Language, learner achievement and identity in Complementary Basic Education in Ghana: a case study

• In Event: Multilingual education in diverse contexts: reading, achievement, assessment, identity, and policy analysis

Proposal

This paper draws on a 2 year long mixed methods empirical case study of the impact of complementary basic education interventions on out of school children who subsequently transitioned to formal school in 12 different language speaking communities in Northern Ghana. These were selected because of their high rates of poverty and proportion of out of school children by comparison with the rest of the country. The research also responded to a knowledge gap in relation to understanding the pedagogical impact of accelerated learning programmes. Hence, “why CBE students work as well as they do from a pedagogical or learning theory point of view remains a mystery” (Farrell & Hartwell, 2008). In particular it aimed to understand how, why and to what extent the use of children’s mother tongue as the medium of instruction, a key feature of this type of educational intervention, enhanced the learning outcomes of CBE graduates and their resilience when they transitioned to formal school. The research therefore foregrounds how language intersects with issues of not only access to education but the capacity of linguistically responsive educational provision to empower disadvantaged children to succeed as learners in the formal state system thereby also addressing issues of equity, quality and sustainability. In this way the research provides a case study which illuminates the linguistic and pedagogical dimensions of achieving the aspirations for inclusive and quality education for all in Sustainable Development Goal 4, dimensions often overlooked and under-estimated as key preconditions for their realisation. `
The research used an expansive conceptualisation of learning based on the notion of “learner experience” to frame research into the experiences of CBE graduates in formal schools. This draws attention to learning as a situated social practice that involves not only cognitive dimensions or the acquisition of knowledge but also embodied, emotional, social, relational and cultural aspects rooted in particular contexts. It also stresses the active agency of the learner in making sense of=, responding to and navigating educational environments. The notion of “ learner identity” complemented this approach by spotlighting how pupils’ engagement in learning – their choices, struggles and negotiations- is affected by and in turn influences, who they think they are as learner and who they think they want to be as a result of that learning. Both these conceptual framings enabled pupil’s responses to learning in their mother tongue language to be researched and understood not only in narrowly linguistic terms but more broadly in relation to their personal experience and social and cultural contexts.
Using quantitative methods, the research tracked the progress in terms of learning gains and outcomes of high and low achieving boy and girl CBE graduates during their 9 months in formal school and in the first year of formal school in local languages, English and Mathematics. The progress and learning outcomes of CBE students were also compared with a group at formal school who had not participated in CBE. Qualitative data gathering included in depth interviews with CBE graduates about their experiences in formal school, their views on the usefulness of their CBE experience, as well as interviews with their families, teachers and members of their communities. Together with observations of their responses to teachers, peers and instructional processes in lessons, and their interactions in the wider formal school environment, this data provided insights into how CBE graduates experienced learning during CBE as well as at formal school; and in addition their capacity to use and repurpose skills, attitudes and knowledges they had developed during CBE in their local language when transitioning into a new learning environment in which the main language of instruction was English.
The research found that the use of their mother tongue instruction during CBE had a positive impact on their skills as learners not surprisingly in relation to local language literacy but also in their learning of a second language, English, at formal school where they were able to repurpose and apply strategies and approaches to learning they had previously developed. Quantitative data indicated the CBE graduates were making comparable and in some cases better progress in English, Maths and local language literacy than their non-CBE peers. However, even more important in ensuring a positive transition into formal schooling was the impact of CBE on their personal confidence and identity as learners which was evidently achieved through the capacity of a language-centred pedagogy to affirm their cultural identity and status within their communities. These findings highlight the significance of mother tongue language of instruction in empowering out of school children as learners through the educational and wider social benefits it generates for them as well as their families and communities, with important impacts on their successful transition into and navigation of formal schooling.

Authors

• sean higgins, University of Sussex

• Kwame Akyeampong, University of Sussex