Ghana: Ghana Assembly Press. ), can be reviewed. doi: 10.4102/ajod.v6i0.341. Over five millennia, human hunting, fishing and habitat destruction . See response below: Whatever course that they take, we have components of misconceptions. Comp. In 2015, Ghana developed an inclusive education policy with an overarching goal of fostering equitable access to education for all children. This study investigated the use of concept cartoons to diagnose and remedy pupils' misconceptions in selected science concepts. Coast, Ghana E-mail of the corresponding author: kodwo33@gmail.com Abstract The general objective of the study was to evaluate the perspectives, conceptions and misconceptions of students on Industrial Attachment. We conclude that the student teacher has not been given enough opportunity to reflect on their values, beliefs, biases, and attitudes toward learners with disabilities to develop appreciation of learners with disabilities and to be sensitive toward them. "Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action: Towards Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Lifelong Learning for All, UNICEF. These misconceptions resulted in perceptions of stigma and discrimination towards people who may get Ebola or work with Ebola patients. I can't attend a single event without one or two of these comments popping up. doi: 10.21125/edulearn.2019.1906. (2014). Stressful school atmosphere, teachers' lack of knowledge and bad attitude towards work can equally hinder the reading process at this level. United Nations [UN]. on the eve of Ghana's independence and charged with the "dissemination of truthful unbiased news". They also observe some of the qualities of the classroom teacher. "Teachers Have a Paid Summer Vacation", Each year, teachers must take an unpaid furlough during July and August. It's never wise to centralize power in one person, whether that's a superintendent or a mayor. Clean. Yin, R. K. (2009). For educators, it is crucial to not only understand what the metaverse is and its uses within education but to also realize the benefits of immersive learning with the metaverse. Examples of how anthropomorphism is misleading. Challenges and opportunities for inclusive education in Ghana. 8:1056630. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1056630. Disabil. Newman, E. K. (2013). Take the example of a smart speaker. Therefore, it is very important to assess how student teachers at the Colleges of Education in Ghana are integrating inclusive education consistent with SDG 4. As noted by Calles (2020) the process of truly integrating the SDGs in tertiary institutions is sine qua non. Teaching is the profession that makes all others possible, and what it lacks in salary, it makes up for in job satisfaction. However, when we prob. (2015). Ghana is no exception. Edu. Stein, S., de Oliveira Andreotti, V., and Sua, R. (2019). To these little ones, reading must be fun. Senior High School Education in Ghana, from September 2017 became free (Tamanja and Pajibo, 2019). 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. The proponents of the Social Model of Disability acknowledge that impairment could pose a limit to the functioning of persons with disabilities. 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 proponents of the social model of disability contest that a students personal characteristics such as having an impairment is not the major impediment to learning, but barriers created by schools and society (World Health Organization, 2011; Nakua et al., 2017; Braun and Naami, 2021). Umm.Not.So.Much. The school and its environment must be safe and accessible for all learners. Hopefully, the ones listed here will help you respond in the right way and shed some light on the truths of the teaching profession. Akyeampong, K. (2009). J. 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. Barrett, P., Treves, A., Shmis, T., and Ambasz, D. (2019). The inclusive education policy acknowledges that: all children can learn irrespective of differences in age, gender, ethnicity, language, and disability. 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. 45, 175195. 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 The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning: A Synthesis of the Evidence, Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. Geneva: World Health Organization. Howard, H. A., and Rhule, A. Educ. Access of the surroundings of the classroom and school facilities should be target for reflection given that inaccessible school environment affects learning outcomes (Moria and Morgado, 2018; Braun and Naami, 2021). Every child has a right to access quality education and acquire skills UNICEF/UN362021/ACQUAH The Social Model of Disability was proposed by advocates of the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) in 1976 (Shakespeare and Watson, 2010) which was later given credence to the works of scholars such as Oliver (1990), Oliver and Barnes (1998), Finkelstein (1980, 1988), Barnes (1991), and Shakespeare and Watson (2010). 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. The achievement of one goal leads to achieving another goal (Bentzen, 2015; United Nations Communications Groups [UNCG], 2017; United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2021). 6, 18. Access to higher education in Ghana: examining experiences through the lens of students with mobility disabilities. Our analytical tools, social model of disability and the SDGs goal 4 were synergistic, which allowed for comparative analysis. J. Int. Inclusive education policy. Available at: http://www.voiceghana.org/downloads/MoE_IE_Policy_Final_Draft1.pdf (Accessed November 25, 2022). The interview with the key informant was done in English, conducted in the participants office, and lasted for an hour. For instance, some Ghanaian teachers utilize proverbs and stories to contextualize their messages and some of these are negative toward persons with disabilities and teachers unconsciously make their statements without knowing that they are hurting some learners in the classroom. The HLSC therefore engages with the wider United Nations SDG structure at global and regional levels (Chaturvedi, 2021). 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). Teachers in the U.S. do make far less than similarly educated professionals. Ghana Statistical Service. 