alternative by Kwadwo Oteng Akyina
Journal of Education and Practice, 2024
This study aimed to support novice teachers in teacher education institutions in Ghana on how men... more This study aimed to support novice teachers in teacher education institutions in Ghana on how mentoring and supported teaching in schools (STS) can be used to shape the novice teacher's thought on the school profile dimension throughout the mentoring relationship. The purpose is to review literature on mentoring using Hudson's five factor mentoring model process and STS and think through how mentoring and STS can be improved in teacher preparation. The Hudson's five factor model of mentoring was used as the conceptual framework. Methodology: The study was conducted using document analysis (secondary data sources), such as reports, online papers, or datasets that have already been gathered from Google, ERIC, Research gate, and Academia. Findings: The findings of the study were that the STS has created an opportunity for mentors to spend time with their mentees and share their professional and pedagogical experiences. Again, it is believed that structured mentoring, feedback and reflection would enhance the student teacher's capacity to succeed. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study suggests that there should be ongoing professional development for mentors, structured mentoring programmes, feedback and reflection mechanisms to check for coherence through assessment procedures and monitor students' progress. Case study research can also serve to illuminate both positive and problematic aspects of the STS mentoring.
The purpose of this study was to take a critical inventory of the various 21st century digital to... more The purpose of this study was to take a critical inventory of the various 21st century digital tools and software applications being used in the primary schools of one of the districts in the Ashanti Region, so as to draw some implications for improving education in Ghana. The educational district was carefully chosen due to the number of schools in the district and the fair knowledge of the educational district by the researchers. The study was meant to compare the current technology architectural outlook of the schools in the district to the findings of a study by Morrison and Lowther [23], which sought to identify the digital tools and software applications that were available in the classrooms of the United States of America. The researchers conducted a non-participatory observation in all the 20 public primary schools in the district and interviewed 10 information and communication technology coordinators (ICTCs) on issues that centred around the things observed as a follow-up. After the investigation, it was found that many classrooms in the district did not have electricity. Second, majority of the primary schools within the district did not have computer laboratory. Third, the majority of the schools did not own digital tools in their schools and therefore used the services of business centres around the school premises. Finally, none of the six schools with the computer laboratory was connected to the internet but rather, had older versions of the Microsoft Office suite on their machines for offline use. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Finding solutions to the challenges with the use of alternative strategies to corporal punishment... more Finding solutions to the challenges with the use of alternative strategies to corporal punishment to ensure a long-lasting discipline in schools is a concern of educational stakeholders. This study employed a qualitative research approach, involving interviews with 15 basic school teachers and focus group discussions with 15 basic school headteachers in the Mampong Municipality of Ghana, to explore their perspectives on addressing challenges associated with using alternative strategies to corporal punishment. The phenomenological research design was used to ascertain the lived experiences of the participants on the phenomenon under study. Seven action-oriented activities on the part of stakeholders were drawn from the thematic analysis of the data, as ways of addressing the challenges with the use of alternative strategies to corporal punishment. It was recommended among others that, for a successful use of the alternative strategies, education of stakeholders and stakeholder collaboration on the use of the strategies are necessary.
European Journal of Psychological Research, 2024
Finding solutions to the challenges with the use of alternative strategies to corporal punishment... more Finding solutions to the challenges with the use of alternative strategies to corporal punishment to ensure a long-lasting discipline in schools is a concern of educational stakeholders. This study employed a qualitative research approach, involving interviews with 15 basic school teachers and focus group discussions with 15 basic school headteachers in the Mampong Municipality of Ghana, to explore their perspectives on addressing challenges associated with using alternative strategies to corporal punishment. The phenomenological research design was used to ascertain the lived experiences of the participants on the phenomenon under study. Seven action-oriented activities on the part of stakeholders were drawn from the thematic analysis of the data, as ways of addressing the challenges with the use of alternative strategies to corporal punishment. It was recommended among others that, for a successful use of the alternative strategies, education of stakeholders and stakeholder collaboration on the use of the strategies are necessary.
European Journal of Education Studies, 2024
This study was conducted to determine the alternative strategies to corporal punishment used by s... more This study was conducted to determine the alternative strategies to corporal punishment used by some basic school teachers in Mampong Municipality in the wake of the abolition of corporal punishment in Ghanaian schools. The study used a qualitative research approach and phenomenological research design to study 15 basic school teachers and 15 headteachers who were purposively sampled for the study. Interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. It was found that the teachers used positive discipline strategies, such as rule setting, rewards presentation, guidance and counselling and mild punishment strategies, such as task assignment, withdrawal from pleasant activity and upstanding as alternative strategies to corporal punishment. This implies that the teachers follow the recommended discipline policy of the Ghana Education Service (GES). It was recommended, among others, that continuous professional education should be conducted by GES for the teachers to keep them abreast of the use of alternative strategies.
