Social Studies curriculum and climate change views of teachers’ and students’ in senior high schools in Bolgatanga Municipality

Abstract

The study sought to examined senior high school social studies teachers‟ and students‟ perceived challenges and responses to climate change in the Bolgatanga Municipality. A mixed method approach was used for the study. A convergent parallel design of mixed methods was employed for the study. A total of 172 respondents were sampled for the study. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 128 students and census survey was used to sample 41 teachers. Questionnaire and semi-structured interview guide was the main instrument for data collection. The data gathered was analysed using the Statistical Product Service Solutions (SPSS version 21) for the quantitative data whilst qualitative data was analysed thematically. Finding from the study revealed that; Social Studies teachers have, to a large extent, irreplaceable knowledge about the meaning of climate change, majority of the students were uncertain with most of the various definitions of climate change; majority of the teachers believed that the Social Studies curriculum addresses climatic issues to a large extent, most of the teachers agreed to all, the following challenges; inadequate TLMs for teaching climate change, unavailable of resource persons, Social Studies curriculum is overloaded with other issues, Abstract nature of the causes of climate change, difficulty in communicating climate change issues to the students, Centralization of the curriculum, inadequate curriculum designers‟ knowledge on climate change, inadequate teacher‟s knowledge on climate change, politicization of the debate on climate change, financial constraint, poverty and finally because the effect of climate change has not been sufficiently yet. It was recommended that Social Studies teachers should constantly revise their knowledge on climate change to continue keeping them abreast with current climatic issues, the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NaCCA) should consult teachers for their rich knowledge when introducing climate change issues or redesigning the Social Studies curriculum, a workshop should be organized for teachers of secondary schools to enable them have a better understanding to cope with the menace of climate change. This will equip them for classroom delivery.