Environmental and Science Education in Developing Nations: A Ghanaian Approach to Renewing and Revitalizing the Local Community and Ecosystems

Abstract

Curriculum reform in environmental and science education now taking place in Ghana focuses on the community and ecosystems as the context of education. In Ghana, students conduct science investigations that include games, word searches, crossword puzzles, case studies, role play, debates, projects, and ecological profiles. This curriculum reflects an acknowledgement of the effect of conserving and protecting Ghanaian intergenerational knowledge and skills concerning the natural systems, including those of preserving ceremonies, personal expectations, narratives, beliefs, and values. The authors highlight these efforts to counter notions that Ghanaian education is still developing and to contrast the ideologies of seemingly developed educational landscapes in the United States. The authors argue that educational reform in the United States could benefit from an understanding of environmental and science education in seemingly developing nations.

Keywords:

• cultural studies
• curriculum
• ecojustice
• literacy
• pluralism