Investigating the state of implementation of the new junior high school social studies curriculum in the Hohoe municipality.

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the state of implementation of the new Social Studies curriculum in the Hohoe Municipality. A descriptive survey design was used, employing structured questionnaires and structured observation checklist as data collection instruments. The 62 social studies teachers who were part of the study were all included using the census sample technique. In analyzing the teachers’ responses, simple frequencies, mean and standard deviation were used to respond to the study research questions. The findings of the study indicated that Social Studies teachers in the Hohoe Municipality have moderated implemented the contents of the new curriculum, commonly employing teaching techniques like lectures, group work, and question and answer session. In addition, the teachers received various forms of training and support on assessment procedure, topics in the new curriculum, supply of softcopies of the curriculum, and useful resources packs, aimed to enhance the implementation of the new social studies curriculum. Furthermore, the teachers faced a range of challenge such as lack of teachers guide/manual, no textboks for students, heavy workload on teachers, lack of command over cetain topics, and a scarcity of instructional materials, in implementing the new Social Studies curriculum. In view of the challenges, the teachers strongly called for diverse forms of support to be provided in the form of teachers’ involvement in curriculum development, regular training workshops, college/university training based on the new curriculum, assignment of resource persons to schools, and the supply of needed instructional resources, as a way of enhancing the implementation of the new Social Studies curriculum. Lastly, the study found no statistically significant influence of teachers’ in-service training attended on their extent of implementation of the contents of the new Social Studies curriculum in the Hohoe Municipality. It was therefore recommended for tailored professional development workshops, adequate supply of resources as well as regular refresher courses, be provided for these teachers by the Hohoe Municipal Education Directorate