KNUST/BIRD and IDRC equips early childhood educators across Ghana

A two-day training workshop aimed at piloting culturally responsive teaching practices in early childhood education has successfully concluded.

Entitled “The Impact of Culturally Responsive Pedagogies on Socio-emotional development of Early Childhood Learners in Diverse Classrooms of Ghana,” the project is an activity under the collaborative research together selected teachers from participating treatment schools, with the goal of equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively adapt and use these materials in their classrooms.

The broader research project seeks to assess the impact of culturally responsive pedagogies on the socio-emotional development of early learners in diverse classrooms across Ghana.

According to facilitators, such approaches have the potential to nurture foundational social-emotional skills in pupils’ skills that are essential to their personal development and future academic or career success.

“This workshop is part of a series of activities under the research programme,” explained Principal Investigator (PI), Prof. Nana Sarfo-Mensah. “We are not only training teachers to implement these strategies but also preparing to measure their long-term impact.”

As part of the programme, participants were taken through a presentation that outlined the journey of the project so far.

 They were briefed on the background and justification for the study, the activities conducted, including the baseline study and its initial findings.

“We’re here to build the capacity of these teachers in using the intervention materials we’ve developed,” added Co-PI, Prof. Winston Kwame Abroampa. “These include the teacher manual and scripted lessons, which will be rolled out from next week through to the end of the third term.”

Prof. Sampson Enyin Edusah, project member also expressed optimism about the training's impact

. “I’m particularly interested in seeing how the teachers can properly adapt the materials and use them effectively in the classroom. Their enthusiasm so far has been quite encouraging, and I’m hopeful this energy will continue throughout the implementation process,” he stated.

Participants at the workshop shared their excitement and appreciation for the training.

Francisca Bello, a pre-school coordinator from Ga-East, described the experience as enlightening.

“This is a great exposure. Although we have been trained on the new curriculum, what we’ve learned here has shed more light on cultural orientation. It’s truly an eye-opener, and we’ve gained a lot. We are grateful,” she said.

 “This is a wonderful programme, and we hope such workshops continue, especially for early grade teachers. Many of the current teachers are nearing retirement, so it’s important for younger teachers to gain modern knowledge to effectively support learners at the KG level,” Isaac Appiah, from the Bekwai Municipality noted.