The study was conducted using an exploratory case study method. Multiple cases (4 public basic schools) in the Cape Coast Metropolis were chosen for this study. Participants in the study were sampled using convenience sampling methods. Thus, researchers engaged students and a few teachers who were willing to express their views on the practice of critical pedagogy. A total of 12 teachers (3 from each school) responded willingly to the interviews. Twenty pupils (five from each school) were involved in the focus group discussion. The study considered pupils from primary four to JHS 3. The average age of the students is 13 years. Pupils at this level were considered because they were matured enough to speak objectively to the issues under discussion. We purposely used an unstructured interview guide because we intended to probe participants further based on the responses they would offer on a particular issue. To ensure that pupils are able to respond fluently to interview questions, they were interviewed in Twi/Fantse (their L1). Responses from the research participants were captured with a smartphone audio recording system. Following data collection, the interview data were analysed using Creswell’s (2014) data analysis technique. Thus, the data were initially transcribed, and after a few reads of the interview transcripts, relevant themes were identified deductively and categorised in accordance with the research objectives.
Given that this research involved humans, the methods outlined below were followed in order to adhere to research ethics guidelines. Before collecting data from the sampled pupils, the researchers first acquired ethical approval from the University Cape Coast’s Institutional Review Board (ID-UCCIRB/CHAS/2023/97). Also, the participants were presented with a written consent form obtained from the University Cape Coast’s Institutional Review Board. Most significantly, participants were told that the information they provided in the interview would be kept secret, and they willingly answered the interview at their leisure.
Data Analysis
Teachers’ Views on the Practice of Critical Pedagogy in Basic Education
Initial engagements with the teachers revealed that their teaching practices are evolving and approximate the democratic form of education advocated by the GES in the standards-based curriculum. The initial response from the teachers seems to suggest that Ghana, as a republic state, is gradually heading towards an era where the need to ensure the development of a democratic world must be inculcated in pupils. Some teachers believe that the classroom should be a place where students' rights to participate fully in class are encouraged. Responding to whether or not pupils are given the opportunity to talk about any issues bothering them, a teacher declared the following:
Yeah, I give them the chance, the allowance and freedom to tell me whatever they feel like, so that I'll be able to know what to do with them at any time, I can't be imposing on them, at least they should tell me what they want so that I'll also give them what I have.
In line with the principle of critical pedagogy, teachers are of the view that their teaching activities should perfectly reflect the needs of the pupils. A pre-technical skills teacher added the following:
In the classroom, I offer each and every one the opportunity to ask any question they wish to ask. I believe each student has a unique ability. In my class, no one knows it all; thus, if someone thinks he is better than the rest of us, he will be asked to step out for the rest of us to learn. I create a democratic learning environment where learners have the liberty to make their worries know.
From his submission, learners have the right to voice out their concerns for the needed assistance to be given. Revelations from these teachers appear to suggest that there is no culture of silence in the classroom as one would expect in a typical Ghanaian elementary school. Nonetheless, a deeper investigation of the issue of democratic education uncovered that teachers seem to have no intrinsic motivation to implement such a form of education. They show, however, that one must always take precautions while practising such a form of learning because, according to them, there is always a limit to what pupils of such a tender age can say in the classroom. A teacher who claims he promotes democracy in the classroom, for example, shared the following view on whether or not his pupils can challenge his views as a teacher in the classroom:
With respect to challenging or questioning the established principles, all my pupils know what I do. When I say ‘yes’ it is ‘yes’, when I say no, it is no. I am the only one who has the mandate to say ‘no’ or ‘yes’ in the classroom.
The views expressed by this teacher point to the fact that the only freedom pupils might be given is the freedom to ask for further clarification of the content of the lesson or possibly make contributions to the lesson. To him, questioning the existing state of affairs is not a reserved right of the pupils. These teachers share the view that the Ghana Education Services (GES) has given Ghanaian children too many rights, which, from his standpoint, is promoting lots of social vices among the pupils within and outside the school.
