misconceptions about teaching in ghana

The outcome of the conference called for students with disabilities to be educated within an inclusive education system. Ministry of Education. eds. This paper is framed on a case study methodology within the context of utilizing the social model of disability to examine the curricula of Colleges of Education in Ghana by investigating whether the student teacher is prepared enough to promote inclusive education. But the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) program was introduced in 1995 as part of efforts to fulfill UNESCOs mission of free universal education for all by 2015 (Akyeampong, 2009). It can deliver greater immersive learning for students while also creating some new and exciting teaching opportunities. doi: 10.4102/ajod.v6i0.341. In two different studies conducted in sub-Saharan countries, 66.3% to 99.7% were reported to have misconceptions about the etiology of TB, 27.6%-90% likewise misunderstood the symptoms of TB, 0.1% . These outcomes were: Year one: awareness of self and learners as unique individuals, Year two: teachers values and attitudes impacting on pupils learning, how diversity impacts on learning, Year three: being a team member, co-teaching, and co-planning, planning for individualized instruction, Year four: teaching all learners; learners, school, and community. Curriculum in 2018, was written to reform education and the school curriculum. One of the major features of the policy is that it adheres to universal design for learning. The aim of the study is to develop an understanding of the kinds and sources errors and misconceptions that characterise students' learning of school algebra. Soc. In addition, alternative assessment procedures are seriously encouraged in all educational institutions to respond to the diverse needs of all learners. Central Region of Ghana. Umm.Not.So.Much. Consistent with Ghanas commitment to ensuring that all children are given the opportunity to exercise their rights through inclusive education, it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and the Dakar Framework for Action. World 6:81. 68, 95115. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. In 1994, UNESCO organized a World Conference on Special Needs Education in Salamanca, Spain (United Nations Educational, Scientific and cultural organization [UNESCO], 1994). Knowledge 3, 97114. The policy sets an agenda of child friendly schools, which implies schools in Ghana ought to look out for children; that is child-seeking and again they should focus attention on children; that is, schools should be child-centered. University culture and sustainability: designing and implementing an enabling framework. G. Scambler and S. Scambler (London: Palgrave Macmillan), 5776. Finkelstein, V. (1988). Buabeng et al. 27, 689701. Educ. Traditional beliefs and knowledge base about epilepsy among university students in Ghana. For years, governments and other national and international stakeholders have focused their attention on making sure that all children can attend school, and they have backed up that commitment with funding. Prod. Edulearn19 Proc. SDGs in Ghana; why they matter and how we can help. Knowledge about genetically modified (GM) food and biotechnology is low among the Ghanaian public due to low levels of . The findings relating to the equity and inclusivity cross-cutting pillar of the curriculum is that emphasis is placed more on gender rather than disability inclusion. Socioeconomic factors hindering access to healthcare by persons with disabilities in the Ahanta west municipality, Ghana. A large number of pupils struggle to meet the proficiency cut-off point for English and Mathematics between grades four and six. A. Wulff (Leiden: Brill), 96115. The forms and the student handbooks were published by the government of Ghana under the Transformative Teacher Education and Learning (T-TELL), School Partnership Program with support from the British government. Edu. These points provided below are responses and comments that were duly and diligently gathered through surveys and seminars in an attempt to provide some possible ways of raising teaching standards to an appreciable level in the country. The Curriculum Framework provides for teachers at the Universities offering Education and the Colleges of Education. In my view, it is good the government has assured Ghanaians that the CSE will not be part of the new basic school curricula, but we may eventually have to come back to the issue. The school and its environment must be safe and accessible for all learners. Your source for IT solutions and innovations to support school-wide success. Further, the student teachers in year three are tasked to identify learners who struggle to overcome barriers. The student reflective journal and the observation checklists identify barriers to learning. For persons with disabilities, self-awareness is even more important given the socio-cultural and religious beliefs and practices that marginalize and discriminate against them and the resultant negative attitudes, stigma, discrimination, and exclusion and of persons with disabilities in all spheres of life (Kassah et al., 2012; Adjei et al., 2013; Dugbartey and Barimah, 2013; Naami, 2019). Thus, there are questions regarding participation on the student teacher checklist which states that: Did the teacher encourage students to actively participate in the lesson? However, in our nations current climate, saying the word teacher is like Forrest Gump opening a box