A Togo slippery frog rests in grass. We asked our key informant about how they teach students to self-reflect. As our own founding fathers knew, we need checks and balances in our schools. According to the Colleges of Education Act of 2012, Act 847, the process of preparing teachers in Ghana to teach at the basic school level takes place at the College of Education (CoE). Post-2015 Education MDGs. Stein, S., de Oliveira Andreotti, V., and Sua, R. (2019). Howard, H. A., and Rhule, A. Ministry of Education National (2017). The inclusive education policy acknowledges that: all children can learn irrespective of differences in age, gender, ethnicity, language, and disability. London: UPIAS. The Policy further requires a multi-disciplinary assessment procedure at all levels of education to meet the needs of all pupils/students. Article 8 of the CRPD outlines measures that states parties could adopt to ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access education, including vocational training and lifelong learning. The Equality Act 2010 and the Social Model of Disability. doi: 10.1080/17508487.2016.1247737, Tamanja, E., and Pajibo, E. (2019). Colleges of Education are the settings where teachers are trained to develop required skills for effective inclusive education. As someone who has supported many people into work, both as a recruiter and an employment specialist, I am here to tell you that you absolutely can teach! The data sources were a face-to-face in-depth interview with the Quality Assurance Officer of the case and one site observation by the researchers. 10, 7086. 2.2 Misconceptions about TVET education The misconceptions surrounding TVET Education are more negative than positive (Fusheini et al., 2021, Fusheini, . 4 Articles, This article is part of the Research Topic, https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1056630, United Nations Educational, Scientific and cultural organization [UNESCO], 1994, United Nations Communications Groups [UNCG], 2017, United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2021, Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation [UPIAS], 1976, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1056630/full#supplementary-material, https://www.ntu.eu/news-archive/the-importance-of-the-sustainable-development-goals/, http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Ghana/Ghana%20Education%20Strategic%20Plan.pdf, http://www.voiceghana.org/downloads/MoE_IE_Policy_Final_Draft1.pdf, https://mofep.gov.gh/sites/default/files/news/Ghana-SDGs-Budget-Report-July-2019.pdf, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf, http://UNCT-GH-SDGs-in-Ghana-Avocacy-Messages-2017%20(5).pdf, https://ghana.un.org/en/about/about-the-un, https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/204336.pdf, http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report.pdf, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs352/en/, Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), Department of Social Work, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. I was shocked that my Facebook friend didn't understand teacher tenure either, so I posted its legal definition. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a comprehensive framework to describe health and health-related issues including disability. Obviously, we did not get adequate information about how the student teacher is prepared on the equity and inclusivity outcome. This has led to misconceptions and poor public image of TVET because many people still hold the view that TVET is good for students who cannot use their brains or students who do not qualify for admission into the universities. 5. Neubauer, C., and Calame, M. (2017). Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf (Accessed July 29, 2022). Examples of how anthropomorphism is misleading. Educ. Of course, the known architectural barriers are the impediments as postulated by the social model of disabilities. It is worth mentioning that the student observation checklist listed a section on students with special needs. Target 4.a calls for the upgrading of educational facilities so that they are child-and disability-sensitive and to promote inclusive learning environments (United Nations [UN], 2015). The student teacher in the first week of the supported teacher school placement are required to reflect on the school environment. Ministry of Education. Ghana: Ministry of Education. Int. If your head doesn't explode upon hearing this comment, take the time to explain the endless lesson planning and grading teachers do after school, at home, and on the weekends. Teachers in the U.S. do make far less than similarly educated professionals. But how prepared are student teachers at Colleges of Education in Ghana. Beliefs on epilepsy in Northern Ghana. Oliver, M. (1990). by Nancy Barile, Award-Winning Teacher, M.A.Ed. London: Macmillan. on the eve of Ghana's independence and charged with the "dissemination of truthful unbiased news". The curriculum of the Colleges of Education in Ghana emphasis on the need for student teachers to reflect on their own beliefs and biases to enhance acceptance and conscientious efforts toward accommodating learners with disabilities to increase their