University of Education, Winneba Online Journal System
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Steering the Ship during Ghana’s Education Reform: School Leadership in Fostering Organizational Commitment in Public Basic Schools
Get PDFTeachers play vital roles in the implementation of education reforms. Therefore, it is essential to identify factors that enhance their commitment to their schools. The study examined headteachers’ leadership styles as predictors of teacher commitment in public basic schools in Ghana. The ‘full-range leadership theory’ developed by Bass and Avolio (1995) and the ‘organizational commitment model’ postulated by Meyer and Allen (1991) served as theoretical framework for the study. The study employed the explanatory sequential mixed methods research design by collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. A multistage sampling was used to select 256 headteachers and their teachers from public basic schools in Ghana. Data was collected using an adapted version of Bass and Avolio’s (1995) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Meyer and Allen’s (1991) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, and a self-constructed semi-structured interview guide. Quantitative data was analysed using multiple linear regression with the aid of SPSS version 26.0 whilst qualitative data was analysed through content analysis. The study revealed that leadership styles predicted 22% of teacher commitment. Besides, transactional leadership style made the highest and statistically significant unique contribution to the prediction of teacher commitment (?=0.27,
COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING: TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVE ON THE CHALLENGES TO EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION
No full textEmpirical studies are consensual in their claims that one of the most effective student-centered approaches in teaching is the cooperative learning (CL) approach. This study investigates the challenges inherent in the CL approach. The study was set in the Agona West Municipality. 20 teachers of English language, two each from 10 basic schools participated in the study. A semi-structured interview and classroom observations were the primary data source and teachers’ lesson plans and students’
assessment reports were the secondary data used for the study. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of learning was adopted as the theoretical framework. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The outcome of the study reveals six fundamental challenges inherent in the CL approach. These are low individual accountability, time consuming and low teaching efficiency, heterogeneity of the classroom, difficulty with balancing subject content and social skills, lack of curriculum provision and negative interdependence among students. Based on the findings, the study recommends that curriculum planners should incorporate CL in the language curriculum to serve as a blueprint for the teachers to adopt in their teachin
PREVALENCE OF MALNUTRITION AND ITS DETERMINANTS AMONG CHILDREN UNDER-FIVE YEARS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA
No full textMalnutrition remains a major global public health challenge, especially among children under five years and the percentage of wasting in Lagos State was also found to be higher than the global target of less than 5%. This study therefore examined the prevalence of malnutrition and its determinants among children under-five years in Epe Local Government of Lagos State. The study involved 107 under-five children and their mothers. Anthropometric measurements were taken using standard procedure while a validated semi structured questionnaire was used to elicit information regarding the determinants of malnutrition. Indices were expressed as the standard deviation of units from the median for the reference group. Chi-square analysis was used to test significant differences in proportion, and p < 0.05 was taken .Results showed that the mean age of the children was 9.90±1.35. More than half (53.3%) were female. Prevalence of Wasting, stunting, underweight, overweight and obesity were found to be 16.8%, 6.5%, 11.2%, 1.9% and 2.8% respectively. Age of children, family income and toilet facility were the major determinants of malnutrition. Prevalence of malnutrition is higher among under-five male children, particularly between 5-11 months. There should be awareness of nutritional knowledge regarding the feeding practices and habit of the children especially children between 5- 11months. Further studies should be tailored on other determinants factors of malnutrition among under-five children in different locations of the State
Cultivating an Inclusive Learning Environment: A Case Study of Cultural Diversity Management in Atebubu Senior High School
No full textThis case study investigates the management of cultural diversity at Atebubu Senior High School to analyze how these efforts influence inclusion and academic success among students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Grounded in the Sociocultural Theory of Learning, which underscores the significance of social and cultural contexts in cognitive development, this research employs a qualitative approach, and the phenomenological research design. The study's population includes all teachers and students at the school. A purposive sampling method was used to select 34 participants, consisting of 4 teachers and 30 students. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with the participants, focus group discussions, observations and document analysis. The findings reveal several achievements, including the successful implementation of culturally responsive teaching practices, enhanced cross-cultural understanding among students, and improved academic performance linked to inclusive teaching strategies. However, obstacles such as insufficient teacher training, limited resources for diversity programs, and challenges in addressing cultural biases within the school community were also identified. Based on these findings, the study recommends that educational practitioners, policymakers, and researchers should prioritize enhancing cultural diversity management practices and actively work to create inclusive learning environments in secondary schools
