Abstract:
Following the rollout of the Standards-Based Curriculum (SBC) in Ghanaian Basic
Schools in 2019, stakeholders have been curious to know the extent to which teachers
embrace the tenets of the curriculum and work to bring it to reality. For this reason,
this study assessed the teacher dimension in the implementation of the standards based curriculum in Ghanaian Basic Schools. The study employed the explanatory
sequential mixed-methods design, with questionnaire and interview guide as the
instruments used for data collection. A total of 241 public Basic School teachers in
the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality were randomly sampled for the quantitative phase,
whilst 8 teachers were purposively selected for the qualitative phase. Quantitative data
were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean and
standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient), whiles
qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The study found that Basic School
teachers have positive perception towards the new standards-based curriculum. Also,
teacher-personality factors such as professional training, motivation, attitude,
commitment, years of experience and content knowledge affect the implementation of
the standards-based curriculum. Again, the study found that school management
support teachers through supervision and monitoring, continuous professional
opportunities, adequate time and training to implement the standards-based
curriculum. However, support in the area of teaching and learning resources were
found to be inadequate. The study further established that years of experience have
statistically significant relationship with teachers‟ perception of the standards-based
curriculum. Recommendations have been made for the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal
Directorate of Ghana Education Service (GES) and other stakeholders in education to
support the implementation of the standards-based curriculum with learning resources
and training workshops for teachers.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Educational Foundation,
Faculty of Education Educational Studies, submitted to the
School of Graduate Studies, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Curriculum and Pedagogic Studies)
in the University of Education, Winneba