inclusion. (2019). Consistent with achieving improvement in the quality of teachers, the B.Ed. The estimated number of persons with disabilities could be underestimated due the multiple layers of issues surrounding disability data collection, including attitudinal issues, disability definition, access to persons with disabilities, mode of reporting disability, that is, self-reporting (people may not report disability, especially those that are not very visible) some of which are concealed from public view due to stigma. Nancy Barile, Award-Winning Teacher, M.A.Ed. There are two major case study designs: single-case study designs and multiple-case study designs. We employed a single-case exploratory study design to deepen our understanding of the preparedness of Ghanaian student teachers to implement inclusive education in one of the Colleges of Education in Ghana. I explained that teachers must advocate for students and how that can often get them in trouble with administration, but tenure protects them. *Correspondence: Augustina Naami, [email protected], Transforming Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan African Countries Towards the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 by 2030: New Opportunities, Challenges, Problems and Prospects, View all I can't attend a single event without one or two of these comments popping up. doi: 10.1016/S0031-9406(10)62916-1. Class sizes range from about 20 students to 45 or more. Maybe a better phrase is, Those who teach create those who do. Michael Jay, One of my favorites is, Those who cant, teach. Teachers must be well educated in their field of study, of course,but that is only the beginning. Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination: A Case for Anti-Discrimination Legislation. New York: World Rehabilitation Fund. (2021). Educ. For instance, some Ghanaian teachers utilize proverbs and stories to contextualize their messages and some of these are negative toward persons with disabilities and teachers unconsciously make their statements without knowing that they are hurting some learners in the classroom. doi: 10.54674/ess.v32i2.288. "Teacher Tenure Means Teachers Can't Be Fired", In 2016, I was outraged when a politician made an untrue statement about teacher tenure, so I turned to Facebook to express my anger. It was the first news agency . World Health Organization. United Nations [UN]. The components of the learning outcomes we analyzed in the light of the SDGs Goal 4 targets 4.5, 4.6, and 4.8 and the social model of disability (See Supplementary Tables S1S3). Her work has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Guardian, Scholastic, Inc., the College Board, the Center for Teaching Quality, and Education Week. Both researchers independently coded the data to enhance the credibility of the study. The key informant the affirmed that students are required to identify school facilities: When they go to the schools, they have to know the history of the partner schools and the facilities that are in the schools that will support teaching and learning. UNESCO organizes the Global Education Meetings in partnership with all global education actors toward achieving SDG 4 (Fontdevila and Grek, 2020). In addition, the curriculum requires student teachers to find out if there are other learning resources apart from computer(s). Instruction has always been the decision of what to teach (curriculum) and how to teach (methods, materials, and activities). Published by the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike International. doi: 10.21125/edulearn.2019.1906. Inclusion in the policy sets out to create an education system that is responsive to learner diversity and to ensure that all learners have the best possible opportunities to learn. Beyond models: understanding the complexity of disabled peoples lives in New Directions in the Sociology of Chronic and Disabling Conditions. For educators, it is crucial to not only understand what the metaverse is and its uses within education but to also realize the benefits of immersive learning with the metaverse. Global development and higher education. Clean. Misconceptions about GMOs in Ghana due to weak education, study reveals. This view has gained currency among several scholars (Adams et al., 2018; Leal Filho et al., 2019; Stein et al., 2019). Burnett, N., and Felsman, C. (2012). Higher Education for Sustainable Development Goals. (2018a). It further does not recognize learners with disabilities as a targeted category for student reflection. It is important that persons with disabilities are explicitly mentioned in targets and indicators to ensure that their needs are adequately addressed. Ghana Statistical Service. If your Aunt Sally really wants to help, she can vote for legislation that ensures teachers are paid fairly. This study investigated the use of concept cartoons to diagnose and remedy pupils' misconceptions in selected science concepts. The best way to answer this question is by sharing a few stories of your own. United Nations Communications Groups [UNCG] (2017). Rather, impairment should be considered to enable provision of suitable accommodation for learners with disabilities. Teach. Goal four of the SDGs calls for inclusive and equitable quality education for all (Johnstone et al., 2020). Completed worksheets of pupils on concept cartoons of selected science topics were discussed and analyzed to find . Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Politicians especially are noted for living luxurious lives at the expense of their country folks. 1, 78377846. Vol. World 6:81. In a similar vein, the Government of Ghana has identified several factors that prevent persons with disabilities from attending school, including the general publics negative perception of people with disabilities, physical obstacles, the lack of adequate facilities for assessments, and a rigid curriculum, inadequate planning by regular teachers for students with special needs (Government of Ghana, 2003). Many attend mandatory professional development, and some work to get their master's degree. The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning: A Synthesis of the Evidence, Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. However, they posit that persons with disabilities are disabled more by their environment and other processes than their perceived impairments (Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation [UPIAS], 1976). We wanted to know more about how the student teacher is taught to reflect on disability. These misconceptions resulted in perceptions of stigma and discrimination towards people who may get Ebola or work with Ebola patients. true, instead, the Vocationalization of Ghana's education will put money into people's pockets (Anamuah-Mensah, 2004). Geneva: World Health Organization. doi: 10.1177/107554708100300106. In Ghana, there is one common educational curriculum run by the Colleges of Education. 171, 434445. Edulearn19 Proc. Attitudes towards inclusive education in africa scale (ATIAS): an instrument to measure teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education for students with disabilities. Prod. During this period, they are required to keep a portfolio for the documentation of their field experience activities. In my view, it is good the government has assured Ghanaians that the CSE will not be part of the new basic school curricula, but we may eventually have to come back to the issue. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version. A large number of pupils struggle to meet the proficiency cut-off point for English and Mathematics between grades four and six. Coast, Ghana E-mail of the corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract The general objective of the study was to evaluate the perspectives, conceptions and misconceptions of students on Industrial Attachment. We also reviewed the Four-Year Bachelor of Education degree curriculum (Developed by the University of Ghana), student reflective journal and the daily portfolio sheet. Comp. In 2015, a policy on inclusive education was developed and adopted by the country toward fulfilling the aspirations of the 1992 constitution, which guarantees education as a fundamental human right. My students have gone on to become doctors, nurses, legislators, activists, business owners, musicians, social workers, and yesteachers. Plenty of studies conclude that higher teacher pay leads to better teacher quality, which leads to improved student performance. I created a meme about the misconception, and almost immediately, a former classmate of mine wrote, "It also makes it almost impossible to get rid of bad teachers.". But here's what teachers do make: a difference in the world. Ghana developed an inclusive education policy in 2015 with an overarching goal of fostering equitable access to education for all children. eds. The SDGs target 4.8 outlines the need to build and upgrade educational facilities that are disability sensitive. The observation checklist and reflective journals do not make enough room for student teachers to self-reflect on disability, which could be a barrier to the education of persons with various forms of disabilities. Social Policy and Disabled People: From Exclusion to Inclusion. Buabeng et al. Revisiting free compulsory universal basic education (FCUBE) in Ghana. The National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework, (NTECF): The Essential Elements of Initial Teacher Education. We cannot overemphasize the importance of education in creating sustainable societies. Curriculum in 2018, was written to reform education and the school curriculum. Available at: http://UNCT-GH-SDGs-in-Ghana-Avocacy-Messages-2017%20(5).pdf (Accessed August 4, 2022). I wrote an entire paragraph to which my former classmate responded: "We can agree to disagree." The Social Model of Disability was proposed by advocates of the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) in 1976 (Shakespeare and Watson, 2010) which was later given credence to the works of scholars such as Oliver (1990), Oliver and Barnes (1998), Finkelstein (1980, 1988), Barnes (1991), and Shakespeare and Watson (2010). Here are 10 misconceptions about teachers and teaching that emerged from readers (responses edited for brevity): The one misconception I would like to clarify is around the phrase, Those who can cannot do, teach. While many educators are active contributors to the particular area in which they have domain expertise (i.e.