of chocolates: you never know what youre going to get, as teachers too often are seen as a convenient scapegoat for the perceived problems that are plaguing public education. Without the commitment and involvement of tertiary institutions and in the case of training institutions such as Colleges of Education, perhaps the SDGs 4 may not be sustainably attained. Article 8 of the CRPD outlines measures that states parties could adopt to ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access education, including vocational training and lifelong learning. It seems everyone has an opinion about teachers and their profession these days and most of them arent teachers. The SDGs target 4.8 outlines the need to build and upgrade educational facilities that are disability sensitive. These include talking, and chalking, marking . Ironically, the final question suggests the above reflections would have been helpful to increase disability sensitivity and inclusion. Geneva: World Health Organization. Fundamental Principles of Disability. doi: 10.1080/1034912X.2019.1651833, Buabeng, I., Ntow, F. D., and Otami, C. D. (2019). B. The school environment, the classroom, lessons, class management and assessment are all limited regarding inclusivity of learners with disabilities. Higher Education for Sustainable Development Goals. Plenty of studies conclude that higher teacher pay leads to better teacher quality, which leads to improved student performance. The critical question is what to teach? Global pressing problems and the sustainable development goals. It could be an ice breaker or other warming up exercises that could exclude learners with disabilities. Maybe a better phrase is, Those who teach create those who do. Michael Jay, One of my favorites is, Those who cant, teach. Teachers must be well educated in their field of study, of course,but that is only the beginning. The multiple data collection sources allowed data triangulations, increased rigor, and credibility of the study as well as a deeper and holistic understanding of the phenomenon (Yin, 2009). Afr. The requirements for a qualified teacher include all of the skills needed for the 21st-century workplace. Mary Montag, teacher, St. Teresas Academy. The policy also highlights a flexible curriculum in which schools: owe a responsibility to teach all children, exhibit no discrimination, utilize early intervention practices, ensure childrens participation, involve NGOs, agencies, parents, and government, develop positive attitudes, conduct monitoring and evaluation, have a policy on Persons with Disabilities, and develop assessment practices. There is nothing like hearing a former student tell you about the positive change you've made in their life. That the student teacher reflection is aimed at increasing their disability sensitivity and inclusion is fallacious. 1, 78377846. International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health: Children & Youth Version: ICF-CY. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Rather, impairment should be considered to enable provision of suitable accommodation for learners with disabilities. Previously, the University of Cape Coast and University of Education, Winneba, had the traditional mandate to prepare teachers to teach at various educational levels including the basic school level (Buabeng et al., 2019). But how prepared are student teachers at Colleges of Education using the curriculum to promote inclusive education? Produc. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. The student teacher is required to reflect on seven questions listed under this theme but none of them captures disability. United Nations [UN]. Teachers in the U.S. do make far less than similarly educated professionals. Disability inclusiveness requires care and proper planning, but that is not emphasized in the curriculum of Colleges of Education in Ghana. He further made a remark, which we also observed on a visit to that College of Education. In a similar vein, the Government of Ghana has identified several factors that prevent persons with disabilities from attending school, including the general publics negative perception of people with disabilities, physical obstacles, the lack of adequate facilities for assessments, and a rigid curriculum, inadequate planning by regular teachers for students with special needs (Government of Ghana, 2003). 9711 Washingtonian Boulevard, Suite 550, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 | 1-301-913-0115, By submitting your information, you agree to our, DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access), Video of the Week: Dealing with digital distraction in the classroom, Secrets from the library lines: 5 ways schools can boost digital engagement, Follow the Money Insights from K-12 Experts, Creating a winning K12 esports infrastructure, Charter Communications (Spectrum Enterprise). The policy (2015, p. 6) defines a child with special educational needs [SEN] as: a child with disability, namely, visual, hearing, locomotor, and intellectual impairments. But the policy extends the concept SEN to cover those who are failing in school, for a wide variety of reasons that are known to be barriers to a childs optimal progress in learning and development. J. Curr. eSchool News uses cookies to improve your experience. To be effective, a science teacher should not underestimate the importance and the persistence of these barriers to true understanding. