In an era when quality education is a concern for education-focused international organizations and dominates national debates, teacher quality must equally be a priority. The central role of the teacher requires that teacher education must be of the highest quality toward achieving any educational agenda. This article provides a synopsis and adds to the currency of contemporary teacher education efforts in Ghana. It presents key teacher training institutions in Ghana and highlights the structure of teacher preparation, type of teacher training pursued, and pathways to teacher development in Ghana. It examines how the question of approaches teacher educators use in training student-teachers can or cannot lead to the development of critical thinking skills, which are vital to promoting teacher effectiveness. We advocate that universities, colleges, Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service, and all bodies involved in teacher education in Ghana join forces to chart new content and, emphatically, approaches to teaching teachers-in-training that can promote critical thinking skills in teachers. With the increased private sector participation, we initiate a debate as to the need to ensure uniformity in teacher quality standards in Ghana.
This study examined some dimensions of discipline as perceived by lecturers, administrators, and students in the Faculty of Education, University of Cape Coast. It sought to find out whether differences exist in their perceptions regarding the importance of discipline, forms of indiscipline, and causes of indiscipline in the Faculty of Education. We adopted a crosssectional descriptive survey for the study involving 358 students, 11 lecturers, and 8 administrators. A customized Likert-type questionnaire was used for data collection to help answer the research questions and hypothesis formulated to guide the study. We found that there was no statistically significant difference in the perceptions lecturers, students, and administrators hold about disciplinary issues in the Faculty of Education. The need for university authorities to continuously use learning dialogue to engage students in decision making was highlighted so as to continue to achieve and enjoy a conducive environment for learning-as efforts are made to focus on students' learning.
Transformational leadership practice is associated with improved school functioning and quality education delivery through teacher commitment and willingness to exceed targets or educational benchmarks (Balyer, 2012;Nedelcu, 2013). The establishment of the Leadership for Learning (LFL) program in Ghana in 2009 aimed at improving the effectiveness of basic school head teachers to better lead schools to promote student learning. In this study, the perceptions of basic school teachers as to the transformational leadership conduct of head teachers who had received training under the LFL model were collected and reviewed. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to determine from teachers' perceptions how the conduct of head teachers related to transformational leadership. From the study results, the findings indicated that while teachers largely perceived their head teachers as transformational leaders, more than the influence of head teachers is required to motivate teachers to give of themselves to improve education outcomes. Recommendations and implications of the study for practice and research were considered.
This study examines the experiences of the only three female headteachers leading boys’ senior high schools (SHS) in Ghana to understand the uniqueness of their career journeys, on-the-job experiences and the leadership strategies. Qualitative phenomenological approach was used for the study. The three women were interviewed multiple times over a period of five months between November 2020 and March 2021. The data were inductively and deductively analysed to identify themes that help to tell their story. The results of this study show that early exposure to role models and socialisation into the power of positive thinking at the family, school and societal levels imprint values that inspired the participants to top leadership positions and the strategies they deployed – blending of motherliness and professionalism, networking and ethical leadership. The female headteachers are bridge builders and transformational leaders who are suitable for leadership in the twenty-first century. This study identifies several implications for female headteachership including: initial preparation for aspirants of school leadership positions, ongoing professional development, and support of female school leaders. The Ministry of Education should provide women with more headteachership or leadership opportunities in schools.
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