Rebecca Awuah, PhD

I have more than two decades of experience teaching secondary and university level mathematics in the United States and in Ghana. My teaching and work outside of the classroom are grounded in an in-depth knowledge of pedagogy and experience in innovative curriculum development for in-person and online learning. In addition to mathematics, I have taught and developed courses in values-based leadership. My PhD dissertation examined the process of upgrading teacher education to university education in Ghana through the lens of new institutional theory.

Dissertation

Teacher Education Reform and Institutionalized Processes of Quality Evaluation in Ghana: Opposing Forces?

Advisors: Bhaskar Upadhyay and Christopher Johnstone

Abstract: Many countries around the world are implementing changes to their systems of teacher education in an effort to improve the way teachers teach and how much children learn in school. This dissertation uses the case of Ghana to examine how a suite of ambitious reforms—including the upgrading of teacher education to university education, a new Bachelor of Education curriculum, and changes to the regulation and oversight of teacher education—interact with enduring conventions and structures, which historically, have shaped the organizational character of institutions that train teachers (called colleges of education today). Adopting the sociological perspective of new institutional theory, this study examines the range of ways those who teach future teachers, lead colleges of education, and oversee teacher education, preserve or alter institutionalized structures, with a particular focus on processes of quality evaluation, such as accreditation, certification, external examination, and university affiliation, intended to maintain standards and ensure quality.