Beliefs on epilepsy in Northern Ghana. The National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework, (NTECF): The Essential Elements of Initial Teacher Education. He further made a remark, which we also observed on a visit to that College of Education. Western Governors University WGU. Adjei, P., Akpalu, A., Laryea, R., Nkromah, K., Sottie, C., Ohene, S., et al. Dev. Education has long been recognized as a global priority. High. What are some of the misconceptions and prejudices about teaching and how can they be addressed ? The GCM is a global tool for education and a global multi-stakeholder mechanism for education in the 2030 Agenda, with the governance mechanism for the GCM, being the High-Level Steering Committee (HLSC) that is mandated to take strategic decisions and action for education (20222023 members). London: Results for Development Institute en Overseas Development Institute. The Equality Act 2010 and the Social Model of Disability. J. Int. J. Curr. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Want to share a great resource? During this period, they are required to keep a portfolio for the documentation of their field experience activities. Incl. Oliver, M. (1990). curriculum is used by Colleges of Education and other Universities offering education programs, as it was collaboratively produced by four teacher education universities with senior members of Colleges of Education (Ministry of Education National, 2017). For example, in observing how a lesson is taught in week three of the student teacher observation checklist, the students are asked to identify How many girls and boys were called by the teacher to answer questions in class? and How did the teacher react to boys and girls differently if their responses to a question was not right? These two questions run through most of the weeks classroom observation. Physiotherapy 74, 650652. United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], (2021). 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. The interview with the key informant was done in English, conducted in the participants office, and lasted for an hour. The critical question is what to teach? 2nd Edn. Oliver, M., and Barnes, C. (1998). 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 Policy further requires a multi-disciplinary assessment procedure at all levels of education to meet the needs of all pupils/students. Teachers teach on average 24 periods per week. 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. Disabil. World Health Organization. The SDGs Goal 4.5 explicitly mentions persons with disabilities. London: UPIAS. Akyeampong, K. (2009). UNESCO organizes the Global Education Meetings in partnership with all global education actors toward achieving SDG 4 (Fontdevila and Grek, 2020). Yes, this is what we want the students to know. Teach. You can also describe the numerous meetings and committee work you're involved in. Agyire-Tettey, E. E., Naami, A., Wissenbach, L., and Schdler, J. 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. Similarly, it is common for teachers to use illustrative examples on the board or PowerPoint slides and ask students to see even though they have students with visual impairments. Persons with disabilities continue to lag in education, which affects their employment and income and overall well-being. Dev. She was also awarded the 2011 Massachusetts Commonwealth Award in Creative Leadership, and in 2007 was named a member of the 2007 USA Today All-Teacher Team. Other building facilities were ramped, but the ramps were not accessible. Buabeng et al. 6, 18. Howard, H. A., and Rhule, A. If so, what were some of the teachers actions that seemed to promote or not promote participation? These questions aim at understanding how the teacher manages the classroom environment. The main body of the module focuses on a comparison between two contrasting countries in Africa: Sudan and Ghana. A case study design was employed for this study. eSchool News uses cookies to improve your experience. In other words, Vocational and Technical Education and Training . 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. A large number of pupils struggle to meet the proficiency cut-off point for English and Mathematics between grades four and six. If your head doesn't explode upon hearing this comment, take the time to explain the endless lesson planning and grading teachers do after school, at home, and on the weekends. It seems everyone has an opinion about teachers and their profession these days and most of them arent teachers. We, therefore, recommend the need for student teachers to be grounded in disability issues in order to understand learners with diverse disabilities, their unique needs and how best they could help them. Afr. Herp-Ghana. (2018a). The SDGs target 4.8 outlines the need to build and upgrade educational facilities that are disability sensitive. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. Afr. Weekly on Wednesday. As Neubauer and Calame (2017) argues, the SDGs ought to be recognized as a unique opportunity to strengthen and intensify the dynamics of sustainability in higher education institutions all over the world. 1, 78377846. London: Macmillan. There are so many more misconceptions about teaching that I could easily write a Part II to this article. Systematic random sampling was used. Senior High School Education in Ghana, from September 2017 became free (Tamanja and Pajibo, 2019). Available at: https://www.ntu.eu/news-archive/the-importance-of-the-sustainable-development-goals/ (Accessed May 3, 2022). (2006) observed that most of pre-service teachers had misconceptions about photosynthesis and respiration in plants. Hopefully, the ones listed here will help you respond in the right way and shed some light on the truths of the teaching profession. 