Performing arts education in ghana: a case study of Public primary schools in the sunyani municipality

Abstract

The importance of providing learning experiences that enable the African child to acquire knowledge and understanding of the traditional music, dance, and drama of their environment and those of their neighbors‟ is now generally recognized. However, for a while, without this preparation, they will not be able to participate in the life of the communities to which they belong. This study was conducted to look at the status of performing arts education in public primary schools within the Sunyani Municipality. A descriptive survey was used for this study. Observations, questionnaires, and private interviews were accustomed to collect information from 40 (30 teachers and 10 headteachers) participants. The teachers and headteachers were selected using convenience and purposive sampling techniques, respectively. Data obtained was analyzed and the results were conferred in frequencies and percentages. To determine whether or not the curriculum contains the desired content for teaching, four of the participants akin to 66.7%, responded in the affirmative. Most respondents indicated that they needed to stumble upon a subject within the curriculum they may not teach because they had no data. This cluster accounted for 83.3% representing 25 of the teachers involved in the study. Most of the participants indicated the key challenges that affect the teaching and learning of performing arts include: “the lack of teaching and learning materials, scant time allocation for the teaching of arts strands, lack of qualified academics, lack of in-service coaching and negative view of academics towards the teaching of performing arts. It is therefore recommended that the challenges hindering the effective teaching and learning of the performing arts strands and the Creative Arts in the public basic schools be addressed to elevate the status of arts education in the municipality.