Multi-cultural Society, Multicultural Education? Public Education Policy and Practice

Abstract

Multicultural education advocates the recognition of the cultural differences that learners bring with them to the learning situation and building on this to enhance achievement. Ghana is a multilingual, multiethnic and multi-religious society since independence, the country has been concerned with maintaining a unified polity of what was hitherto a disparate group of ethnicities. This concerned causes friction with the goals of multicultural education. Using qualitative methods, this study examined education policy and practice to see how schooling interfaces with cultural diversity in Ghana. It was found that policymaking has historically taken a trajectory that is preoccupied with structure and outcomes with limited attention to culture and cultural diversity. It also revealed mixed attitudes towards the integration of content from different cultures in school curriculum, the knowledge construction process, the use of different approaches in the classroom to ensure equity in pedagogy, prejudice and school culture that empowers the learner and engenders social transformation.