This article focuses on teacher education in Ghana. It examines a number of reforms involving curricular changes and restructuring of teacher education institutions tasked with the responsibility of preparing teachers for the basic school level. The article highlights the structure and changes in Ghana's teacher development policies and practices following the adoption of a new programme which took effect in 2018 with the intake of the first batch of 4-year degree students in the country's Colleges of Education. We envisage that improved teacher qualification and a conscious effort to link theory to practice will result in improved teacher knowledge and skills required for a professional teacher. Despite this stated enthusiasm, a number of contextual issues which could negatively affect the intended gains from this most current reforms have been discussed. We end with a call on policy makers to address the contextual issues highlighted in this paper and also a need for continuity in teacher education policies in Ghana considering the numerous politically-related reforms.

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This study sought to examine the activities that go on in physics classrooms in Senior High Schools in Ghana. Specifically, the study sought to investigate the pattern of interaction and instructional methods used for teaching physics and level of coverage of physics syllabus. The survey design was employed for the study in which questionnaire was used for data collection. Participants for the study were physics teachers and final year physics students. Findings from the study suggest that classroom interaction seemed to be mostly teacher-centered and tended not to support inquiry-based teaching and learning which is noted for promoting conceptual change and enhance performance. It is recommended among other things that physics teachers should be exposed to efficient pedagogies of teaching and presenting information to learners. The traditional way of teaching where teacher decides on what goes on in the classroom has a limited space in the 21 st century science classrooms, particularly physics.

This paper explores New Zealand (NZ) physics teachers' and physics educators' views about Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Perspectives of physics teachers nationally indicated that in general, teachers considered themselves not well-prepared in some content areas including electronics, modern physics, and atomic and nuclear physics. This may be because in NZ, physics teachers have usually gained their content knowledge from an undergraduate science degree where they may have only taken one or two courses in physics. One year postgraduate teacher education programmes do not have sufficient time to cover the physics content taught in the final three years of schooling. The implications for ITE of physics teachers are discussed in terms of the shifts needed to help them to identify the gaps in their content knowledge and to develop their conceptual understanding of physics.

This paper reviews Ghana's performance in the TIMSS 2011 survey in comparison with other African and some high performing countries which participated in the TIMSS assessment. Students' achievement in the science content areas assessed were summarized and teacher preparation constructs of teachers of the students who took part in the assessment explored with the aim of finding any possible linkage between teacher preparation and students achievement. Two set of reviews were done. First, results on the eighth grade (JHS 2) science content achievement in biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science for Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia were compared. The second review compared how Ghana prepares her teachers to Finland and Singapore who were among the first five performing countries on the TIMSS 2011 assessment. Some mismatch was identified in terms of teacher preparation and students' achievement in the case of Ghana. Ghanaian teachers scored relatively high on most of the constructs that were measured by the TIMSS report under teacher preparation but these were not reflected in the students' achievement. In view of this, it is recommended that other indicators such as classroom instruction, resources for teaching science, and school climate are investigated with the aim of finding any other underlying factors that could account for the mismatch between Ghanaian students' achievement on the TIMSS science assessment and teachers' preparation.

This study sought insight into the professional learning and development needs of physics teachers in New Zealand high schools. It used a mixed methods approach that comprised a national survey of high-school physics teachers as well as interviews with high-school physics teachers and physics teacher educators. Data from the teacher survey were analysed using descriptive statistical methods. Audio recordings from interviews were transcribed, analysed and used to triangulate and add depth to the survey data. Findings indicated that physics teachers were dissatisfied with the lack of formal physicsfocussed professional development opportunities available to support their professional growth. Instead, teachers tended to rely on personal critical inquiry and infrequent practitioner meetings to inform practice. Suggestions for how to support the professional development needs of physics teachers better are discussed.

Assessment is a powerful tool for raising the standards of teaching and learning of mathematics at the junior high school level. This study therefore explored the perceived influence of assessment on the teaching and learning of mathematics in junior high schools of OLA Circuit in Cape Coast Metropolitan area. The research design used for the study is a concurrent triangulation mixed method design. A simple random sampling technique was used to select four (4) public junior high schools out of eight (8) schools in the circuit. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select the schools and participants for the study. A total of 134 participants comprising 15 teachers and 119 students participated in the study. The data for the study were mainly collected through questionnaires and interviews. Findings of the study revealed that class exercise, homework, and trial work were the most common mode of assessment used by teachers during mathematics instruction. Again, the study discovered that teachers faced some challenges in the implementation of classroom assessment. The study therefore makes certain recommendations likely to improve on the quality of assessment practices in mathematics classrooms in the focal schools.

Teaching as inquiry (TAI) is described as a component of effective pedagogy that has significant impact on learning outcome. Based on this premises, the study sought to examine TAI and its implications for teaching and learning in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study and a sample of 160 basic school teachers was selected from three circuits within the Cape Coast Metropolis. A questionnaire and an interview guide were used in collecting the data for the study. Data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency count, percentages and means and standard deviations) whereas the interview data was transcribed and presented by doing thematic analysis. The study revealed that majority of the respondents had knowledge about TAI. In addition, the study showed that the teachers engaged in TAI practices such as reflecting and questioning their methods of teaching, identifying the academic needs of students before planning instruction and engaging in projects and research concerning the subject and content to be delivered. Findings from the study showed that teachers who participated in the study have embraced the concept of TAI very well and considering how they can mentor and lead others. It was recommended that the Cape Coast Metropolitan education office should organize intermittent workshops and training for teachers on TAI to help teachers build specific skills and refinements for reflection and action and planning strategies to support learners to learn specific things (content or skills) that teachers can specifically monitor in terms of student outcomes.In every society, education has importance for the growth and development of the society. It is an instrument of