Enhancing the Creative Arts Skill of Generalist Teachers in the Ga East Municipality, Ghana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/FED.2024.06.25.12Keywords:
curriculum, educational leadership, municipal education officers, pre-service training, professional developmentAbstract
The objective-based curriculum previously in use was replaced by a standards-based curriculum for the 2019–2020 school year, bringing a fresh approach to the fundamental study of visual arts. However, the current curriculum places greater emphasis on art history and cultural practices, presenting challenges for generalist teachers in the Ga East Municipality who lack significant training or experience in creative arts. This study aimed to explore the impact of different levels of educational leadership on enhancing the teaching skills of generalist teachers in creative arts education. Employing a convergent parallel mixed methods approach, both qualitative and quantitative data were analysed. The study collected a total of 210 questionnaire responses and conducted interviews with 3 participants. The respondents included 185 generalist teachers, 25 headteachers, and 3 municipal education officers, selected through purposive sampling. The study held importance for the practical ability of generalist teachers to navigate complex artistic concepts through adaptability and flexibility in their teaching methods. The findings demonstrated that implementing innovative intervention strategies, such as collaborative projects, professional development training, integration of online resources, and pre-service education into the curriculum, while equipping generalist teachers with enhanced skills, can effectively inspire and engage students. Additionally, it highlighted the necessity for generalist teachers to exhibit passion, enthusiasm, instructional prowess, and imaginative skills to foster creativity, critical thinking, and self-expression in students through creative arts, ultimately influencing the quality of future art education.
References
Alter, J., & Coggshall, J. G. (2009). Teaching as a clinical practice profession: Implications for teacher preparation and state policy (Issue brief). National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED543819
Areia, N. P., Tavares, A. O., & Costa, P. J. (2023). Public perception and preferences for coastal risk management: Evidence from a convergent parallel mixed-methods study. Science of The Total Environment, 882, Article 163440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163440
Avalos, B. (2011). Teacher professional development in teaching and teacher education over ten years. Teaching and teacher education, 27(1), 10–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.08.007
Bowe, J. (2005). Literature review & system review. Irish Association for the Study of Delinquency. https://www.acjrd.ie/images/PDFs/research/Literature_and_System_Review.pdf
Bebbington, W. (2021). Leadership strategies for a higher education sector in flux. Studies in Higher Education, 46(1), 158–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1859686
Belanche, D., Casaló, L. V., Flavián, M., & Ibáñez-Sánchez, S. (2021). Understanding influencer marketing: The role of congruence between influencers, products and consumers. Journal of Business Research, 132, 186–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.067
Booth, J., Coldwell, M., Müller, L. M., Perry, E., & Zuccollo, J. (2021). Mid-career teachers: A mixed methods scoping study of professional development, career progression and retention. Education Sciences, 11(6), Article 299. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11060299
Cheon, S. H., Reeve, J., Jang, H. R., Pink, M. A., Song, Y. G., & Im, C. H. (2024). Autonomy-supportive teaching leads to autonomy-supportive parenting: A teacher-to-parent relationship spillover effect. Teaching and Teacher Education, 144, Article 104548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104548
Chisingui, A. V., & Costa, N. (2020). Teacher education and sustainable development goals: A case study with future biology teachers in an Angolan higher education institution. Sustainability, 12(8), Article 3344. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083344
Connolly, M., James, C., & Fertig, M. (2019). The difference between educational management and educational leadership and the importance of educational responsibility. Educational Management, Administration, 47(4), 504–519. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143217745880
Day, D. V., Riggio, R. E., Tan, S. J., & Conger, J. A. (2021). Advancing the science of 21st-century leadership development: Theory, research, and practice. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(5), Article 101557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101557
Diamanti, I., Dania, A., Venetsanou, F., & Kamberidou, I. (2023). Generalist early education and specialist physical education teachers’ views on the scope of early childhood physical education. Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences, 14(2), 167–191. https://doi.org/10.54141/psbd.1234072
Eftimova, S. (2021). Opportunities for gaining practical experience and improving practical skills of students of archival and documentary studies in the context of modern knowledge society. In ICERI 2021 Proceedings (pp. 2538–2543). IATED. https://doi.org/10.21125/iceri.2021.0643
Fehr, R., Yam, K. C. and Dang, C. (2015). Moralized leadership: The construction and consequences of ethical leader perceptions. Academy of Management Review, 40(2), 182–209. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2013.0358
Fischer, D., King, J., Rieckmann, M., Barth, M., Büssing, A., Hemmer, I., & Lindau-Bank, D. (2022). Teacher education for sustainable development: A review of an emerging research field. Journal of Teacher Education, 73(5), 509–524. https://doi.org/10.1177/002248712211057
Gardner, W. L., Lowe, K. B., Meuser, J. D., Noghani, F., Gullifor, D. P., & Cogliser, C. C. (2020). The leadership trilogy: A review of the third decade of the leadership quarterly. The Leadership Quarterly, 31(1), Article 101379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.101379
Grundy, S. (2017). Educational leadership as emancipatory praxis. In J. Blackmore & J. Kenway (Eds.), Gender matters in educational administrative policy (pp. 165–177). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315175089
Hernandez, M., Eberly, M. B., Avolio, B. J., & Johnson, M. D. (2011). The loci and mechanisms of leadership: Exploring a more comprehensive view of leadership theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(6), 1165–1185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.09.009