Despite acknowledging that his classroom is a democratic one, he further expressed worries about the current principles and regulations of the GES. The GES has banned the corporal punishment of students in the various pre-tertiary schools in Ghana. From the perspective of the teacher, such a rule has handed over so many powers to the pupils, which has eventually culminated in indiscipline among pupils. It appears, therefore, that this teacher has no intrinsic motivation to promote a democratic form of education in the classroom. There seems to be a paradox in the teachers’ submissions about the kind of relationship he has with pupils. At one point, he asserts that he gives pupils the opportunity to express every concern they might have in classroom practices, but he later claims that pupils are not supposed to wield so many powers in the classroom. The teacher raised such concerns as he recounted how discipline was ensured in the olden days.
Our cherished culture has been thrown away by leaders of today. During our time, pupils were supposed to be in school by exactly 7:00 am. Today we have been warned not to punish pupils. Thus, pupils have the guts to do whatever they want. Today pupils can even assault a teacher. All these issues were rare during our time. Of late there is so much emphasis on human rights, so pupils feel they have the right to do certain things. I think we have put aside our cherished culture; we are just copying from outside (the western world). We had an incident the last time where a student attacked his teacher for punishing him for lateness. This wouldn’t have happened during our time.
The teacher's submission perfectly demonstrates that he has no intrinsic motivation to promote democratic education but has been coerced to do so by the GES rules. In fact, most of the teachers believe that the rules imposed on them by the GES are unamendable. They are, thus, compelled to practice what they do not want to. From personal experience, it seems Ghanaian moral values show little respect for a child’s right to speak when the need arises. Pupil-teacher conflicts are very common in this part of the world. Though there have not been many studies into the causes of such conflicts, it appears that pupils usually attack teachers when they resist punishment from them, particularly when teachers refuse to provide pupils with a sound justification for such punishments. While the ordinary Ghanaian sees such an act as immoral, little attention is given to hearing the voices of pupils involved in such disciplinary acts.
At the core of critical pedagogy is the promotion of critical thinking through a form of education that gives learners the opportunity not only to critique school-related practices but also to engage in meaningful debates that empower learners to critique socio-political structures (Watts, Jofili, and Bezerra 1997). While NaCCA’s standards-based curriculum emphasises the promotion of critical thinking, these teachers expressed the view that learners do not have to be given the opportunity to engage in certain debates that are not explicitly tied to the content of the curriculum, especially issues that have political undertones in the Ghanaian context. As a teacher confirms,
Teachers have been warned [by the GES] not to engage in any socio-political issues in the classroom. Personally, I don’t tolerate political issues in my class. I don’t want to build a negative reputation. Besides, the subject I teach has nothing to do with socio-political issues, so I usually end such discussions when they arise in the classroom. For all you know, one of the learners relate to one of the MPs (Member of Parliament), and this can generate problems for me.
Promotion of the culture of silence seems to be at play. Allowing pupils to contribute meaningfully to socio-political discussion in Ghanaian contexts seems to be threatening to the teachers’ reputation because they feel it is very risky to allow pupils to talk against existing powers. Giroux (1997) warns that teachers must avoid being too professional in the classroom. They are rather expected to be socio-political activists who would help raise the consciousness of learners towards all forms of suppression and inequity in their societies. Teachers involved in this study believe otherwise; they believe that the classroom is not a safe place to criticize social inequalities and oppressive powers in Ghanaian society since it is a threat to the sustenance of their job.
If only it pertains to education. We had a debate on this free Senior High School. Pupils debated on whether it is an important initiative or not. Others brought their views that it's important because their mothers can't afford. Others too were saying parents are not paying fees, and because of that, they are not learning. So, some issues pertaining to education, we talk about it, but if it's not about education, we don’t.
Some teachers believe that socio-political issues that are not explicitly integrated into the school curriculum will not be discussed in the classroom. It could be inferred from these teachers’ assertions that they hardly appreciate the nexus between education and society. Their ideas about what students have the right to discuss indicate that students are in school to absorb the curriculum's prescribed content but not to critique socio-political issues. Besides the fear of fierce arguments that may be generated among the pupils and the fear of the negative reputation people may develop about the teachers, another relevant concern that inhibit critical pedagogy is time. As a teacher laments, “You will not complete your lesson if you raise social or national issues in the class." Social issues, to him, can spark heated arguments between the pupils, which will eventually affect the completion of the syllabus because not enough time has been allocated on the school schedule for such debates.
