Perceived impacts of national educational reform programmes in Ghana on development of senior high school social studies curriculum

Abstract

This research was carried out in 13 Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis with the aim of evaluating the impacts of national educational reform programmes (1974-2007) on the Senior High School Social Studies Curriculum. Data collected were analysed with the use of SPSS version 21. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The study employed both the quantitative and qualitative methods which provided the researcher the opportunity to corroborate findings across data sets and thus reduce the impact of potential biases that could have existed in a single study. Data were collected through self-administered question as well as analyses of relevant documents. A population of 113 respondents, comprising 7 Head Teachers, 18 Assistant Head Teachers and 88 Social Studies Teachers drawn from 13 Senior High Schools is the Cape Coast Metropolis, were census for the study. The Curriculum Evaluative Model adopted for this study was the CIPP model propounded by Stufflebeam (1971). Major finding depicts that there are a lot of unmet needs and problems in all the reforms implemented in Ghana regarding the objectives, and the general implementation of these reforms. It was found that social studies education in senior high schools can play a very significant role in the development of the nation only if appropriate measures would be employed to ensure its effective teaching and learning. It is recommended that proper planning should be done before any educational policy would be implemented in Ghana.