Honouring Heritage, Empowering Educators: Pre-Service Social Studies Teachers’ Perspectives on Indigenous Cultural Values

Abstract

This study examined pre-service Social Studies teachers' perceptions and extent of appreciation of indigenous Ghanaian cultural values at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), and the factors shaping that appreciation. Curriculum decolonisation and Africanisation are central to debates on teacher education in Africa. Yet, little is known about how far pre-service Social Studies teachers appreciate the indigenous cultural values they are expected to teach. The study employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. The study first administered questionnaires to 300 respondents, followed by semi-structured interviews with 15 participants. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were employed to analyse the numeric and non-numeric data, respectively. The descriptive analysis revealed that pre-service teachers’ perception of indigenous cultural values was moderate, with notably higher cultural appreciation reported on behavioural indicators. The interviews corroborated and extended these findings: participants identified respect, honesty, tolerance and hospitality as core Ghanaian values, but many reported limited knowledge of them and acknowledged the competing influence of global media and Western cultural norms. The study concluded that pre-service Social Studies teachers are positively inclined towards indigenous values but are not yet adequately prepared to teach them. It recommends that the Social Studies department at UEW should review the content and teaching methods of its culture-related courses. The findings provide context-specific evidence to inform teacher education curricula and professional development in Ghana, and the paper proposes the 'Kasakoa' Pedagogical Framework and the 'Akwaaba' Protocol as ideas for piloting and evaluation.