'Be guided by national philosophy in education'

Page 43
21-08-08

TEACHERS must be made to keep the national philosophy of education in mind and allow this to influence the way they teach, a former Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, Prof. S.M. Quartey, has stated.
“It is a truism that many of our teachers are not aware of the philosophy of education in Ghana. It is equally true that the few who know it have not carefully given thought to it and they have not considered how this philosophy should influence the way we teach the subject and how it should be assessed at the various levels,“ he said.
Prof. Quartey said this when he presented a paper on “Making Subject Associations Contribute Effectively Towards the Success of the Education Reform” organised by the Consultative Council for Teachers Associations (CCTA) in Accra.
He noted that subject teachers associations in the country needed to have peer discussions on the philosophy of education and national development objectives at the various levels to ensure their members work towards them.
“This calls for a re-examination of the way we teach. At our conferences and workshops therefore, teachers should be selected to demonstrate the best of practices in the teaching of our subject,” he appealed, adding that members should feel willing to articulate their views and experiences in the teaching of specific topics for others to learn.
Prof. Quartey said while subject associations could continue to encourage the presentation of well-researched articles, they should allocate time to examine chief examiners reports from the West African Examination Council (WAEC) on the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
He said the subject associations should have time to examine the type of questions set for the final examinations and their comments should be forwarded to the appropriate quarters for study and rectification.
“The new education reforms pose many challenges in its implementation and subject teachers associations are to be concerned about these. Subject teachers associations are to ensure that teachers are constantly updated about the new ideas in the subject and how to teach the subjects effectively,” he said.
Prof. Quartey indicated that the major contribution that subject associations could make to the educational reform was to ensure that those who taught the subjects did so effectively.
He stressed the need for all teachers to identify themselves with the associations of subjects they were teaching, saying that “new ideas about the subjects do emanate from these teachers associations”.