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A vision of successful schooling: Ghanaian teachers' understanding of learning, teaching and assessment

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 09:50 authored by Kwame Akyeampong, John Pryor, Joseph Ghartey Ampiah
This article reports on an empirical study exploring Ghanaian teachers understandings of teaching, learning and assessment. It argues that received views of poorly trained teachers with untheorized and badly reasoned professional practices may mask a more complex situation. In defining learning, teachers in the study reproduced models consistent with transmission or behaviouristic theories. However, when asked to describe their most successful experiences, teachers understandings were more in accord with social constructivism. Also, their aspiration towards interactive models of classroom assessment was circumscribed by the normal context of assessment discourse and by bureaucratic requirements. The paper concludes that, given the right circumstances, teachers can reflect on their experiences and produce a more sophisticated account of teaching and learning. It suggests ways in which in-service work might be make use of these insights, recommending further attention to the discursive frames of teachers professional reflections within dialogue and active engagement through school-based coaching.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Comparative Education

ISSN

0305-0068

Issue

2

Volume

42

Page range

155-176

Pages

22.0

Department affiliated with

  • Education Publications

Notes

This research-based article which Akyeampong led both in the field and writing, theorized an alternative viewpoint of educational practice in African schools and presented a richer and deeper understanding of teachers' professional knowledge within the African context. This latest work typifies the focus of Akyeampong's recent research, which has been aimed at bringing into the education development discourse a deeper theoretical understanding of education policy and practice in the African context.

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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