Handwriting difficulty among Basic school pupils in the Oforikrom Municipality in Ghana
No full textHandwriting plays an important role in academic progression and personal development. Handwriting challenges among primary school children are widespread and well-documented. Handwriting instruction has become a relegated phase of the learning process in many Ghanaian basic schools. The study assesses the prevalence of handwriting difficulties among basic school pupils in selected public schools in the Oforikrom Municipality in the Ashanti Region. The study employed a cross-sectional design using a standardized handwriting assessment tool, the pupil's Handwriting Assessment Rubric. Pupils’ handwriting was assessed based on eight handwriting descriptors: letter formation, placement, letter sizing, spacing of letters, legibility, speed, neatness, and spacing of words. Each descriptor was scored on a 5-point scale with 5 representing the highest score. The study found a high prevalence of handwriting difficulties among the pupils; scores indicated that 11 pupils, representing 2.2%, had Very Poor, 89 representing 18.9% had Poor, 242 representing 50.6% had Average, 112 representing 23.6% had Good and 22 pupils representing 4.6% had Very good handwriting. This implies that the pupils' handwriting scores are considered Average. The study also indicated a significant difference in letter formation, legibility, and speed, with girls scoring higher than boys. Considering the high prevalence of handwriting difficulties and their consequences, policymakers must integrate comprehensive handwriting instruction across the curriculum of basic schools. Teachers, parents, clinicians, and other stakeholders should also watch for early signs of difficulties and offer remediation to mitigate its long-term academic and social consequences
Influence of Domestic Violence on Senior Secondary School Students’ Career Choice in Kwara State, Nigeria
Get PDFThis study investigated the influence of domestic violence on senior secondary school students’ career choice in Kwara State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the level of domestic violence and career choice as experienced by the students. Two research questions were raised and one hypothesis was postulated. A descriptive survey type of research design was adopted. The population for this study comprised all senior secondary school students in Kwara State, Nigeria. Senior secondary schools were stratified into three senatorial districts and a senatorial district was randomly selected. 450 senior secondary school students formed the target population of which 300 and 150 students were proportionately sampled for public and private senior secondary schools respectively. The results showed that the majority of 82.0% of the secondary school students in the selected senatorial district of Kwara State experienced a moderate level of domestic violence. The result also showed that the level of career choice of the majority of 85.6% of senior secondary school students in Kwara State was high. There was a significant influence of domestic violence on students’ career choice, ?2 (n = 450) = 6.945, p < .05. This study concluded that domestic violence had an adverse influence on the career choice of secondary school students in Kwara State, Nigeria. It was therefore recommended among others there should be a sensitizing programme for young couples, parents and guardians on how to manage each other against domestic violence and its consequences on homes and students because students are leaders of tomorrow of our society
At the Interstices of the (Post)-Colonial: Mapping Tradition and Transformation in Ghanaian Maritality from Marita to Changes
Get PDFThe idea of modern postcolonial Ghana as a complex polity forged at the interstices of colonial Encounter, and also one that has a tangible basis in millennia-old traditional African cultural values embedded in institutions that are subject to transformations over time has been argued or suggested by many scholars, prominent amongst whom are Angmor (1996), Anyidoho (2000), Larbi Korang (2009), and Konadu and Campbell (2016). On no other cultural institution have those critical lenses been more focused than the institution of marriage which, for obvious reasons, has tended to be seen as a critical cultural barometer that measures both societal health and the gendered power relations which delicately scaffold it. Not surprisingly, in the field of creative arts, successive generations of Ghanaian writers have attempted to investigate and represent the conjugal union as both the micro-site of the communal essence that ultimately enlarges itself into the nation-state, and also one whose gender-based relational compromises are constantly complicated by the interpellating external ideological forces of colonization, modernization, trans-nationalization and their suffocating necropolitical logic. Our article proposes to investigate the changing representations of marriage in Ghanaian prose fiction with emphasis on transformations in gender relations, and how these are in turn informed by transnationally motivated forces such as colonization, modernization and globalization. More specifically, we shall attempt to map paradigmatic shifts in gender relations within the institution of marriage as represented in two canonical and epoch-defining Ghanaian novels; namely, Marita and Changes while at the same time isolating what, if any, Ghanaian values have survived and can teased out as the enduring markers of gender relations in the institution of marriage, and therefore be counted as part of a blueprint for a future prolegomena of Ghanaian values
