An examination of junior high school social studies teachers’ professional identity in central region, Ghana

Abstract

The main focus of the study was to examine the opinion of JHS Social Studies teachers’ professional identity in four randomly selected districts in Central Region, Ghana. To arrive at this objective, five research questions were posed and two hypotheses formulated. Simple random sampling technique was used in selecting four districts in Central Region and 171 schools from which 171 Social Studies teachers in public junior high schools were purposively selected for the study. A four-point Likert type scale questionnaire was used to gather data from 171 JHS Social Studies teachers. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was ascertained using the Cronbach’s alpha which generated a reliability coefficient of 0.73. The design adopted for this study was descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Data collected was analysed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and the t-test and ANOVA were used in analysing the two hypotheses formulated. From the analyses of the data it was evident that, JHS Social Studies teachers in Central Region, had a high opinion of professional knowledge, professional values, professional skills and professional reflective practice as indicators of Social Studies teachers’ professional identity. They, however, perceived inadequate resources, difficulty in teaching integrated subjects and the low regard for Social Studies teachers as challenges that influenced the identity of Social Studies teachers. The study also revealed significant differences between males and female JHS Social Studies teachers’ professional values; significant differences in professional values on the bases of their teaching experiences was also evident. Based on the findings, it was recommended among other things that the district education directorate and Social Studies teachers themselves identify opportunities to acquaint themselves with current knowledge, values, skills and constantly reflect on their practices to enable them demonstrate attributes that would set them apart from teachers of other subjects. Besides, social studies teachers should be creative in developing resources themselves and use more internet resources to make teaching more interactive.