Teacher Education in Ghana

Abstract

In an era when quality education is a concern for education-focused international organizations and dominates national debates, teacher quality must equally be a priority. The central role of the teacher requires that teacher education must be of the highest quality toward achieving any educational agenda. This article provides a synopsis and adds to the currency of contemporary teacher education efforts in Ghana. It presents key teacher training institutions in Ghana and highlights the structure of teacher preparation, type of teacher training pursued, and pathways to teacher development in Ghana. It examines how the question of approaches teacher educators use in training student-teachers can or cannot lead to the development of critical thinking skills, which are vital to promoting teacher effectiveness. We advocate that universities, colleges, Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service, and all bodies involved in teacher education in Ghana join forces to chart new content and, emphatically, approaches to teaching teachers-in-training that can promote critical thinking skills in teachers. With the increased private sector participation, we initiate a debate as to the need to ensure uniformity in teacher quality standards in Ghana.