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Our analytical tools, social model of disability and the SDGs goal 4 were synergistic, which allowed for comparative analysis. Perhaps it would be a different matter if the conceptions of teaching were like those of NASA engineers: smart, genius! (2015). Moria, A., and Morgado, B. Misconceptions are often deeply held, largely unexplained, and sometimes strongly defended. United Nations Educational, Scientific and cultural organization [UNESCO]. It's easy to describe a smart speaker's functionality in anthropomorphic terms such as "it listens" or "it understands". Colleges of Education are the settings where teachers are trained to develop required skills for effective inclusive education. Particularly, the target 4.5 calls for the elimination of gender disparities and inequities in education, specifically highlighting the need to ensure access to education for persons with disabilities. Both researchers independently coded the data to enhance the credibility of the study. Ministry of Education. The ICF and social model of disability, on the other hand, helped us identify barriers that could inhibit access of persons with disabilities to inclusive education in Ghana at the systemic (teaching training colleges) and unit (classrooms) levels and to identify what could be done to address issues at these levels. 10, 7086. Available at: www.t-tel.org/hub.html. The estimated number of persons with disabilities could be underestimated due the multiple layers of issues surrounding disability data collection, including attitudinal issues, disability definition, access to persons with disabilities, mode of reporting disability, that is, self-reporting (people may not report disability, especially those that are not very visible) some of which are concealed from public view due to stigma. Is Your Network Prepared to Meet the Demands of a Tech-Rich Environment? Also, the B.Ed. (2015). Cc: Ellis Ferdinand (2019). By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations. We use a case study design when the researcher seeks to answer the how and why Questions and could be exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory (Yin, 1994). Presently, there are 48 Colleges of Education (CoE) in Ghana, up from 38 in 2014 (Buabeng et al., 2019) and in the 2018/2019 academic year, all Colleges of Education in Ghana were upgraded to University Colleges status to offer a four-year Bachelor of Education degree (Kokutse, 2018). and can opt-out at any time. Available at: www.t-tel.org/hub.html (Accessed June 30, 2022). Also, the condition was perceived to cause severe disease. The achievement of one goal leads to achieving another goal (Bentzen, 2015; United Nations Communications Groups [UNCG], 2017; United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2021). The Curriculum Framework consistent with the National Teachers Standards, NTC (2018), envisages to prepare new teachers to become effective, engaging, and inspirational in order to improve learning outcomes particularly at the basic school level. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version. In Ghana, a considerable milestone has been the integration of the SDGs into the medium-term development of Ghana. However, we think it's more accurate . The principle of universal design in the policy offers learners multiple means of representation, expression, engagement, motivation and tapping into learners interest. Inclusive education policy. Available at: http://www.voiceghana.org/downloads/MoE_IE_Policy_Final_Draft1.pdf (Accessed November 25, 2022). As our own founding fathers knew, we need checks and balances in our schools. Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Vol 5. They are supposed to identify school facilities (e.g., football field, toilet, office space, tennis court, buildings etc. The Equality Act 2010 and the Social Model of Disability. in Behavioral Science, a Masters in Education, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Education Leadership. Ghanas 2019 SDGs Budget Report. We evaluated the four learning outcomes under the equity and inclusivity of the cross-cutting pillar. To deny or not to deny disability. Teaching should therefore involve the full participation of pupils. *Correspondence: Augustina Naami, anaami@ug.edu.gh, Transforming Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan African Countries Towards the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 by 2030: New Opportunities, Challenges, Problems and Prospects, View all A Togo slippery frog rests in grass. Interaction between the Components of ICF (World Health Organization, 2007). Copyright 2023 Naami and Mort. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs352/en/ (Accessed May 15, 2022). April 26, 2023. Let us know at submissions@eschoolmedia.com. Yin, R. K. (2009). Completed worksheets of pupils on concept cartoons of selected science topics were discussed and analyzed to find . Vol. Beyond 2015, within the modern/colonial global imaginary? However, it is equally important to find out whether what the teacher does promotes participation or alienates others. In 2012, Burnett and Felsman (2012) signaled the debate on post Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and pointed out the need to incorporate the SDGs in education, particularly in educational institutions. Agyire-Tettey, E. E., Naami, A., Wissenbach, L., and Schdler, J. I explained that tenure is a right to due process, so a teacher can't be fired without the administration presenting evidence that the teacher was incompetent or unprofessional. (2019). If you're in the same boat, here's a handy cheat sheet to help set your lunatic cousin Larry straight when he claims to know more than you do about your own vocation. Copyright 2023 eSchoolMedia & eSchool News. We suggest that questions on disability are directly asked. Yes, this is what we want the students to know. 6. READ MORE Welcome to the Ministry of Education The Government of Ghana initiated some key education reforms to transform teaching and learning and improve educational outcomes under the Education Strategic Plan (ESP 2018-2030) which was approved by cabinet in November 2018. Agbenyega, J. S., Deppeler, J., and Harvey, D. (2005). 