Democratic citizenship education in Ghana : Implications for teaching and learning in Ashanti Schools (original) (raw)
Related papers
Review Article CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN GHANA: A TRADITIONAL AND MODERN PERSPECTIVE IN DEVELOPMENT
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Citizenship education and pedagogy have gone through a number of changes in the decades encompassing the early days of our forefathers up to the modern days in Ghana. Throughout these dynamics, a number of changes both internal and external to the educational conceptions have shaped the role and direction of citizenship education. This article considers these changes from traditional and modern perspectives of Ghana. Through this historical overview, it is clear that there has been a change in the traditional form of citizenship education regarding new topics and the form of pedagogy over the last decades. Where it took the entire community members in an informal way to inculcate citizenship values among the youth has shifted to the formal education where the school is at the centre stage in shaping the youth to be civic conscious. It has become clear that the new focus for much of today's citizenship education has a greater emphasis on global citizenship a...
Exploring the Understanding of Teachers and Learners on Citizenship Education in Ghana
2018
A citizen is a person with membership in a political community such as a country or city. This person owes loyalty to the<br> state by birth or naturalization and in return enjoys the protection of the state or nation. A citizen is also a resident of a<br> city or town, especially one entitled to vote and enjoys other privileges there. Citizenship education seeks to train persons<br> living within specified boundaries on how to relate in their political locality, hence, emphasis is placed on gaining<br> knowledge, skills, methods and values needed to function effectively within the political community. From this study, we<br> are able to confirm that teachers and learners alike understand the essence of citizenship and the need for citizenship<br> education. Over 85% and 88% of learners and teachers respectively believe such education brings about the development<br> of civic competences and participation to make learners critical thinkers a...
This article contributes to the growing interest in the compromises which African models of citizenship education make between Western and indigenous curricular agendas. It traces how Nkrumah's educational ideals were reshaped by the teaching of human rights, individual independence, enterprise and economic development. We employ historical policy research, a critical literature review and interviews with key officials to construct a chronology of Ghanaian civic education, providing insights into postcolonial dilemmas around promoting national unity over social difference, critical learning and child-centred pedagogy, the valuing of indigenous cultures, challenging social inequalities and the need for the 'decolonisation of the mind' (Sefa Dei 2005b).
Citizenship in Ghana: understanding its cultural and political construction
2019
One characteristic of postmodern democratic reading of citizenship is the idea of the citizen as politically, socially, culturally, ecologically empowered and active. A complete citizen is thus one who enjoys his/her freedoms and rights, who fulfils his/her civic obligations, and who has equal opportunities to enhance his/her skills as a multifaceted individual. Within such rationale, the result of this citizen's action shall be stronger and better democracy in an inclusive society where human rights are effectively respected. Ghana´s democracy is young and continuously defied by complex challenges. Among such challenges, there are traditional cultural and socio-political sets of beliefs and practices that conflict with the common practices of Western democracy. In this work, we argue that although citizenship in Ghana has made some improvements over the last decades, its construction and enhancement as a policy and as a set of social and cultural experiences still face severe constraints. The constraints are mostly caused by the prevalence of embedded traditions regarding the conception of power structuring and of power relations, which limit the development of democratic practices in the management of citizenship. Until these bottlenecks have been removed, citizenship will keep close to inequalities and abuse of human rights (especially of the most vulnerable, such as women, children, and the physically challenged), reflecting more the prevalence of traditional logics of power, than of democratic values in favour of human dignity. In light of this, we argue, education for a new understanding of citizenship is a fundamental path.
International Journal of Educational Development, 2018
This article contributes to the growing interest in the compromises which African models of citizenship education make between Western and indigenous curricular agendas. It traces how Nkrumah's educational ideals were reshaped by the teaching of human rights, individual independence, enterprise and economic development. We employ historical policy research, a critical literature review and interviews with key officials to construct a chronology of Ghanaian civic education, providing insights into postcolonial dilemmas around promoting national unity over social difference, critical learning and child-centred pedagogy, the valuing of indigenous cultures, challenging social inequalities and the need for the 'decolonisation of the mind' (Sefa Dei 2005b).
