Effective pedagogies for primary school mathematics teachers in rural schools in Ghana

An increasing amount of research focusing on students’ performance in mathematics in Ghana reveals a lack of interest and corresponding low performance in the subject (Fokuo et al., 2022). Current Ghanaian data on students’ performance in mathematics for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) has seen some improvement, but the national average score remained below 50% from 2017 to 2021 (Ministry of Education, 2021). A close look reveals poorer performance by students in rural schools. It is therefore important to ascertain factors that most likely influence effective mathematics teaching approaches and practices in rural schools. It is also suggested that optimum and effective teaching is achieved through a collaborative effort among various educational stakeholders, such as teachers, parents, and community members who bear the responsibility for continuous improvement and the achievement of students.
Hence, this study investigated the mathematics teaching approaches and practices of teachers in rural basic schools in Ghana and the influence of teacher collaboration and parental and community involvement on teaching practices. Professional capital theory (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012) was used to underpin a framework to investigate the influence of demographics, teacher collaboration, and parental and community involvement on mathematics teaching practices. By considering the interplay between the components of professional capital, the study aimed to examine the human and decisional capital of teachers in relation to approaches and practices, alongside social capital in relation to their social networks and collaborative endeavours, which could impact their teaching practices.
The methodology was underpinned by an interpretive paradigm and employed a concurrent mixed methods design (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) in gathering both quantitative and qualitative data through a survey with 169 mathematics teachers; semi?structured interviews with 10 mathematics teachers, two headteachers, eight parents, two assembly members, and two school management committee members; and classroom lesson observations with four mathematics teachers. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS and STATA descriptively, including the use of frequencies, percentages, means, cross-tabulations, and graphs, and the qualitative data were thematically analysed using NVivo. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed separately, after which the findings were integrated during the interpretation and discussion.
The findings from the quantitative survey data suggested that demographic factors had little influence on mathematics teaching approaches and practices. Despite challenges such as class size and limited learning materials, the participating teachers indicated they predominately used demonstration and activity-based teaching approaches. Interview and lesson observation data revealed challenges such as limited professional development opportunities, class size, instructional time, and the lack of teaching materials. Nevertheless, the more qualified and experienced teachers appeared able to overcome these difficulties. Some demographic influence was identified in relation to a small group of eight younger, less-qualified teacher participants. Tasked to work in smaller classes, these teachers exhibited a more limited range of approaches and practices, even in so far as their adherence to policy requirements such as covering the curriculum. Teachers also suggested that collaboration supported their choice of teaching approaches and practices. Although parental and community involvement appeared to have little influence on the teaching practices, the teachers who indicated greater involvement were those who were more experienced.
The study makes a valuable contribution to the existing research on mathematics teaching approaches and practices, particularly in rural suburbs in Africa and other parts of the world where teachers are challenged by class size, limited resources, and limited professional development. The results of the study suggest that demographics other than teacher qualification can have little influence on mathematics teaching practices. Taken from a professional capital perspective, human capital, as an aspect of teacher qualification, leads to an increase in decisional capital (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012). The findings in this study indicated that decisional capital was a key element in teachers overcoming the challenges in rural schools. The more qualified and experienced teachers were able to use effective teaching approaches and practices, as well as incorporating teacher collaboration and the involvement of parents and communities. One key implication of these findings is the need to encourage well-qualified and experienced teachers to teach in rural schools. This, in turn, has the potential to enhance human and social capital within rural schools and so enhance teaching practices that will improve the academic performance of students (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012).