Ghana‘s basic school policy changes towards ESD and Citizenship Education

Abstract

The purpose of this research is twofold. First, to analyse the extent to which Ghana's basic education policies include Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Citizenship Education (CE). Second, to examine the ideological motivations behind the inclusion of ESD and CE in Ghana’s basic school policies. Policy documents were analysed, using both content and historical discourse analysis. The four Ghanaian policy documents; ESP 2018-2030, the Standard-Based Curriculum for basic schools, the Pre-tertiary Education Curriculum Framework, and the 2008 Education Act 77, were compared with the UN Eight key competencies for ESD and the 21st century Citizenship Skills and Values. Findings indicate that three policy documents include all eight UN key competences, i.e., ESP 2018-2030, the Standard-Based Curriculum for basic schools, the Pre-tertiary Education Curriculum Framework, and three 21st-century Citizenship Skills and Values, i.e., collaboration, dialogue, and teamwork. In the three documents, two of the key competences are highly emphasised, i.e., self-awareness and critical thinking. Findings also revealed that Ghana’s education policymakers’ original intention behind CE has shifted from nurturing patriotic and nationalistic individuals to neoliberal tendencies present among Ghanaian elites which uphold their dominance in society. The study’s finding will be helpful to education policymakers to review policies that are not in tune with current global policies like UN SDGs.

The purpose of this research is twofold. First, to analyse the extent to which Ghana's basic education policies include Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Citizenship Education (CE). Second, to examine the ideological motivations behind the inclusion of ESD and CE in Ghana’s basic school policies. Policy documents were analysed, using both content and historical discourse analysis. The four Ghanaian policy documents; ESP 2018-2030, the Standard-Based Curriculum for basic schools, the Pre-tertiary Education Curriculum Framework, and the 2008 Education Act 77, were compared with the UN Eight key competencies for ESD and the 21st century Citizenship Skills and Values. Findings indicate that three policy documents include all eight UN key competences, i.e., ESP 2018-2030, the Standard-Based Curriculum for basic schools, the Pre-tertiary Education Curriculum Framework, and three 21st-century Citizenship Skills and Values, i.e., collaboration, dialogue, and teamwork. In the three documents, two of the key competences are highly emphasised, i.e., self-awareness and critical thinking. Findings also revealed that Ghana’s education policymakers’ original intention behind CE has shifted from nurturing patriotic and nationalistic individuals to neoliberal tendencies present among Ghanaian elites which uphold their dominance in society. The study’s finding will be helpful to education policymakers to review policies that are not in tune with current global policies like UN SDGs.