Fostering National Unity and National Consciousness in Ghana through Social Studies Education

Abstract

Social Studies as a subject in Ghana, has the potentials of teaching functional knowledge and desirable values into students for fostering national unity and consciousness. This study sought to find out the national unity and national consciousness contents in junior and secondary school social studies curricula in Ghanaian schools as well as the perception of students on social studies' role in promoting national unity. The study adopted a descriptive survey design with content analysis. A sample of 208 Form Three Senior High School students from Ofori Panin Senior High School was selected through a convenience sampling technique. Findings of the study showed that contents for the promotion of national unity and national consciousness as part of social studies education were moderately provided for in the JHS and SHS syllabi. Students also have a favourable view of social studies education as an instrument for the promotion of national unity and consciousness. However, the teaching and learning of the subject is challenged by the inadequate period allocation on the time table for SHS, non-use of TLMs by teachers, and overloaded syllabus.