British Journal of Education, 2024
This critical review, which was done on thematic basis, covers literature mainly from the period ... more This critical review, which was done on thematic basis, covers literature mainly from the period of 2015-2022 on corporal punishment obtained from some major databases and textbooks. The review, which took a funnel approach, covers literature from global, African and Ghanaian perspectives on corporal punishment. The review which covers literature on what is corporal punishment, forms of corporal punishment, prevalence of corporal punishment and reasons for the use of corporal punishment among others, is intended to give understanding on the use of corporal punishment in society. It also aims to guide future studies on the use of corporal punishment and the call for the use of other alternatives to corporal punishment.
This study was a qualitative research study utilizing the phenomenological research design, which... more This study was a qualitative research study utilizing the phenomenological research design, which was carried out to ascertain the lived experiences of teachers on the effectiveness of alternative strategies to corporal punishment in Ghanaian Basic schools. With the in-depth interview of fifteen teachers and focus group discussion with fifteen headteachers in Mampong Municipality, three main benefits were identified from the use of these strategies namely: improved pupil-teacher relationships, improved behavior, and improved school climate. This implies that the teachers perceive the alternative strategies as effective to some extent. It was recommended that to encourage the use of these strategies in Ghanaian basic schools, there should be continuous education of stakeholders on the use and the benefits of the use of these alternative strategies.
This study was an investigation into the perception of married people in Techiman Municipality ab... more This study was an investigation into the perception of married people in Techiman Municipality about premarital counseling. The purposive and the disproportional stratified sampling methods were used to select eight churches and 259 respondents (married people) respectively in the Techiman Municipality for the study. The instrument used to collect data was a questionnaire. It consisted of five-point likert scale items designed by the researcher and was administered to married people in the municipality. The researcher had three research questions to work with. The major finding from the study was that premarital counselling has positive impact on marriages and Techiman Municipality married people have positive perception about premarital counselling .It was suggested that premarital counselling should be maintained and encouraged in all churches. All these can be a reality if more counsellors are trained. This means that universities should increase their intake of students in guidance and counselling so that more professional counselors could be turned out to help in this direction
The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of parents' socioeconomic status on t... more The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of parents' socioeconomic status on the academic performance of Yamfo Anglican Senior High School Students in the Tano North District of the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. In order to have an adequate representation of the population of the study, eighty (80) students were selected from the second year class using a simple random sampling technique. The total population of second year class was 213 students. The study was a survey type and therefore a self-designed questionnaire was adopted to collect data. The data was therefore analysed via simple frequencies, tables and percentages. The socioeconomic status of parents for this study was denoted by parents' educational level, parents' occupational level, parents' income level and parental care. The findings of the study were that, parents' educational level, parents' occupational level, parents' income level and parental care have an effect on the academic performance of students of Yamfo Senior High School. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that unemployment should be controlled. Also, needy but brilliant students should be provided with scholarships, free textbooks and stationery. In addition, government should take steps to raise the socioeconomic status of its citizenry.
The study sought to find out whether Senior High School students in Kwabre East District make rat... more The study sought to find out whether Senior High School students in Kwabre East District make rational choices of academic programmes in school. The population of the study was all students in the six Senior High Schools in Kwabre East District. However, the Form 3 students were purposively sampled for the study. Stratified random sampling technique with proportional allocation was used to sample 331 Form 3 students from the various programmes in each school for the study. A self-made questionnaire was used to gather data from the 331 respondents. A total of 320 copies of the questionnaire were obtained from the respondents. Statistical Product for Service Solutions was used to analyze the data. Frequencies and percentages were analyzed to answer all the research questions.It was found out that generally Senior High School students in Kwabre East District make rational choices of their programmes of study. This is because most of them assessed their strengths and weaknesses and sought information on their programmes before choosing them. Again, most of them chose their programmes based on their abilities or interests. However, few of them sought counselling from qualified counsellors before choosing their programmes. It was recommended that school counsellors should reinforce students' rational programme choice behaviour by intensifying counselling in schools so that students will continue to make rational choices of programmes in school.