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. The Policy further requires a multi-disciplinary assessment procedure at all levels of education to meet the needs of all pupils/students. 27, 689701. Socioeconomic factors hindering access to healthcare by persons with disabilities in the Ahanta west municipality, Ghana. Harlow: Longman. The critical question is what to teach. Obviously, we did not get adequate information about how the student teacher is prepared on the equity and inclusivity outcome. Leeds: Disability Press. 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. She is the 2013 recipient of the Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award and the 2013 Boston Red Sox Most Valuable Educator Award. 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). AN managed the project, including research planning, methodology, the design of the research instruments, fieldwork, data analysis, writing of results and assembled, wrote, and edited the first draft of the manuscript. In year two, the student teachers are required by the curriculum to imbibe knowledge on values and attitudes that has the potential of impacting learning. The policy (Ministry of Education, 2015: p. 6) defines a child with special educational needs [SEN] as: a child with disability, namely, visual, hearing, locomotor, and intellectual impairments. Throughout the curriculum and other auxiliary documents, there are phrases and statements such as How much time was spent helping this student? Did the teacher spend time helping them Did the student(s) with learning needs successfully complete the activities/tasks assigned in the lesson? These questions amply testify that the focus of curriculum and other auxiliary documents are on learners with learning difficulties to the neglect of other categories of disabilities. Oliver, M. (1990). So, its good that you are bringing some of these things out. Persons with disabilities constitute about 15% of the world population, with about 80% of them living in countries of the global south, including Ghana (World Health Organization, 2011). Yin, R. K. (1994). World Health Organization. Here are 10 misconceptions about teachers and teaching that emerged from readers (responses edited for brevity): The one misconception I would like to clarify is around the phrase, Those who can cannot do, teach. While many educators are active contributors to the particular area in which they have domain expertise (i.e. 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? 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. Attitudinal barriers are cited as major barriers to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all spheres of life in Ghana (Kassah et al., 2012; Adjei et al., 2013; Dugbartey and Barimah, 2013; Naami, 2014). Incl. (2006) observed that most of pre-service teachers had misconceptions about photosynthesis and respiration in plants. doi: 10.1177/107554708100300106. However, they posit that persons with disabilities are disabled more by their environment and other processes than their perceived impairments (Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation [UPIAS], 1976). They contend that the GCM at best, is an ecosystem that consists of all global education actors that participates in the Global Education Meeting and have agreed to work cooperatively in support of SDG 4. Int. J. Soc. 1. Teachers need much pedagogical preparation on topics including educational psychology, classroom management, assessment, curriculum instruction, communication skills, and budgeting. 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. In Ghana, there is one common educational curriculum run by the Colleges of Education. According to the Colleges of Education Act of 2012, Act 847, the process of preparing teachers in Ghana to teach at the basic school level takes place at the College of Education (CoE). 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. There is nothing like seeing your students succeed. My students work extremely hard to overcome obstacles and achieve. 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. Calles, C. (2020). United States Department of States. The requirements for a qualified teacher include all of the skills needed for the 21st-century workplace. Mary Montag, teacher, St. Teresas Academy. Available at: https://www.ntu.eu/news-archive/the-importance-of-the-sustainable-development-goals/ (Accessed May 3, 2022). Common misconceptions of Africa are explored in the second lesson, through a range of activities which again highlight the wide diversity of opportunities, challenges and life styles. The Colleges of Education award diploma qualifications, while the universities awards Bachelor of Education degrees and PGDE/certificates in education. Misconception:Some materials are intrinsically cold.22 Concept: Light propagates and interacts with matter, and it is passively detected. Yes, this is what we want the students to know. The curriculum of the Colleges of Education in Ghana emphasis on the need for student teachers to reflect on their own beliefs and biases to enhance acceptance and conscientious efforts toward accommodating learners with disabilities to increase their inclusion. According to the Colleges of Education Act of 2012, Act 847, the process of preparing teachers in Ghana to teach at the basic school level takes place at the College of Education (CoE). 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. J. Res. 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. To achieve inclusive education, a curriculum reform is fundamental to achieve the necessary improvements in the quality of new teachers. Cc: Ellis Ferdinand Colleges of Education are the settings where teachers are trained to develop required skills for effective inclusive education. Using the curriculum to promote inclusive education? (2015). London: UPIAS. In the 24 years I've worked as a teacher, I've never had a single summer "off.". CBR Incl. - Equip teachers with good communication skills. And that is all before a teacher steps into a classroom. Copyright 2023 Naami and Mort. The B.Ed. UNESCO organizes the Global Education Meetings in partnership with all global education actors toward achieving SDG 4 (Fontdevila and Grek, 2020). Curriculum in 2018 was written to reform education and the school curriculum. At the end senior high school (12th grade) students get to attend universities and other tertiary education institutions. Weekly on Wednesday. Kassah, A. K., Kassah, L. L., and Agbota, T. K. (2012). To be effective, a science teacher should not underestimate the importance and the persistence of these barriers to true understanding. International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health: Children & Youth Version: ICF-CY. Available at: https://ghana.un.org/en/about/about-the-un (Accessed August 10, 2022). We met to discuss and merged emerging codes and themes and subthemes. 