From Messages to Voices: Understanding Girls’ Educational Experiences in Selected Communities in the Akuapim South District, Ghana

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Annin, Collins
Language:English
Published: Ohio University / OhioLINK 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1234365460
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ohiou12343654602021-08-03T05:45:57Z From Messages to Voices: Understanding Girls’ Educational Experiences in Selected Communities in the Akuapim South District, Ghana Annin, Collins Education Educational Sociology Elementary Education Gender Multicultural Education School Administration Teacher Education Womens Studies Girls' Education Voice Gender Qualitative Study Phenomenology Feminist Perspective Gender in Education Ghana Social Development Poverty <p>This dissertation is a phenomenological study that sought to understand girls’ educational experiences from the voices and from the perspective of selected stakeholders, particularly girls, at the Akuapim South District of Ghana. Notwithstanding the exponential increase in mass education since Ghana’s independence, educational differentials between boys and girls persisted. The issue is exacerbated by the weaknesses in the quantitative approaches used to address problems in education, which often lack the ability to highlight the day-to-day experiences and the quality of girls’ educational experiences. Adopting a qualitative approach, this study was conducted in four selected rural/urban communities in the Akuapim South District. Data collection was done through focus groups, interviews, and direct observation. Participants for the study included teachers, community leaders, parents, education officers, and girls.</p><p>From the four communities studied, I found consistency in the stories and challenges girls continue to face in their education. In their own voices, girls and other stakeholders reported that their education is inhibited by lack of financial support, workload at home, negative parental attitudes’, inadequate school infrastructure, negative teachers’ attitudes and low expectation of girls, sexual maturation, as well as attitudes of male students. There were several differences between the views of girls and teachers, parents, and other participants of the study. The insight from the girls’ perspectives justifies the importance paying attention to the voices of children in developing programs which affect them. Furthermore, the study found that the problems girls face is not because of the lack of programs; rather, it is because of the inadequacies, lack of effectiveness, lack of comprehensiveness, and poor quality of programs as well. The study concludes that girls’ educational problems are complex, intertwined, and multifaceted, situated in the home, school, and community as well as a result of the inadequacies in state-run programs. Reaching the goal of quality education for all by 2015 in Ghana will depend on the collaborative effort of the international community, the state, parents and community involvement, and teachers’ commitment and support. The effort should take the form of adequate financial support, change in attitude toward girls’ education, improvement in teacher training and incentives, and effective system of monitoring.</p> 2009-04-24 English text Ohio University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1234365460 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1234365460 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Education
Educational Sociology
Elementary Education
Gender
Multicultural Education
School Administration
Teacher Education
Womens Studies
Girls' Education
Voice
Gender
Qualitative Study
Phenomenology
Feminist Perspective
Gender in Education
Ghana
Social Development
Poverty
spellingShingle Education
Educational Sociology
Elementary Education
Gender
Multicultural Education
School Administration
Teacher Education
Womens Studies
Girls' Education
Voice
Gender
Qualitative Study
Phenomenology
Feminist Perspective
Gender in Education
Ghana
Social Development
Poverty
Annin, Collins
From Messages to Voices: Understanding Girls’ Educational Experiences in Selected Communities in the Akuapim South District, Ghana
author Annin, Collins
author_facet Annin, Collins
author_sort Annin, Collins
title From Messages to Voices: Understanding Girls’ Educational Experiences in Selected Communities in the Akuapim South District, Ghana
title_short From Messages to Voices: Understanding Girls’ Educational Experiences in Selected Communities in the Akuapim South District, Ghana
title_full From Messages to Voices: Understanding Girls’ Educational Experiences in Selected Communities in the Akuapim South District, Ghana
title_fullStr From Messages to Voices: Understanding Girls’ Educational Experiences in Selected Communities in the Akuapim South District, Ghana
title_full_unstemmed From Messages to Voices: Understanding Girls’ Educational Experiences in Selected Communities in the Akuapim South District, Ghana
title_sort from messages to voices: understanding girls’ educational experiences in selected communities in the akuapim south district, ghana
publisher Ohio University / OhioLINK
publishDate 2009
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1234365460
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