Effective Teaching of Citizenship Education in Primary Schools in Ghana
This paper discusses the effective ways of teaching Citizenship education in Ghanaian primary schools. The paper indicates that effective teaching of citizenship education requires extra commitment on the part of the teacher to go through a process of identifying the problem of the topic, formulating concept of the problem, and breaking up the concept into content frames bearing in mind the philosophy and the general objectives of the subject. A good citizenship education teacher must have a grasp of the citizenship education syllabus and be a master of the various topics therein. He/ she should be able to integrate the goals and the attributes of the subject in teaching.
Since the advent of popular education, schools have been the space in which a society cultivates specific values in its youth. In parts of the world where formal schools arrived during the imposition of colonial rule, schools often cultivated values directly conflicting with those of the local community. This paper discusses current and historical education for citizenship in the Akuapem region of Ghana, and examines the ways schools have served to both alienate youth from their communities and redefine those communities. Scholars argue that students must be prepared for participation in multiple spheres: as members of their groups, of their communities, their nations, and an interconnected world. Few scholars have examined how this should take place in modern African nations. Using the framework of post-colonial theory, which interrogates assumed sameness and sees identity as hybrid and changing, I argue that literature on education for citizenship in Ghana does not engage the uneven power dynamic between the ideas of local, national, and global citizenship. I conclude with a brief discussion of the ways in which post-colonial theory can help explain the different ways students engage in ideas of global citizenship that coincide with Nyerere's vision of education for liberation.
Citizenship Education in the Colleges of Education in Ghana: what Tutors of Social Studies Say
2015
The purpose of this study was to explore the views social studies tutors in the colleges of education in Ghana with regard to the meaning and teaching methods that are most appropriate to teach citizenship education. The research drew upon social capital, ecological, and cognitive psychological theories to generate the conceptual framework for analysing the quantitative and qualitative data. The views of 36 tutors of social studies from eight colleges of education were surveyed through the multi-stage sampling technique, and eight respondents were interviewed to further understand the groups’ perception of citizenship education. The major findings were: (i) tutors generally agreed on the components of citizenship education, (ii) tutors generally agreed on the characteristics of a good citizen. (iii) There was general agreement among the tutors that various classroom activities were important in the teaching of citizenship education and were being taught effectively. It was recommend...
2005
In addressing issues related to problems of democratisation in Africa, this paper attempts to relate the issue to the need for citizenship education and the role that can play in social development. Citizenship should be central to the formation of viable civil societies that claim a tangible stake in national public spaces in post-Cold War Africa. These and related topics are discussed relative to new possibilities that could lead to the full realisation of the concept as well as the practice of enfranchised citizenship and inclusive social development in aspiring democracies in the Sub Saharan African context. The complexity of the development 'problematique' that Sub-Saharan Africa is facing is unique in that it is multi-dimensional, but above all else, politically located. It is, therefore, central to our discussions here that to correct the continent's current schemes of underdevelopment, pragmatic schemes of governance must be achieved. To do that, we are suggesting, new possibilities of citizenship education should be formulated for the general African scene in general, and for democratising but still both institutionally and economically weakened Zambia.
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2016
The purpose of this study was to explore the views social studies tutors in the colleges of education in Ghana with regard to the meaning and teaching methods that are most appropriate to teach citizenship education. The research drew upon social capital, ecological, and cognitive psychological theories to generate the conceptual framework for analysing the quantitative and qualitative data. The views of 36 tutors of social studies from eight colleges of education were surveyed through the multi-stage sampling technique, and eight respondents were interviewed to further understand the groups’ perception of citizenship education. The major findings were: (i) tutors generally agreed on the components of citizenship education, (ii) tutors generally agreed on the characteristics of a good citizen. (iii) There was general agreement between the tutors and trainees that various classroom activities were important in the teaching of citizenship education and were being taught effectively....