Public Oral Defense: Rebecca Awuah

Teacher Education Reform and Institutionalized Process of Quality Evaluation in Ghana

Advisors: Bhaskar Upadhyay and Christopher Johnstone

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. 
 

Burton Hall 206G or online via Zoom