Knowing the Content, Missing the Practice: Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Primary Teachers in Two-Dimensional Creative Arts in Asante Akim-North, Ghana

Abstract

Creative Arts is perceived to be a powerful vehicle to develop learners' creativity‚ cultural identity‚ visual literacy, and critical thinking․ However‚ in Ghana‚ little research has been conducted into the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of primary school teachers who teach the two-dimensional Creative Arts and how they enact their subject matter knowledge. To reduce this‚ the study examined primary school teachers' PCK in teaching 2D Creative Arts in the Asante Akim-North Municipality of Ghana․ Specifically‚ teachers' knowledge‚ practices‚ self-efficacy‚ and context in teaching Creative Arts were examined using the convergent parallel mixed-methods design approach‚ which involves the collection of quantitative and qualitative data concurrently․ The study used a sample of 275‚ made up of 7 headteachers‚ 13 Creative Arts teachers and 255 Basic Six pupils․ The instruments for data collection were questionnaire‚ semi-structured interview‚ classroom observation and Creative Arts Performance Test․ Quantitative study variables were analyzed using frequencies‚ percentages‚ means and standard deviations․ Qualitative data were analyzed thematically․ The results indicate that teachers' PCK was moderately developed‚ the highest being content knowledge (M = 3․62‚ SD = 1․42) and the lowest being pedagogical strategies (M = 1․85‚ SD = 0․69) and cultural relevance (M = 1․33‚ SD = 0․49)․ Teachers reported confidence teaching two-dimensional Creative Arts․ However‚ classroom observations indicated limitations at teaching from a learner-centered‚ practical and culturally responsive approach․ Headteachers cited inadequate teachers' PCK‚ lack of instructional materials and lack of professional development opportunities as challenges obstructing quality of Creative Arts instruction․ To promote quality Creative Arts instruction‚ there is a need to improve teachers' PCK through in-service training‚ provision of teaching resources‚ instructional supervision and adoption of local cultural materials․