Modern Mathematics Curriculum Reforms in Ghana: UK and USA Influences

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine the nature of the mathematics curriculum experienced in Ghanaian schools in the pre- and post-independence eras. In the early 1960s, when the school mathematics curriculum reforms reached Africa, there was a desire for change in all spheres of life, including education. There was also an optimism that governments would initiate policies to change the educational systems to transform the nation’s youth into a completely literate working population for the rapid economic development of their country. The chapter discusses the nature of changes to school mathematics brought by the UK-led initiatives (grounded in the British School Mathematics Project tradition) and those that came with the USA-led initiatives (grounded in the American School Mathematics Study Group tradition). The chapter also examines the differences between the USA- and UK-led curriculum development approaches and their emphasis on content. Finally, factors which delayed the full implementation of the curriculum reforms, the criticisms of the reforms, particularities, and how the reforms have influenced the school mathematics curriculum in Ghana in the past five decades are discussed.