Jena, R. K. (2020). Measuring the impact of business management Student's attitude towards entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention: A case study. Computers in Human Behavior, 107, Article 106275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106275
Kachakova, V., & Koleva, S. (2024). Education between individual freedoms and social arrangements: the case of African graduates in Bulgaria (1960–1990). Frontiers in education, 9, Article 1363428. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1363428
Kasiyan, A. (2019). Art, art education, creative industry: Critique of commodification and fetishism of art aesthetics in Indonesia. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 6(1), Article 1586065. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2019.1586065
Kavvada, A., Metternicht, G., Kerblat, F., Mudau, N., Haldorson, M., Laldaparsad, S., ... Chuvieco, E. (2020). Towards delivering on the sustainable development goals using earth observations. Remote, 247, Article 111930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111930
Kennedy, A. (2024). Challenges in teacher education: Global influences and local solutions. Educacao, Sociedade & Culturas, (67), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.24840/esc.vi67.779
King, J., Rieckmann, M., Fischer, D., Barth, M., Büssing, A. G., Hemmer, I., & Lindau-Bank, D. (2022). International trends in research on environmental and sustainability education in teacher education. In M. A. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of teacher education. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_468-1
Lavonen, J. (2020). Curriculum and teacher education reforms in Finland that support the development of competences for the twenty-first century. In F. M. Reimers (Ed.), Audacious education purposes (pp. 65–80). Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41882-3
Leithwood, K., & Sun, J. (2012). The nature and effects of transformational school leadership: A meta-analytic review of unpublished research. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 48(3), 387–423. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603120500483672
Leon-Roa, C., Zuñiga-Collazos, A., Castillo, H. S. V., Guarin, H. P., Franco, C. M. G., Gómez, D. C. R., & Acosta, E. B. G. (2024). Valorization of research results for knowledge and technology transfer in public higher education institutions. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 10(1), Article 100245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2024.100245
Livsey, T. (2016). Imagining an imperial modernity: Universities and the West African roots of colonial development. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 44(6), 952–975. https://doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2016.1210305
Louis, K. S. (2007). Trust and improvement in schools. Journal of Educational Change, 8, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-006-9015-5
Molitvin, M. N., & Suyazov, V. V. (2021). Strategic academic leadership programs in Russia: Past and future. Management, 20(3), 432-452. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu08.2021.3
Mozin, S. Y., & Nggilu, R. (2023). Improving the quality of higher education: The role of strengthening institutional capacity in higher education transformation. Public Policy Journal, 4(2), 80–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.37905/ppj.v4i2.2114
Ní Dhiorbháin, A., Ní Aogáin, S., & Ó Duibhir, P. (2024). ‘I learned more than the children learned’. A dual-focused professional development initiative to support immersion teachers. Teacher Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2024.2333416
Norton, N., Ginsborg, J., & Greasley, A. (2019). Instrumental and vocal teachers in the United Kingdom: Demographic characteristics, educational pathways, and beliefs about qualification requirements. Music Education Research, 21(5), 560–581. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2019.165618
Ottesen, E. (2007). Reflection in teacher education. Reflective practice, 8(1), 31–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623940601138899
Pambudi, N. A., Nanda, I. R., Alfina, F. T., & Syahrial, A. Z. (2024). Renewable energy education and awareness among Indonesian students: Exploring challenges and opportunities for a sustainable future. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 63, Article 103631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2024.103631
Pavlou, V. (2024). Empowering generalist teachers: A case study on in-service teacher training for digital professional competences an arts learning. In INTED 2024 Proceedings (pp. 3577–3585). IATED. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2024.0949
Purnamawati, I. G. A., Yuniarta, G. A., & Jie, F. (2023). Strengthening the role of corporate social responsibility in the dimensions of sustainable village economic development. Heliyon, 9(4), Article e15115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15115
Rizk, N., Taylor, S., & Taylor, N. (2024). Remote classroom modelling: a professional development model for in-service generalist primary teachers of science. The Australian Educational Researcher, 51(1), 195–211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00594-5
Sancar, R., Atal, D., & Deryakulu, D. (2021). A new framework for teachers’ professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 101, Article 103305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103305
Sharma, M. (2020). Reimagining teacher education in India: A critical analysis of NEP-2020's aspirations and challenges. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 13(2), 1481–1485. https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR24221100444
Shields, C. M. (2010). Transformative leadership: Working for equity in diverse contexts. Educational Adminisstration Quarterly, 46(4), 558–589. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X10375
Sinha, E. (2023). ‘Co-creating’ experiential learning in the metaverse-extending the Kolb's learning cycle and identifying potential challenges. The International Journal of Management Education, 21(3), Article 100875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2023.100875
Tynan, B., Bossu, C., & Leitch, S. (2023). Academic professional development to support mixed modalities. In O. Zawacki-Richter & I. Jung (Eds.), Handbook of open, distance and digital education (pp. 659–674). Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2080-6_36
Upitis, R., & Abrami, P. (2019). Predicting enjoyment of music learning across the lifespan: The primacy of intrinsic motivation. In ICERI 2019 Proceedings (pp. 10092–10100). IATED. https://doi.org/10.21125/iceri.2019.2473
Viera-Duarte, P. (2022). Teacher professional development in emerging contexts. Revista Internacional de Educação Superior, 8.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
