This study explored gender differences in stressors experienced by teacher education students at the University of Ghana, and adaptation stratagems they might utilise to manage stress. In 2018–2019 academic year, a total of two hundred and seventy (270) second- and third-year students were selected using random sampling procedure to respond to closed-ended and open-ended questions in a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire was adapted from Dental Environmental Stress (DES) to measure stressors students encounter and the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (Brief COPE) to measure students’ coping stratagems they might use to minimise their stress levels (Folkman & Lazarus, 1984). It was pre-tested to learners of the faculty of education at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, to ensure the reliability and validity of the statements. The findings show that the students use multiple strategies, such as praying/meditating and self-distracting activities to cope with stress. Although, females had higher overall perceived stress levels regarding encountered academic stressors and health stressors, the difference between genders was insignificant. Similarly, females had a higher perception of stress from psychosocial stressors when likened to males, however, the difference between genders was also insignificant. Regarding perceived coping stratagems, females utilised adaptive coping stratagems whilst males utilised maladaptive and avoidance coping stratagems although the difference between genders was also not significant. The study recommended among others that males be urged to likewise utilise increasingly adaptive strategies to control strain.

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This study explored the work environment factors that support or constrain the application of teacher professional development initiatives in Ghanaian basic schools. Utilizing qualitative research paradigm, 15 teachers were purposively selected and interviewed from one educational district in Ghana. Findings from the study showed that headteachers support through the provision of the required teaching and learning resources, peer support through culture of shared norms, beliefs and values and the opportunity to share knowledge during school-based in-service training (INSET), interest and commitment shown by students toward learning, and availability of needed teaching and learning materials supported transfer of learning of teachers. In contrast, lack of time due to rigid and inflexible school timetable, teacher workload, and inadequate teaching and learning resources constrained effective transfer of professional development of teachers. The study concludes that educational policymakers and training practitioners need to support infrastructures that would empower headteachers to be resourceful in order to assist and provide teachers with the required teaching and learning facilities to facilitate the transfer of their learning.

The purpose of this research was to explore waste materials and turn them into appropriate instructional resources for teaching art lessons in Ghana. This was necessary because primary, junior and senior high school art teachers in Ghana mostly teach their lessons without using instructional resources because of non-provision of instructional resources by the government. The study adopted the exploratory and descriptive research methods to carry out the study. Paper, fabric and plastic waste materials were selected and worked with. The research found that waste materials can be recycled to create appropriate and useful instructional resources that are very practical for teaching and learning of art lessons. This research projects to art teachers that they can freely turn collected waste materials into very useful instructional resources which they can use to teach effective lessons to help their students understand what they taught well and easily.

This study was designed to examine Ghanaian teachers’ knowledge and usage of the flipped classroom instructional strategy. A survey of 109 teachers who pursued a master’s degree in education during the 2018/2019 academic year was used for the study. The instrument used for collecting data was a structured questionnaire. The result of the study was analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages) and inferential statistics (T-test). The results established that majority of the teachers acknowledged the importance of student-centred instructional strategy like the flipped classroom approach, however, majority of these teachers were of the view that they have not experienced or been introduced to this instructional strategy. It was, therefore, not surprising that most of the teachers attested to the fact that they are not using the flipped classroom instructional strategy. The results from the study also revealed that there was no significant difference between school type (public and private) and teachers’ knowledge and usage of the flipped classroom instructional strategy. The results from the study attest to the fact that the flipped classroom instructional strategy has not been conceptualised into the Ghanaian classroom. The researchers, therefore, recommend that there is the need for professional development training for teachers on the use of the flipped classroom instructional strategy and sensitisation workshop for students on the use of the flipped classroom instructional strategy and its relevance.

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The mass unemployment of the youth toady has mostly been attributed to the irrelevance of the school curriculum. However, the skills in the curriculum have not been subjected to critical analysis to empirically prove their relevance or otherwise. The purpose of the study was therefore to identify the skills embedded in the curriculum, those skills the learners have acquired and those that employers usually demand of employees by relating them to empirical findings of the skills employers in general demand of employees. A conceptual content analysis was used to determine the skills embedded in the curriculum. Purposive sampling procedure was used to select twenty-one students and fourteen key informants for an interview. The data from the interview were sorted out into themes and coded through the use of NVivo 8 to help in the counting of frequencies of each skill. It was found out that the senior high school curriculum, though was generally rated as relevant, the skills with the highest frequencies in the curriculum focused on attitudes and values while those required by employers focused on the application of knowledge. On the basis of these findings, it can be concluded that the curriculum is relevant in instilling values into the students but it is not relevant in the application of knowledge that employers usually demand of employees at the work environment.

The success of any educational system depends on how it is organised and the extent to which the stakeholders especially teachers accept and own it. The purpose of this study was to investigate pre-service teachers' (N = 58) professional identities using a qualitative approach where teachers were asked to produce a pen portrait of the perceived identities using openended questionnaires and drawings. The result from this study shows that the individual teacher's personal characteristics are paramount in shaping his/her personal identity. Teachers in our study generally described themselves as teachers who are working hard to help learners understand themselves and provide effective learning opportunities for students to excel and develop inherent capabilities. It is a great asset to have teachers who see themselves as agents of change rather than custodians of knowledge. It is important to have reflective dialogues with teachers to understand these personal characteristics that shape their identities.