Abstract:
This study was carried out to investigate the state of implementation of the new Social
Studies curriculum in the Hohoe Municipality. A descriptive survey design was used,
employing structured questionnaires and structured observation checklist as data
collection instruments. The 62 social studies teachers who were part of the study were
all included using the census sample technique. In analyzing the teachers’ responses,
simple frequencies, mean and standard deviation were used to respond to the study
research questions. The findings of the study indicated that Social Studies teachers in
the Hohoe Municipality have moderated implemented the contents of the new
curriculum, commonly employing teaching techniques like lectures, group work, and
question and answer session. In addition, the teachers received various forms of training
and support on assessment procedure, topics in the new curriculum, supply of
softcopies of the curriculum, and useful resources packs, aimed to enhance the
implementation of the new social studies curriculum. Furthermore, the teachers faced a
range of challenge such as lack of teachers guide/manual, no textboks for students,
heavy workload on teachers, lack of command over cetain topics, and a scarcity of
instructional materials, in implementing the new Social Studies curriculum. In view of
the challenges, the teachers strongly called for diverse forms of support to be provided
in the form of teachers’ involvement in curriculum development, regular training
workshops, college/university training based on the new curriculum, assignment of
resource persons to schools, and the supply of needed instructional resources, as a way
of enhancing the implementation of the new Social Studies curriculum. Lastly, the
study found no statistically significant influence of teachers’ in-service training
attended on their extent of implementation of the contents of the new Social Studies
curriculum in the Hohoe Municipality. It was therefore recommended for tailored
professional development workshops, adequate supply of resources as well as regular
refresher courses, be provided for these teachers by the Hohoe Municipal Education
Directorate
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Basic Education,
School of Education and Life-long Learning,
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Basic Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
