Perceptions, Attitudes and Institutional Factors that Influence Academic Performance of Visual Arts Students in Ghana’s Senior High School Core Curriculum Subjects

Abstract

Senior High School (SHS) students in Ghana are required to pass all core and elective curricula subjects in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to qualify for higher education. Unfortunately, many Visual Arts students perform poorly or fail in English, Mathematics, Integrated Science and Social Studies, which constitute the SHS core curriculum subjects. To ascertain the factors that account for low performance of Visual Arts students in the WASSCE core subjects, this study employed interview, questionnaire and observation to gather qualitative and quantitative data from 20 core subject and 15 Visual Arts teachers, 5 heads of schools, 5 Heads of Visual Arts department and 50 Visual Arts students in five Senior High Schools (SHSs) in Ashanti Region. The findings revealed that some core subject teachers denigrate Visual Arts students as ‘unintelligent’, ‘not serious’ and ‘difficult to teach’ as compared to their peers in the Science, Business and allied elective SHS programmes; with some refusing responsibility in Visual Arts departments. Perceiving core subjects as ‘theoretical’ and ‘difficult to learn’, many Visual Arts students neglect the learning of core subjects and concentrate time and effort on elective Textiles, Ceramics and allied Visual Arts subjects. Invariably, many Visual Arts students make poor WASSCE grades in core subjects and miss participation in higher education. Active monitoring of teaching, attitudinal change and motivation could build the capacity of Visual Arts students to participate fully in the economic development of Ghana.

Keywords: Academic performance; Visual Arts; core curriculum; Senior High School; Ghana.