Abstract:
The objective of the study is to ascertain the effects of school location on the
academic activities of pupils and teachers of Dansokrom primary school; to identify
what motivate and drive the pupils towards the attainment of their academic
aspirations and to investigate the perception of parents/guardians on the influence of
school environment on the academic growth of their wards. The study adopted the
descriptive research design with the use of a survey instrument administered by the
researcher in-person to 65 participants selected through the multi-stage sampling
techniques. Data collected was handled quantitatively with the aid of the Statistical
Package for Social Science (IBM SPSS v.21) within the Positivists research
paradigm. The study found out that, the location of Dansokrom primary school has
effect on the academic activities of the pupils which manifests in their rampant
lateness to school to participate in morning assembly sessions, inability to partake in
early morning lessons, and to a minimum level, discourages their involvement in
school sporting/cultural/march pass activities. It also found that, the pupils are highly
motivated by the advice receive from their parents/guardians as well as the manner in
which their class teacher teaches them, to strive towards the attainment of their
academic aspirations. They are however, less motivated by their class/exams scores
and to a larger extent, demotivated by the current location of the school and its
environment. It again found that, parents/guardians of Dansokrom primary school
perceive the absence of classroom furniture such as tables and chairs; the absence of
school canteen and the lack of qualified teachers, as having the greatest influence on
the academic growth of their wards in that respective order. They however, consider
the cocoa farms surrounding the school, to have the least influence on the academic
growth of their wards. The research findings would significantly guide the Ghana
Education Service through its curricular development and capacity building
workshops for teachers, to re-orient instructors on their lesson delivery techniques and
classroom management. It again calls on the local assembly in collaboration with the
school authorities to locate canteen within the school compound. Since majority of the
pupils are motivated by the manner in which their class teacher teaches, a further
research work should be conduct in similar schools to ascertain the impact of divers
teaching methodologies on the teaching and learning process.
Keywords: school location, academic activities, pupils, school environment
Description:
A Dissertation in the Department of Political Science Education,
Faculty of Social Sciences, submitted to the School of Graduate Studies
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Education
(Political Science)
in the University of Education, Winneba.
SEPTEMBER, 2022