Deconstructing dominant English language discourses in the Ghanaian curriculum : reimagining a curriculum centered on Ghanaian languages and literacies

Abstract

Decades of research in language-in-education policies in Ghana can be summed up in the statement: "Ghanaian languages matter but they matter only as tools for learning English." Although researchers continue to call to include more content delivery in Ghanaian languages in schools, educational policies and practices in Ghana continue to prioritize English education inherited from Ghana's colonial past while devaluing and deprivileging Ghanaian languages and cultures (Dei and Asgharzadeh, 2001). Scholars continue to call for stakeholders to decolonize the curriculum by centering Ghanaian languages, culture, and knowledge in schools (Dei, 2005). This study heeds that call. Grounded in studies and theories of English linguistic imperialism and critical literacy, I first examine the discourse of the newly implemented 2019 K-6 primary school curriculum and public discourses of educational leaders to learn how curricular policies, content, assessment, and teaching and learning activities continue to center English-centric language practices and policies. Second, I reimagine how to center Ghanaian languages in education. I found that the curriculum does not resist English language dominance or question it but treats it as normal and aspirational for Ghanaian students. The topic of Ghanaian languages is absent in the public discourse of educational leaders including when they are addressing how to make education more equitable for students. This study is significant because it shows how formerly colonized spaces like Ghana through their own educational curriculum might be silencing and devaluing their own indigenous languages (and cultures) and it also demonstrates the role of educational leaders in shaping public discourse.