Ghana
Donor:UNICEF Ghana • Timeframe: October 2019 – August 2021
UNICEF Formative Research and Technical Guidance on the Identification and Support to Children with Learning Difficulties in Early Grades in Ghana
IDP, with support from UNICEF, piloted a program focused on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Response to Intervention principles during the 2019–2020 schoolyear. Fifteen first grade (P-1) classroom teachers, their headteachers, and district-level staff in the Ada West and West Gonja districts participated in the program. The implementation of this project was made possible through our close and ongoing collaboration with UNICEF, the Ghana Education Service (GES), the University of Education-Winneba, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), the National Teaching Council (NTC), and the educators, parents, and community leaders in the Ada West and West Gonja districts. This pilot activity produced formative research on the impact of a UDL approach to teaching and learning in target schools and led to the national expansion of training-of-trainer activities on UDL.
Project Highlights
- Developed a UDL toolkit for Ghana and a training program for educators to implement inclusive education methods in their professional practice
- Supported teachers through regular classroom observation and monitoring visits to use low or no-cost teaching strategies to promote student engagement and participation, including a transition to small group instructional approaches, even in classrooms with large student populations and few material resources
- Improved attitudes toward disability and knowledge of inclusive practices of teachers, headteachers, and district-level officials:
- 100% of teachers, headteachers, and district-level officials found the pilot program to either be useful or very useful
- 100% of classroom teachers stated that attitudes toward disability in the community improved either some or a significant amount as a result of the program
- Developed curriculum and scaled our pilot training for national training-of-trainer activities on UDL in Ghanaian schools
- Incorporated UDL and inclusive principles in the NTC’s Framework for Continuous Professional Development of Teachers, Mentoring and Coaching Framework for Pre-Tertiary Teachers, and the In-Service Education and Training (INSET) Framework
Universal Design for Learning in Ghana 2019 – 2020
From 2019 – 2020, IDP collaborated with many others to lead a series of activities to support the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) teaching strategies in Ghanaian schools. Read the briefer for the lessons we learned.