Abstract:

This paper presents the views of Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) in Ghana’s primary and lower secondary schools on the extent to which they perceive the Diploma in Basic Education training had prepared them for their induction year and career in teaching. The Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) is the minimum qualification required to teach in government primary and lower secondary schools (collectively called Basic Schools) in Ghana. The DBE; a 3-year programme of study is offered by 46 designated Colleges of Education (CoEs) in affiliation with the University of Cape Coast – one of Ghana’s premier Universities. Upon successful completion of the DBE, the newly qualified teachers (NQTs) are posted by the Ghana Education Service – an agency of the Ministry of Education - to Basic Schools across the country to commence their induction year. Though the first cohort of DBE qualified teachers were posted in 2011, no recent study has since been undertaken to ascertain the preparedness of the NQTs to start their career as teachers.

Using a combination of survey of 647 NQTs across the 10 regions of Ghana, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 36 NQTs and 13 key informants in five selected districts, observation of 60 lessons across the country, the study aimed to ascertain the preparedness of NQTs to teach in public basic schools in Ghana. The preparedness factors of the NQTs and the perception of the training they received from the CoEs in relation to their lived experiences during their first of teaching is a central focus for this paper.

This study commissioned by the Ghana Education Service and National Teaching Council of Ghana with support from a DFID Sponsored project - Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL), generally, reveals that whilst NQTs have a high perception of teacher training they had received, they were less optimistic about how well their training had prepared them to integrate the theoretical elements of their programme with practical experiences. The quality of mentoring and lack of mentoring of NQTs results to them functioning at certain level of anxiety with the potential of being the ‘master of own destiny’ from the outset of their teaching career. Moreover, the pedagogical training they have received is not always adequate for the task in hand and challenging to be translated into practice due to lack of or inadequacy of teaching and learning materials. Key issues of classroom management, creative approaches to teaching and learning and creation of inclusive classrooms are areas that NQTs expect to be the focus of future teacher preparation.

Keywords:

New Qualified Teachers, Basic Schools, teacher preparedness, lived experience, inclusive classrooms, creative approaches.