GES NATIONWIDE INSET PROGRAMME TH NEWSLETTER 7 EDITION (FEBRUARY 2012) Ghana Education Service (GES) Nationwide In-service Teacher Training (INSET) Programme supports the smooth implementation of INSET for primary school teachers in 170 districts. It aims at developing an institutionalized structure and replicable INSET model for primary school Science and Mathematics (Math). The Programme has been sensitizing teachers and other stakeholders on the problems and intervention strategies in teaching of Science and Math. The series of newsletters are one of the advocacy and sensitization medium for the Programme. This 7th edition newsletter reports the major activities that have been implemented in 2011 and early 2012. PROGRAMME IN BRIEF: STRUCTURE AND CHALLENGES: LOW PUPIL’S PERFORMANCE IN SCIENCE IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY AND MATH Government of Ghana (GOG) has identified education as a Our societies are dominated and „driven‟ by ideas and key development tool of the nation and aims to ensure free products from science, mathematics and technology. It is access to quality basic education. As a result of a number very likely that the influence of science and math on human of interventions, the access to primary education in Ghana lives will continue to increase in the years to come. increased from 78.4% in 2003/04 to 95.0% in 2007/08 Increasing significance of science, math and technology academic year, but academic achievement of pupils in public may be accompanied by a „parallel growth‟ in interest and primary school is still low, and one of the major reasons is high performance in these subjects which could promote an the lack of appropriate and effective teaching skills of understanding of basic scientific ideas and ways of thinking. teachers. To address this issue, many interventions have been put in place by the GES and Japan International Nevertheless this does not seem to be happening especially Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the most current one in developing countries. The evidence for such claim is in “Project for Strengthening the Capacity of INSET part based on „hard facts‟ (educational statistics relating to Management (INSET Project II, 2009-13)” is on going. It subject choice in schools, enrolment in tertiary education) is also to address pedagogical and content knowledge of and also in part on recent large scale local and international teachers. performance in science and math, comparative studies such as BECE, WASSE, TIMSS. Pupils continue to perform poorly in science and math in basic schools in Ghana. This has become a great source of worry for parents, guardians, and other stakeholders of education. Results from BECE in 2011 indicated that the performance of pupils in these subjects was poor in most of the districts throughout the country. Some district chief executives also complain bitterly about the poor performance. A number of BECE schools in districts across the country continue to score zero percent. However, most districts that took the INSET Programme seriously and are implementing SBI/CBI over the years are reaping better results, Obuasi Metro, Mpohor Wossa East, Asuogyaman and many others. The Programme has thus been institutionalized with the As outlined in the diagram, the structure is made up of super goal of improving the learning abilities of pupils three levels; national, district, and school. Each level is through the updating of the knowledge or enhancing the equipped with management unit as well as resource persons capacities of teachers in the primary schools through to handle subject/pedagogy. At the school level continuous SBI/CBI. It offers teachers greater management of efficient school/cluster based INSET opportunities for communication among themselves through (SBI/CBI) is to be implemented by the headteacher and regular meetings to share experiences in order to deepen the curriculum leader. With this structure, the INSET their content and pedagogical knowledge and practice Programme has gone through series of trainings to cover all hands-on-activities. Science and math instruction will the 170 districts since 2005. change if teachers‟ knowledge and skills are regularly enhanced through INSET activities. 1 HOW CAN TEACHERS MAKE LESSONS MORE materials which were either conductors or non conductors INTERESTING AND EFFECTIVE? of electricity. With this hands-on activity, the pupils were able to distinguish between conductors and non-conductors Many Ghanaian basic school teachers still argue for or of electricity. The teacher has succeeded in making science against the need to improvise Teaching and Learning interesting to the children by use of simple improvised dry Materials (TLMs) in teaching science and math. Authorities cell holder! and teachers who argue in favour of improvisation adduce among others the following reasons: Many teachers in trying to form electric circuits, often Improvisation makes teaching and learning interesting; waste a lot of masking tape to put two or more dry cells Improvised materials make lessons more practical; together. With a little shaking, the dry cells do not hold Lessons become more learner centred; tightly together hence making the experiment to fail. It is Improvisation encourages hands-on activities; obvious then that an improvised cell holder is the answer to Teachers become more creative and innovative; and this challenge! Teachers should therefore become more Improvised materials are more user friendly than creative and innovative in improvising simple TLMs to make imported equipment. science and mathematics lessons more practical and interesting. For teachers who argue against improvisation in teaching science and math, their main line of reasoning is as follows: IMPACT ON SCHOOLS BY THE PROGRAMME: RESULTS OF o Improvisation is time-consuming: THE THIRD SAMPLING SURVEY o Constructing improvised materials is risky; o Improvised materials do not work as effectively as There is a need for the Programme to grasp the impact of imported laboratory equipments; SBI/CBI on the schools so that the National INSET Unit o Improvised materials are not durable; (NIU) can develop their strategy, priority, training o Improvised materials are less accurate especially when programmes and so forth. To obtain the necessary data, precision in measurement is concerned; and the NIU/GES in collaboration with JICA have been o WAEC examinations do not accept diagrams of conducting sampling surveys annually since 2009. improvised materials in place of that of the real science apparatus. The sampling survey examines the impact of SBI/CBI on In spite of the above arguments for and against teachers‟ teaching skills through observing their lesson and improvisation, the writer and many Ghanaian teachers are lesson plan and on teachers‟ attitude toward their lesson aware that Ghana has a challenge in providing all schools through questionnaire for both teachers and pupils. It also with well equipped science and math laboratories. For examines the change of management skills of headteachers quality teaching and learning to take place in classrooms, and Curriculum Leaders (CLs) on SBI/CBI too. the Ghanaian teacher is however required to use TLMs to make lessons child-centred and less didactic. This is where 12 districts were selected as sample districts in improvisation comes in as a better option of two evils! consideration of a regional balance between northern and southern area, and size of districts. In each selected Here is an example of effective usage of TLMs. This district, 4 different types of schools were selected as experience will buttress the fact that the use of target schools under the following classification; urban- improvised materials makes lessons practical and effective. good, urban-challenge, rural-good, and rural-challenge. The The teacher whose lesson was observed constructed composition of varied schools contributes to secure an battery (dry cell) holders for use in teaching, „conductors impartial data as much as possible. and non conductors of electricity‟. He used pieces of discarded plywood from a carpenter‟s workshop, small nails The 3rd sampling survey, conducted in October 2011, found and aluminium scrap to construct simple dry cell holders. teaching skills of teachers who had participated in SBI/CBI significantly higher than that of teachers who Aluminium Plate had not participated. SBI/CBI also had positive impact on pupils‟ readiness to study. This readiness is one of the Dry cell fundamental factors for pupils to improve their quality Drawing learning. Pupils whose teachers participated in SBI/CBI Bulb Wood pin assess teachers‟ attitude and lessons higher than pupils whose teachers had not. Paper clip Plywoo d The survey confirmed the clear positive impact of the Wire Programme on teaching and learning in classrooms. Metal strip Teachers in schools where headteachers and CLs trained Bottle top by the Programme organise SBI/CBI have higher teaching skills and are satisfied with their teaching activities more than teachers in schools where there was no intervention The pupils formed electric circuits by connecting dry cells by the Programme. In the districts where the Programme in cell holders with flexible wires, bulb, switches and had been operationalised, headteachers are performing 2 managing roles in various aspects of SBI/CBI than the Other performing districts will be selected as Model others. Pupils in such districts have higher satisfaction Districts in 2012. Your district can be part of it if only than the others too. These