2nd Edn. A case study design is a qualitative research approach which focuses on a detailed exploration of a phenomenon within its content. GhanaS free senior high school policy: evidence and insight from data. Curriculum in 2018 was written to reform education and the school curriculum. The GCM is built on the back of the 2015 Incheon Declaration and Education 2030 Framework for Action, which envisages a cooperation, monitoring and evaluation mechanism which has the Global Education Meeting (GEM) as the pivot of action (Mundial, Grupo Banco, and UNICEF, 2016). The importance of the SDGs. In 2015, Ghana developed an inclusive education policy with an overarching goal of fostering equitable access to education for all children. However, when we prob. Front. It's never wise to centralize power in one person, whether that's a superintendent or a mayor. Dev. doi: 10.5430/jct.v9n1p86. Dev. How do learners with visual and hearing impairment benefit from these forms of learning if resources do not have features of alternative formats (subtitles/captions, narrations) for these learners? My students work extremely hard to overcome obstacles and achieve. Revista Educacin Superior y Sociedad (ESS) 32, 167201. Crit. "Teachers Have a Cushy Schedule", "Teachers have an easy schedule" is a frequently heard misconception, often followed by, "you're home by 3 p.m., and you've got weekends off." We employed a single-case exploratory study design to deepen our understanding of the preparedness of Ghanaian student teachers to implement inclusive education in one of the Colleges of Education in Ghana. eSchool News recently asked readers: If you could clear up one misconception about teachers and/or teaching, what would it be? Our goal was not only to help others understand these misconceptions, but also to learn how teachers feel they are perceived by others. Leeds: Disability Press. Once you find one, you do your possible best to know the causes of the disability or how the person is being helped throughout his or her stay in the schoolWe specifically ask them to identify a child with the disability and even how the facilities and resources in the school support the child. Disability and health: Fact sheet. 5. The overarching goal of the Inclusive Education (IE) policy is to ensure that schools identify children with different learning needs and adopt appropriate curricula that will meet their learning requirements (Ofori, 2018). Yin emphasized that a single-case design could be selected because of its criticalness, extremeness, typicalness, revelatory power, or longitudinal possibility (Yin, 1994). Using the curriculum to promote inclusive education? Stay up to date on all the latest from Hey Teach: Get periodic emails that include exclusive content, special guides, and other great resources you wont find anywhere else! Disabil. The Policy further requires a multi-disciplinary assessment procedure at all levels of education to meet the needs of all pupils/students. Education has long been recognized as a global priority. (2016). Umm.Not.So.Much. The main body of the module focuses on a comparison between two contrasting countries in Africa: Sudan and Ghana. See Appendix A for details of the interview guide. Ghana, our work on SDGs in Ghana. World Conference on Special Needs Education: Access and Quality. The Social Model of Disability: Europe and the Majority World. It is important that persons with disabilities are explicitly mentioned in targets and indicators to ensure that their needs are adequately addressed. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Want to share a great resource? All these barriers could inhibit access of persons with disabilities in the school and impact on their learning. Dugbartey, A. T., and Barimah, K. B. The B.Ed. Two forms, student reflective journal and daily portfolio sheet comprise of the portfolio, which is usually returned to their tutors for grading. University surroundings and infrastructures that are accessible and inclusive for all: listening to students with disabilities. I created a meme about the misconception, and almost immediately, a former classmate of mine wrote, "It also makes it almost impossible to get rid of bad teachers.". Beyond models: understanding the complexity of disabled peoples lives in New Directions in the Sociology of Chronic and Disabling Conditions. In response to the challenges confronting the education of students with disabilities in Ghana, stakeholders have made concerted efforts in the education sector to embrace the ideals of inclusive education. London: UPIAS. As noted by Calles (2020) the process of truly integrating the SDGs in tertiary institutions is sine qua non. The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning: A Synthesis of the Evidence, Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. Patrick Mahomes Dog Westminster Dog Show, Articles M