Stories As A Mode Of Instruction: A Module For Teaching Natural Science In Basic 3

ABSTRACT

From 1951 when Dr Kwame Nkrumah embarked on expansion of the education system in

the then Gold Coast to the present, there have been several initiatives aimed at developing

the education system. The most prominent are; the Accelerated Development Plans for

Education (1951 and 1961), the New Structure and Content of Education Plan (1974), the

New Educational Reform Programme (NERP) (1987), and the Free Compulsory

Universal Basic Education (1996). These initiatives show that education policy makers

recognise the need for modification as and when the situation demands but not enough

has been done about teaching and learning. So far the most obvious teaching and learning

initiatives are the National Language Accelerated Programme (NALAP) introduced in

2009 and the Teacher-Community Assistance Initiative (TCAI) in 2011.

As a result of this observation, the study sought to ask; to what extent can storytelling be

used as an effective approach to teaching and learning in public basic schools?, to what extent can

stories be designed as a module for teaching Natural Science in Basic 3? And how can stories be

created from topics in public Basic 3 Natural Science Text Book? To answer these questions,

Sowa Din Memorial “2” Primary School was purposively selected to explore the

possibility of using stories as an instructional method. Interviews, complete observation,

participant observation and documents were used for this exploration. The study revealed

that using stories as a mode of instruction falls in line with the Ghana Education Service

teaching and learning initiative but the teachers had a challenge in creative teaching. A

days’ training workshop served as an in-service training for the teachers and a test of the

module revealed that when teachers are given specific skills to meet the needs of the

classroom they would deliver. To ensure that teachers employed variety teaching to

enhance learning, the study found that there should be reviews of course content at the

training colleges and mode of supervision of teachers.