Nature of Textile Teachers Instructional Approaches and Students Skills Acquisition in Ghana Senior High School Classrooms

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate Ghana senior high school textile teachers' instructional approaches and students' practical skills acquisition. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design. The study targeted senior high school textile teachers, graduates and heads of visual arts department in Ghana senior high schools. The sample size for the study was 243 (225 teachers, 12 textile graduates & 6 HoDs). The study employed a questionnaire, document analysis, an interview guide and non-participant observation as research instruments for data collection. The findings of the study indicated that the textile training curriculum has enough practical components to equip learners with employable skills. The study also found out that most textile teachers used teacher-centred instructional methods of teaching such as lecture and whole class discussion methods than hands-on instructional methods such as demonstration, project method, field trip, learning by doing, and work-based learning. The study recommended that textile teachers should be encouraged to always use hands-on instructional approaches such as demonstration, project method and fieldtrip. Work-based (industrial attachment) which is not part of Ghana senior high schools textile system should be introduced into the curriculum.