Abstract:
This study examined Social Studies curriculum response to climate change through the perspectives of social studies teachers and students. The study employed a quantitative research approach by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study used 36 social studies teachers through the census method and also sampled 253 students using proportionate stratified sampling techniques for the study. The instrument for this study comprised two sets of structured questionnaires for both students and teachers. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviations were used to analyse the background information of the respondents and the research questions, while independent-sample t-test statistics was used to analyse the research hypothesis. The study revealed that the Social Studies curriculum in SHS in Ghana inadequately addresses climate change directly or indirectly, as teachers negatively perceive that the Social Studies adequately respond to climate change. However, the study revealed that students highly perceived the Social Studies curriculum as responding to climate change. Also, the study found that many challenges impede the effective implementation of the Social Studies curriculum to address climate change issues. Finally, the study revealed a statistically significant difference between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of how the Social Studies curriculum responds to climate change. The study recommends that the Social Studies curriculum should be redesigned to meet the current demands in climate change education.
