Arts Teachers and Students’ Practice of Portfolio Assessment at the Senior High School

Visual arts’, teachers and learners’ engagement with portfolio assessment was investigated in order to ascertain the effectiveness of their practice at the Senior High School (SHS) in Ghana. The qualitative research design which consists phenomenological study was engaged to answer the study question. The population of the study was 124 respondents from two selected Senior High School in Kumasi Metropolitan were sampled based on purposive and convenient sampling technique. Data was gathered using the questionnaire, interview guide and observational guide. Data from the study was analysed through frequencies, percentages and content analysis. The study revealed that teachers and students aligned portfolio assessment with the objectives of the teaching syllabus; teachers evaluate students’ scores; teachers provide feedback to students on portfolio assessment; visual arts, teachers had limited knowledge in portfolio assessment, and as a result teachers in this study have been designing portfolio elements such as marking the rubric with difficulty; and professional support in the form of seminars/workshops and in-service training on portfolio assessment will be well come by teachers and students.