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. Other building facilities were ramped, but the ramps were not accessible. Goal four of the SDGs calls for inclusive and equitable quality education for all (Johnstone et al., 2020). Let us know at submissions@eschoolmedia.com. Systematic random sampling was used. Government of Ghana. 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. Thus, there should be more exercises to enable the student teachers to strengthen their reflection on disability to improve acceptance of persons with disabilities. Quality education for all? The perils and promises of inclusive education in Ghana. Burnett, N., and Felsman, C. (2012). Clearly, some people will hold onto their mistaken views no matter how much evidence you present them. Shakespeare, T., and Watson, N. (2010). 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. 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. The critical question is what to teach? Nancy was a Top 50 Finalist for the Varkey Global Teacher Prize 2015. Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Vol 5. doi: 10.5430/jct.v9n1p86. The study explicitly followed a qualitative approach to research specifically a case study design. In spite of the progress that Ghana has made in improving access to school, several children cannot read or write. 5, 115. These questions, as far as I can tell, partly state some of the misconceptions about the teaching of CSE. As the quality assurance officer of this particular institution, these are some of the questions I ask my coordinators. 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. The principle of universal design in the policy offers learners multiple means of representation, expression, engagement, motivation and tapping into learners interest. Figure 1. Disabil. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a comprehensive framework to describe health and health-related issues including disability. Physiotherapy 74, 650652. 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. Disability and health: Fact sheet. Beyond models: understanding the complexity of disabled peoples lives in New Directions in the Sociology of Chronic and Disabling Conditions. 2010 Population and Housing Census: Summary Report of Final Results . Yin emphasized that a single-case design could be selected because of its criticalness, extremeness, typicalness, revelatory power, or longitudinal possibility (Yin, 1994). The components of the learning outcomes we analyzed in the light of the SDGs Goal 4 targets 4.5, 4.6, and 4.8 and the social model of disability (See Supplementary Tables S1S3). London: Chartered Society of Physiotherapy London. Dev. The outcome of the conference called for students with disabilities to be educated within an inclusive education system. further about the omission of an important aspect of school facilities, which is accessibility, from the student reflective portfolio, he made these remarks: I am very happy you brought this up. eds. Certification helps to build a skilled workforce that meets the needs of local employers and government tech initiatives. Social Policy and Disabled People: From Exclusion to Inclusion. Further reading: 10 Tips and Truths of Living with a Teacher, 2. Sometimes I just give these folks a little rundown of my week. Available at: https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/204336.pdf (Accessed May 10, 2022). 4. Braun, A. M. B., and Naami, A. Why are in-service teachers not writing Exams to acquire the License. The policy is novel to the teaching profession in Ghana and those already in the service are given the privilege to just register on the teachers portal for the License to be issued to them. 171, 434445. The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1056630/full#supplementary-material, Adams, R., Martin, S., and Boom, K. (2018). United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], (2021). 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. Copyright 2023 eSchoolMedia & eSchool News. The upgrading of teacher training institutions to colleges of education: Issues and prospects. If your Aunt Sally really wants to help, she can vote for legislation that ensures teachers are paid fairly. 2.2 Misconceptions about TVET education The misconceptions surrounding TVET Education are more negative than positive (Fusheini et al., 2021, Fusheini, . The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author. World Health Organization. Given that persons with disabilities have been marginalized in all spheres of life, including their families and caregivers (Naami, 2019), conscientious efforts must be made to ensure that persons with disabilities/organizations of persons with disabilities or individuals/organizations that have the capacity to represent them are at the decision-making table to ensure that their needs are adequately addressed (Agyire-Tettey et al., 2019). In addition, the curriculum requires student teachers to find out if there are other learning resources apart from computer(s). (2019). The lower part of the diagram further illustrates the impact of contextual factors such as environmental (e.g., social, physical, transportation, and information barriers) and personal factors (e.g., education, gender, social background, and profession). These questions, as far as I can tell, partly state some of the misconceptions about the teaching of CSE. Naami, A. High. There is nothing like hearing a former student tell you about the positive change you've made in their life.
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