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. J. To achieve inclusive education, it is imperative that conscientious efforts are made to ensure that disability is mainstream, alongside other vulnerability/diversity variables, such as gender. Although the 2021 Ghana Population and Housing Census reports, that persons with disabilities in Ghana constitute about 8% (2,098,138) of the countrys population of 30,832,019 (Ghana Statistical Service, 2012), other reports show otherwise. So, the student teacher could identify a television as a resource for learning, but their reflection report does not create room for them to report on whether the resource is beneficial to learners with disabilities. "Teachers Have a Paid Summer Vacation", Each year, teachers must take an unpaid furlough during July and August. B. Braun, A. M. B., and Naami, A. National Teachers Standards Guidelines for Ghana: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike. Misconceptions previously reported include the interpretation of warning signs of pre-eclampsia as a normal occurrence during pregnancy. For example, in week five the learning activity for student teachers requires Observation of how socio-economic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds influence the way learners (a boy and a girl) learn. The statement above does not recognize disability as one of the backgrounds that influences learning. The teacher in the observation checklist can indicate that he/she is an inclusive teacher but prejudices and discrimination against persons with disabilities could cloud their self-consciousness about persons with disabilities. These questions, as far as I can tell, partly state some of the misconceptions about the teaching of CSE. Also, emphasis was place more on the classroom environment, which is good. 5. It could be an ice breaker or other warming up exercises that could exclude learners with disabilities. One common belief about teachers is that we never work during the summer. "Teacher Unions Impede Education Reform". She is the 2013 recipient of the Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award and the 2013 Boston Red Sox Most Valuable Educator Award. doi: 10.36251/josi.149, Nakua, E., Yarfi, C., and Ashigbi, E. (2017). Quality education for all? J. Soc. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. (2011). It was the first news agency . "Kids Today Are Entitled, Dangerous Brats", I can assure you that most of today's students are hardworking, fun-loving, eager-to-learn youngsters. ), but not the accessibility of these facilities. (2021). "Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action: Towards Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Lifelong Learning for All, UNICEF. Teacher Education in Ghana: Policies and Practices. Teachers Standards for Ghana: Guidelines. Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf (Accessed July 29, 2022). 10 Tips and Truths of Living with a Teacher, A Chance to Build Meaningful Relationships with Students, Engaging Students during the Long Winter Months, 5 REALISTIC Ways for Teachers to Get Healthier This Year. The 5 million figure collaborates with the World Health Organizations estimates that disability affects 1520% of every countrys population (World Health Organization, 2018). The school and its environment must be safe and accessible for all learners. Rather, impairment should be considered to enable provision of suitable accommodation for learners with disabilities. The social model stresses the removal of barriers to foster the inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream society (Shakespeare and Watson, 2010; Naami, 2014). As part of the global communitys efforts to address social problems collectively, post the Millennium Development Goals era, the Sustainable Development Goals were birthed in 2015 (United Nations [UN], 2015). We wanted to know more about how the student teacher is taught to reflect on disability. If you're a teacheror if you've even thought about being a teacheryou've probably heard a few of these common misconceptions about teaching. Colleges of Education are the settings where teachers are trained to develop required skills for effective inclusive education. 171, 434445. Perhaps it would be a different matter if the conceptions of teaching were like those of NASA engineers: smart, genius! The Politics of Disablement. doi: 10.54674/ess.v32i2.288. Clean. Access barriers encountered by persons with mobility disabilities in Accra, Ghana. (2018). Leal Filho, W., Shiel, C., Pao, A., Mifsud, M., vila, L. V., Brandli, L. L., et al. I can't attend a single event without one or two of these comments popping up. However, we think it's more accurate . The data sources were a face-to-face in-depth interview with the Quality Assurance Officer of the case and one site observation by the researchers. There is nothing like hearing a former student tell you about the positive change you've made in their life. It is the very special practitioner [who] makes a good educator; however, good educators need to have enough knowledge of their areas of expertise to cultivate excitement, curiosity, and spark the passion to commit to a vocation or avocation. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.032. World Health Organization. Disabil. Ghana: Ghana Assembly Press. 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. The government has found the SDGs to align with the current national vision of Ghana Beyond Aid, a long-term economic and social transformation strategy for national development (Republic of Ghana, 2019). 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. University culture and sustainability: designing and implementing an enabling framework. Disability should clearly be mentioned in the curriculum and the learning outcomes of the equity and inclusivity cross-cutting pillar and their targets as well as auxiliary materials of Colleges of Educations in Ghana. Yin, R. K. (1994). Unstructured questionnaires and Teacher observations were utilised in the process of generating the data. As our own founding fathers knew, we need checks and balances in our schools. The SDG 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (United Nations [UN], 2015). However, when we prob. The site observation was taken to audit the accessibility of the physical environment. 