Back to whose “Eden”?: Social Evolution of Akan Marriage and Pentecostal Enforcement of Pre-Nuptial Ethical Boundaries
Get PDFSince independence in the 1950s, several Africans have engaged in a counter-hegemonic use of the camera to turn the gaze of the equipment from the colonial objectification of women to the postcolonial empowerment of women. The goal of this paper is to contextually discuss the social evolution of marriage practices among the Pentecostal youthful constituency, focusing on how young men and women in the Church of Pentecost (CoP), Ghana’s largest protestant denomination, are re-deploying a counter-hegemonic use of photography to stage their autonomy, choreograph their nuptial choices, as well as secure their marriages. I argue that since the CoP embarked on theological and cultural reforms in 2010 that offered significant “freedom” to women to determine their sartorial preferences, the church has more recently, in 2019 sought to recalibrate its control over how its youthful constituency engages in pre-nuptial practices. Framed as a return to “Eden” to reflect the “naked but unashamed innocent life of Adam and Eve,” these women interpret their actions as showcasing “nakedness” as a signification for transparency in marriage - in the social media world of invisibility, impersonation, and duplicities. The CoP interprets all this as youths’ violations of the church’s pre-nuptial ethical boundaries. I interrogate the question: “What are the complex engagements between the CoP and its youthful constituency, as the CoP seeks to control its nuptial ethical boundaries, as opposed to the “freedoms” the youth are seeking to enforce? The data for the study is based on ethnographical in-depth interviews, and my positionality as a member of the CoP and Akan, and it also draws from church archives and circulars
Taming the Multiverse of Capitalist Crisis with the Universe of African Totemic Ancestorhood: A Radical Afro-optimist Proposal
Get PDFThis paper advances the position that the ontology and praxis of African totems, rooted in harmonious relations, are superior to the materialistic ethos of capitalism, which, in contemporary times, has debased the human condition and environment in its most mature centres. African totemic ancestorhood, emphasizing sacred and secular interconnectedness, perceives the human station as an integral part of a balanced universal whole. On the other hand, the paradigm of capitalism, anchored on materialist acquisitiveness, avarice, and full-spectrum alienation, underpins inequality, exploitation, and environmental degradation in the quest for personal pecuniary profit. Hence, the ontology and praxis of the African totemic is anathema to capitalism. The lived history of African thought serving as a guiding principle of trans-generational ethical conduct and enacted, for example, through rituals and ancestral reverence, are as relevant in contemporary times as in aeons gone by when Africans were architects of civilizations. As nations such as China, India, and Russia seek to resurge in contemporary times by reconnecting with their ancestral roots to navigate modern challenges, Africans must take a cue and similarly recover and leverage the (re)constructive power of ancestral ontology and praxis and thereby develop a uniquely Afrocentric governance model to attenuate the disruptions of capitalist crises. This imperative, apart from exposing the vileness of materialistic (social) relations, will grant Africans the agency to chart an organic, dignified path of cohesive resurgence and avoid the ultimate fatal consequences of capitalism
“YOU HAVE NOT REACHED THAT LEVEL, WHY DID YOU WRITE THAT EXAM?” UNDERSTANDING THE ‘LIVED’ EXPERIENCES OF GIFTED LEARNERS IN GHANAIAN SCHOOLS
No full textGlobally, gifted learners have a significant number of unmet needs relating to their personal, social and academic concerns in the school system. Persons with unusual ability and potential for extraordinary expertise in any field of human performance have necessitated the call to study in a field of “gifted education”. Even though there is a paucity of literature on the gifted learner in the Ghanaian educational system, more disturbing is the fate of school pupils who perceived themselves as capable of educational attainments and needed acceleration yet, are frustrated by lack of educational provisions and policies to cater for their needs. With this background and available literature on the increasingly segregated and unequal educational system, we asked the question, “How challenging is
it for the gifted student in Basic schools in Ghana to achieve their dreams of acceleration?” We used qualitative phenomenological interpretive design to engage seven young gifted learners who wrote their BECE examinations without completing JHS. Individual interviews were conducted to garner data. It was found that students who wrote the BECE before completing JHS performed exceptionally well. It was also found that participants had self-confidence and their parents serve as protective
factors. We conclude that exceptionally gifted learners are capable of performing significantly higher before their BECE completion. We recommend a system of special screening for acceleration and permission to students with high abilities to write BECE and that the Ghana education service and the government should make policies to enhance gifted learners’ learning opportunities in our educational systems so as to
contribute to national development