The study adopted the descriptive survey design to investigate the effect of divorce on parenting... more The study adopted the descriptive survey design to investigate the effect of divorce on parenting, psyche and behaviour of affected students. Hundred students, 10 parents and 10 school counsellors were used in the study. The study was guided by two research questions. It was revealed that divorce negatively affect parenting, psyche and emotional behaviour of affected students. Respondents gave recommendations to reduce cases of divorce. It was recommended that school counsellors identify students from divorced families and counsel them against the development of negative tendencies on their (students) part.
There is low choice of Agriculture Science programme among female Senior High School (SHS) studen... more There is low choice of Agriculture Science programme among female Senior High School (SHS) students in Ghana. The study therefore set forth to find out the underlying reasons of this phenomenon. Three hundred and ten non-science and non-agriculture science female students from three SHSs in Afigya Kwabre District were sampled for the study. A self-made questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. It was found out that the underlying reasons for the low choice of the programme were lack of guidance and counselling, lack of scholarships for females to enrol in the programme, lack of female role models in Agriculture, mathematics based nature of Agriculture Science and teaching approaches used by Agriculture Science teachers. The rest were difficult nature of Agriculture, too much practical based nature of the programme, failure in examinations by a lot of females who pursue it and more natural science based of the programme. Recommendations were made to improve upon females' choice of Agriculture Science programme in SHSs.
The study set off to find out the effect of divorce on academic performance of selected public Se... more The study set off to find out the effect of divorce on academic performance of selected public Senior High School students in Bolgatanga municipality of Ghana. Descriptive survey design was adopted and a combination of simple random, purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to select 100 students, 10 school counsellors and 10 parents for the study. Frequency analysis and t-test were used to answer the research questions and test the hypothesis respectively. It came out that students from divorced homes were high academic achievers but became low academic achievers after their families divorce. Divorce was therefore found to significantly limit students' academic performance. It was recommended that counsellors identify students from divorced homes and counsel them.
Journal of Education and Practice, 2019
Globally, the current advancement in technological gadgets has provided smartphones as a new tool... more Globally, the current advancement in technological gadgets has provided smartphones as a new tool for both teachers and students to support classroom and off classroom learning. This has led to the call for its integration into the educational system of health training schools in Ghana. The researchers studied health trainees' perception on the effects smartphone usage has on their attitudes towards learning. This study was grounded on the views of constructivist theory of learning. A descriptive cross sectional study design was adopted. Among 614 health trainees studying various medical and allied health courses at the College of Health-Yamfo of Ghana, 138 students were selected using both stratified and systematic sampling methods. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data. The outcome of the study indicated that health trainees who use smartphones in their learning activities develop positive attitude towards learning (76%). However, it was revealed that health trainees who do not use smartphones in their learning activities had negative attitude towards learning (57%). They were also not confident; did not complete assignments; depended on others during studies and did not have access to large volume of information via the internet. Finally, chatting through WhatsApp and other social media applications during lectures and small screen size were barriers to effective use of smartphone in learning activities. The study recommends development of policy that would encompass the integration of smartphone usage into teaching curriculum of health training schools in Ghana.
International Journal of Innovative Research and Advanced Studies (IJIRAS), 2018
Epistemological belief systems continue to receive the attention of researchers from Western and ... more Epistemological belief systems continue to receive the attention of researchers from Western and Asian
contexts. However, nations in Sub-Saharan Africa are yet to join this important discussion. The main purpose of this
study was to investigate the epistemological beliefs and instructional practices of in-service teachers in Ghana and how
these beliefs related to instructional practices. The results indicated that Ghanaian in-service teachers had somewhat
novice epistemological beliefs. The researcher found significant differences among the four dimensions of
epistemological beliefs. The results also indicated no correlational relationship between epistemological beliefs and
instructional practices of in-service teachers in Ghana. However, there were significant correlational relationships
between epistemological beliefs and instructional practices based on the years of teaching. The implications for practice
are discussed.
International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 2018
The main thrust of this study was to establish some predictor and intervening variables that infl... more The main thrust of this study was to establish some predictor and intervening variables that influence day Senior High School (SHS) students' performance in Mathematics and English Language in the Ashanti Mampong Municipality. Descriptive and correlational research designs were used and questionnaire was used to collect data. The sample size was 465 day students via a multi-stage sampling procedure. The findings of the study established that parents' level of education, parents' involvement, parents' academic ambition for their children, peer influence, students' academic ambition and students' academic effort have a positive relationship with day students' performance in Mathematics and English Language. Based on the findings of the study, the researchers failed to reject the null hypothesis. Based on these findings, parents should get involved in their wards' education. Also, parents should be interested in the kind of friends their children make. Again, parents should transmit and inculcate high academic ambition in their children and should ensure that a chunk of their wards' time is spent on their books.
