Appraisal of Colleges of Education Social Studies Curriculum Vis-à-vis the Junior High School (JHS) Social Studies Curriculum Implementation in Ghana

Abstract

Social Studies as a subject in the Junior High School (JHS) curriculum in Ghana is taught mostly by diploma teachers from the country’s thirty-eight Colleges of Education. Analysis of the Colleges Social Studies curriculum vis-à-vis the JHS syllabus reveal differences in how the subject is structured to prepare teachers to teach it at the JHS level.

An interpretative design was used for the study. The study revealed that: Colleges of Education use a particular conception of Social Studies curriculum for the production of basic school teachers; and, whilst the JHS Social Studies syllabus is problem oriented, the training college curriculum is an amalgamation of the social sciences, packed with more geography topics. It was recommended that Social Studies curriculum of the Colleges of Education should be harmonized to focus more on attitudes and values cultivation as well as skills development of students to be in consonance with the 2007 JHS Social Studies syllabus.

Key-words: Curriculum conception, Curriculum implementation, Syllabus, Transdisciplinary approach, Multidisciplinary approach.