Impact of in-service education and training programmes on teachers’ capacity to teach for the development of literacy and study skills in social studies

Abstract

The study examined the extent to which INSET programmes promoted the development of literacy and study skills in social studies education in Ghanaian basic schools. The research design used in the study was a descriptive survey of the population of all Social Studies teachers in basic schools in the Winneba Township, teaching in schools and in further training in the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). The study revealed that the majority of Social Studies teachers liked and taught Social Studies as their best subject. The majority of Social Studies teachers do not usually teach reading during Social Studies lessons and many Social Studies teachers (10%) have never attended any INSET in the last five years. Up to 80% of the teachers have participated in three or less INSET activities but only 10% of them said they engaged in activities that involved teaching reading methods in Social Studies. The paper therefore argues that in-service education and training programmes organized did little in exposing teachers to skills required in the development of literacy and study skills. As a result, the majority of Social Studies teachers do not use methods that encourage the development of reading and study skills in pupils.

Keywords: in-service education and training; social studies teachers; literacy and study skills