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3 - Towards a Play-Based Pedagogy in Ghanaian Kindergarten Education

Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2025

By
Esinam Ami Avornyo
Edited by
Colleen McLaughlin  and
Alan Ruby
Colleen McLaughlin
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Alan Ruby
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
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Summary

In 2019, the Ghanaian Ministry of Education set forth a new curricular framework for pre-primary education, which specifies a child-centred approach to learning and highlights the importance of creative and play-based learning. Despite being a significant event in the history of pre-primary education, teacher-centred didactic classroom practices are still prevalent after two years of implementation. Research shows that the lack of resources is one of the reasons for teachers’ inability to adopt play-based activities. However, evidence also strongly points to the fact that the majority of teachers do not possess the pedagogical skills to support children’s learning through play. The author of this chapter has been involved in researching teachers’ attitudes and perceptions to play-based learning in Ghana anddraws out the reasons why teachers are unable to successfully integrate play into their activities, focusing on teacher development (i.e. teacher training) and how this can interact with other factors to improve teacher performance in adopting play.

Keywords

Ghanacurriculum reformchild-centred pedagogyteacher problems
Type
Chapter
Information
Politics and Knowledge Shaping Educational Reform , pp. 28 - 42
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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