Ghana Journal of Education: Issues and Practice (GJE)

Implementing quality education: The inevitability of a co-owned and contextbased conceptualisation as the best starting point

2023-12-11T15:08:19+00:00

This conceptual article argues for a co-owned contextual interpretation of the concept of quality education to create communal familiarity, co-agency and coherent communication necessary for its institutionalisation. The article analysed education policy documents including the current 2018-2030 education strategic plan which provides a blueprint for the development of education. The analysis revealed that quality education is an important policy concept that enjoys rhetoric. The 2018-2030 education strategic plan canonises quality education for its potential to equip Ghanaians adequately to meet the needs of the twenty-first century. However, quality education has failed to receive context-based conceptualisation perhaps because of the complex nature of the phrase. Drawing from Wittgenstein’s (1953) warning against imprecise use of language, the article argues for a co-owned contextual interpretation of quality education to facilitate its successful implementation in Ghana. The article then shares how the Leadership for learning and the Singapore triad models of interpreting and applying policy concepts can benefit communal familiarity and application of policy concepts. The Ministry of Education should organise workshops for stakeholders to provide a co-owned interpretation of quality education, draw an action plan and educate the Ghanaian citizenry to understand and align their efforts towards its achievement.

Food safety regulation: Perspectives of food service operators in the cape coast metropolis

2023-12-11T15:38:27+00:00

Global reports since the 2000s suggest that food safety is an important public health concern that attracts the attention of governments, food producers and consumers. Governments all over the world try to prioritise the safety of their food because it is a major driver of food security. Nonetheless, foodborne illnesses continue to occur daily basis. Ghana has a legal framework, institutions and agencies at different levels of government for food safety management. Yet, Cape Coast in the Central Region grapples with foodborne related diseases, thus identified by UNICEF as a hotspot for foodborne related outbreaks. This study set out to explore the views and familiarity of food service operators on the regulation of their operations. Three hundred food service operators from the 16 communities were selected using purposive sampling method for the study. The findings showed that food service operators had functional knowledge of the rules and regulations, just about enough to guide their daily operations. Regulators were generally perceived to be friendly and accommodating but inadequate and irregular in their supervisory roles. It was recommended that regulators should have regular encounter with food service operators to enhance compliance and achieve the food safety goal.

Introduction of history in the Ghana basic school curriculum: The missing link

2023-12-11T15:53:15+00:00

This paper addresses the missing link in history education in the Basic School curriculum of Ghana. It examines post-colonial history education in Ghana and acknowledges the frantic efforts made by several authors to help introduce history into the Basic School curriculum. The paper maintains that while introducing history as a core subject at the Primary School level is widely accepted, the neglect of the same at the Junior High School (JHS.) level presents a missing link in history education in Ghana. Many history educators and academics have firmly debated this missing link, particularly historians in the media. The paper discusses the missing link and argues for the introduction of history at the Junior High School (JHS.) level within the context of the episodic memory theory. The paper insists that teaching history at the JHS level provides a crucial link between Primary School history and Senior High School history, which is a leveraging platform for studying history at the tertiary level. It also suggests that teaching history at the JHS level allows students to internalise values such as patriotism, moral values, solidarity, tolerance, national consciousness, etc., which are required social elements for nation-building. It concludes that incorporating history into the JHS curriculum would ensure continuity in the study of history from the Primary School level to the tertiary level and give more meaning to the rationale behind the introduction of history at the Basic School level.

Students’ level of academic cognitive engagement in the learning of economics

2023-12-11T16:11:05+00:00

This study examined students’ level of academic cognitive engagement in the learning of Economics. The study was a quantitative research that employed the descriptive cross-sectional survey design. In total, 422 Senior High School Economics students were selected for the study. The Academic Cognitive Engagement Scale (ACES) was used to gather data for the study. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (One-Way MANOVA) were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that Economics students’ level of academic cognitive engagement was high. Also, it was found that there were statistically significant differences in Economics students’ level of academic cognitive engagement based on their school location. In addition, the study showed that there were statistically significant differences in Economics students’ academic cognitive engagement based on school category. Therefore, it was recommended that teachers should continue to engage students in instructional activities that require students to use deep strategies. Additionally, teachers in rural schools should employ teaching strategies that would help students employ deep learning strategies in the learning of Economics. Lastly, in the organisation of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programmes and seminars for teachers on how to sustain and improve the cognitive engagement level of students, equal attention should be given to all the students in the various school categories. The practical implications of the findings are discussed in the study.

Influence of programme of study on the adjustment challenges faced by Colleges of Education Students in Eastern region, Ghana

2023-12-11T16:25:57+00:00

The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of the programme of study on the adjustment challenges faced by colleges of education students in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Using the descriptive research survey design, data were collected from 320 students through an online questionnaire. The Validity of the research instrument was ascertained through a pilot study carried out at Foso College of Education. The reliability coefficient for the questionnaire, estimated through Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, was 0.872. The collected data were analysed using ANOVA. The study found that the programme of study had a significant influence on the adjustment challenges faced by colleges of education students in Eastern Region of Ghana. The B.Ed. JHS programme respondents’ adjustment challenges differed significantly from those of the other two programmes (B.Ed. Primary and B.Ed. Early Childhood). The researchers suggested that college counsellors/administrators assess the frequency and intensity of adjustment problems among students, JHS major students especially, so as to assist relevant bodies at colleges of education in Eastern Region in designing appropriate orientation programmes and peer mentoring programmes.