Christian Religious Studies Teachers’ Content Knowledge: Do Areas of Specialisation, Teaching Experience, Professional Qualification and Academic Qualification Matter?

Abstract

This paper ascertained the influence of the area of specialisation, teaching experience, professional qualification, and academic qualification on CRS teachers’ content knowledge. Cross-sectional survey was the design employed to conduct the study. The population comprised 3,523 individuals including both CRS teachers and students from form 1 and 2. The study utilised a sample size 423 made up of 23 teachers and 400 students. The students were sampled using the proportionate random sampling procedure from a population of 3,500 whereas all the teachers were selected with the census method from eight senior high schools.  Data from CRS teachers and students were collected using questionnaires. The results showed that teachers of CRS have a high level of content knowledge even though more than half of them did not specialise in religion. It was found that there was no statistically significant effect of CRS teachers’ area of specialisation, teaching experience, professional qualification, and academic qualification on their Content knowledge, F (16, 6) = 1.097, p = .489, partial ƞ2 = .245. There was a significant interaction effect of teachers’ area of specialisation and professional qualification on their content knowledge F (1, 6) = 0.00, p = .001, partial ƞ2 = .000. This indicates that the effect of area of specialisation on a teachers’ content knowledge depends on their level of professional qualification. There was also a significant interaction effect of teachers’ professional qualification and academic qualification on their content knowledge F (1, 6) = 0.00, p = .000, partial ƞ2 = .000, implying that, the effect of professional qualification on content knowledge depends on the teacher’s level of academic qualification. It is recommended that the Ghana Education Service in the Eastern region ensure regular workshops and upgrading are provided for teachers of CRS despite their high level of content knowledge. This is because more than half of the teachers did not specialise in religion and may encounter some bottlenecks in their lesson delivery.