Pupils’ Views on the Practise of Critical Pedagogy in Basic Education?
In accordance with Ndofirepi and Cross (2015), the only right reserved for the African child is total obedience. Most African values advocate for obedience from children. Adults are supposed to be profoundly revered. From the series of engagements with the pupils, being silent and overly obedient to the adults—the teachers, in this case—is their undisputed responsibility. Some pupils expressed the following when asked whether they would, in some cases, question or challenge the views of their teachers:
No, we can't! we feel like they are older than us. And they know more than we do so what they teach is the truth. Because he teaches from the book.
Despite NaCCA’s emphasizing the need to shift from the traditional linear method of knowledge transmission to a form of education that accepts the challenging views of the pupils, the pupils seem to favour the authoritative paradigm of knowledge acquisition. According to these pupils, it does not seem appropriate to question the teacher because they believe the teacher is an unquestionable authority whose verdict is unassailable. In line with Freire (2000), the pupils' reliance on the teachers' authority and unquestionable knowledge in the books has the tendency to suppress the children's emancipatory powers. Probing further, the pupil expressed the view that, from his perspective, any knowledge coming from the book is regarded as the absolute truth. It could be inferred that this notion of the pupil is somehow due to the kind of training they have been given by the teachers because some of the pupils feel it is quite weird to even think of challenging a particular knowledge or instruction because of fear. The excerpt below confirms this:
Interviewer: Can you see something in a book and challenge it? Can you tell your teacher you do not agree with what the book says?
Respondent: No, I can’t
Interviewer: Why can't you?
Respondent: Nothing, we fear them. Saying it will be very difficult.
Interviewer: Will you complain when you don’t understand anything?
Respondent: for that one we can say to him that we don't understand
Interviewer: what about if you have a problem with their methodology, can you talk about that?
Respondent: yes, for that one too we can
The excerpt above clearly indicates that it is very likely that these learners will always stay passive in the teaching and learning process because the teachers’ presence alone is so threatening to the extent that they cannot express any other concern apart from seeking further clarification on concepts in the book. Other pupils expressed the view that some teachers respond sentimentally when they express concern about the teaching methods of their teachers. A pupil said the following in that regard,
I can't, it'll seem I don't respect or something like that. That's his way so I can't question him. Some of them are not friendly. If you complain they'll get angry
Pupils jointly expressed the following when asked whether they can also question some classroom rules that do not favour them,
No sir, as for this one we can't. He's a teacher and we are students. As for me I've not done it before. They (the teachers) 'll be annoyed.
It is clear, therefore, that teachers’ demeanour and their relationship with the pupils scare them off, making them passive in the class such that they are unable to engage in any critical discussions on both academic and non-academic issues. It is worth noting that this particular pupil is extremely prone to accepting whatever the teachers impose on him as truth. The argument we make in this paper is that the thoughts of these pupils are partly a function of the Ghanaian ethical and moral values imposed on them. As discussed earlier, the pupils have genuine reasons as to why it is imperative to always look up to the elderly for knowledge and directions. First and foremost, they used the established cultural principles as a justification. A pupil, in a submission on why it is not appropriate to question the act of giving up your seat to the elderly in the Ghanaian context, stated that,
I have never thought of the reason why children should always give out their seats to adults. But I have to do it because even in the Bible it's said that we should respect the elderly and it’s our culture, so we have to do it.
These pupils’ experiences show that they are not motivated in any way to question existing practices because such practices are justified by Ghanaian cultural values, especially since such principles are grounded in the Holy Bible. With regard to criticising socio-political issues, the responses from the pupils show that they do not see themselves in a position to engage in such debates. It is clear, however, that pupils' resistance to critiquing socio-political issues in the classroom is a function of the kind of training they have been given by the teachers.