Journal of Education and Practice, 2018
The current study was a case study in one of the public universities in Ghana to ascertain phone ... more The current study was a case study in one of the public universities in Ghana to ascertain phone acquisition and use tendencies of first year university students in their first semester of university education. A sample size of 300 was used for the study. The findings indicated that all the 300 (100%) students had phones whilst 223 (74.3%) of them had smartphones with internet functionality. It was found out that there was a significant difference between first year university students' time spent on phones, based on age. Again, there was a significant negative correlation between first year university students' time spent on phones based on their age. Further, the study revealed that first year university students were more likely to spend one semester (four months) on their phones in a four-year programme. The implications for practice have been discussed.
Uploads
alternative by Kwadwo Oteng Akyina
contexts. However, nations in Sub-Saharan Africa are yet to join this important discussion. The main purpose of this
study was to investigate the epistemological beliefs and instructional practices of in-service teachers in Ghana and how
these beliefs related to instructional practices. The results indicated that Ghanaian in-service teachers had somewhat
novice epistemological beliefs. The researcher found significant differences among the four dimensions of
epistemological beliefs. The results also indicated no correlational relationship between epistemological beliefs and
instructional practices of in-service teachers in Ghana. However, there were significant correlational relationships
between epistemological beliefs and instructional practices based on the years of teaching. The implications for practice
are discussed.
contexts. However, nations in Sub-Saharan Africa are yet to join this important discussion. The main purpose of this
study was to investigate the epistemological beliefs and instructional practices of in-service teachers in Ghana and how
these beliefs related to instructional practices. The results indicated that Ghanaian in-service teachers had somewhat
novice epistemological beliefs. The researcher found significant differences among the four dimensions of
epistemological beliefs. The results also indicated no correlational relationship between epistemological beliefs and
instructional practices of in-service teachers in Ghana. However, there were significant correlational relationships
between epistemological beliefs and instructional practices based on the years of teaching. The implications for practice
are discussed.
education. The researchers found five major areas in the literature that appeared to give policymakers guidance on
how to incorporate technology into the teaching and learning process. These areas were understanding and using
new technologies, funding of technologies in education, teacher preparedness in ICT integration, safeguarding ICT
and perceived use in school as well as the impact of stakeholders in ICT integration. The study used the narrative
review and documentary analysis approach in order to determine the essential factors of a successful technology
integration strategy; it examined the difficulties educators and learners have while utilizing ICT in the classroom;
and offers recommendations on how to use technology to enhance learning outcomes. The study considered the
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Davis [5] and the Diffusion of Innovations by Rogers [6] as the
theoretical framework. The study recommends that Ghanaian educational institutions must embrace and successfully
integrate technology in the classroom and in larger educational contexts, given the growing reliance of society on
digital tools resources. Again, infrastructure in technology such as computers and tablets, consistent internet
connectivity, and backup power sources in places with erratic electricity, need to be given a priority by the
government and educational stakeholders. Other priority actions required are prioritising community technology
centres, giving low-income students access to subsidised internet connection, and supplying subsidised gadgets.
be a concern of educational stakeholders. This study, therefore, utilized
documentary literature review and narrative reflective discourse to draw linkages
between learning theories and school indiscipline. The study underscored that
indiscipline can be explained and understood from the perspectives of the
various learning theories namely Classical Conditioning Theory, Operant
Conditioning Theory, Social-Cognitive Theory and Cognitive Theories. The
Classical Conditioning Theory attributes indiscipline to an association of
behaviour with an unconditioned stimulus in the environment. The Operant
Conditioning Theory associates it with a reinforcer in the environment. The
Social-Cognitive Theory, on the other hand, links indiscipline to an observation
and imitating of a reinforcing model in the environment. The Cognitive Theories
allude that maturation, social interactions, and active experience, affect our
mental structures and are responsible for indiscipline. These theories, therefore,
serve to give a guide to the understanding and management of indiscipline in
school and society in general. It is recommended that stakeholders of education
reflect on these theories, to get an understanding of the causes and
management of indiscipline in school.