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.". All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version. 45, 175195. Inclusion in the policy sets out to create an education system that is responsive to learner diversity and to ensure that all learners have the best possible opportunities to learn. Educ. To be effective, a science teacher should not underestimate the importance and the persistence of these barriers to true understanding. The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The Jophus Anamuah-Mensah Educational Reform report (2007) presented the structure of education in Ghana to consist of two to threeyears of nursery school, six compulsory years of primary school, three compulsory years of junior high school and another threeyears of senior high school. United Nations [UN]. For example, Did the teacher ask learners with disabilities questions, and how did the teacher react to their responses? This will help identify the teachers perceptions, including biases and prejudices against learners with disabilities. Social Policy and Disabled People: From Exclusion to Inclusion. Naami, A. Nancy Barile is a National Board Certified Teacher, who has been teaching English Language Arts at a low-income, urban high school near Boston, MA for 22 years. Shakespeare, T., and Watson, N. (2010). Using the curriculum to promote inclusive education? It can deliver greater immersive learning for students while also creating some new and exciting teaching opportunities. Ghana developed an inclusive education policy in 2015 with an overarching goal of fostering equitable access to education for all children. In Ghana, there is one common educational curriculum run by the Colleges of Education. Yin emphasized that a single-case design could be selected because of its criticalness, extremeness, typicalness, revelatory power, or longitudinal possibility (Yin, 1994). If not, what can society do to nullify or erase some misconceptions about the teaching profession in Ghana and also equip ourselves in readiness for the task given to us as a group, that is Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Teaching Educators, Training Institutions, including the Universities and all other teaching affiliate bodies This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). In this paper, we used two analytical perspectives, the SDGs Goal 4 and the social model of disability, to understand whether or not student teachers are adequately prepared to deliver inclusive education in Ghana. 12, 2832. The Curriculum College of Education in Ghana also recognizes effective class management as sine qua non for classroom participation. 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? 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. The inclusive policy of Ghana envisions the curriculum to be functional and consider the childs cultural background, family/community resources, values, interests, aspirations, future goals, and opportunities. For example, ICF combines both the social and the medical models of disability. and can opt-out at any time. The first 9years constitute basic education and are free and compulsory. However, it is equally important to find out whether what the teacher does promotes participation or alienates others. Ghana 2012 human rights report. 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. So, we probed further and the narrative was: Yes, for example, so when you go to the school, we want you to try and see if you can find a child with special needs. Although the various studies by Dodor et . doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2013.07.034, PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar. Amandas Ong. Visit our Privacy Policyfor more information. The Togo slippery frog was thought to be extinct. The SDGs 4 set out to achieve inclusion and equality in education whilst the social model of disability provides us with the opportunity to identify barriers to inclusion and how to address them. Revisiting free compulsory universal basic education (FCUBE) in Ghana. There are few jobs that offer this kind of reward. A case study design is a qualitative research approach which focuses on a detailed exploration of a phenomenon within its content. Here, Jo discusses common misconceptions that may prevent career changers from entering the teaching profession. The FCUBE concentrated on enhancing the standard of instruction and learning, expanding educational access, and promoting the involvement of all school-age children, including the formation of local educational organizations to facilitate effective management of education (Agbenyega et al., 2005). The education of students with disabilities is affected by attitudinal, pedagogical, institutional, informational, and environmental accessibility barriers (World Health Organization, 2011; Nakua et al., 2017; Braun and Naami, 2021). The critical question is what to teach. 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 reforms (Barrett et al., 2019). Agbenyega, J. S., Deppeler, J., and Harvey, D. (2005). Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination: A Case for Anti-Discrimination Legislation. Prior to the 2018/2019 academic year, the Colleges of Education awarded diploma qualifications, while the universities awarded Bachelor of Education degrees and Post Graduate Diploma in Education PGDE/certificates in education. Yin, R. K. (2009). Dev. 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. Feel free to quote Diane Ravitch, one of the most respected voices in education, who notes that unions protect teachers' rights, support professionalism, and check administrative power. Stein, S., de Oliveira Andreotti, V., and Sua, R. (2019). Bentzen, L. (2015). Yin, R. K. (1981). J. Disabil. curriculum tasks student teachers to Identify school and student characteristics that act as barriers to learning. However, this statement is problematic as it is a wrong premise to understand barriers to learning for learners with disabilities. Adera, B. S. Grek, C. Maroy, and A. Verger (Milton Park: Routledge), 4358.