Teachers’ Knowledge and Practice of Indoctrination in Teaching Christian Religious Studies in Mission Schools of Central Region, Ghana

Abstract

The impetus of this study was to unpack teachers’ knowledge and use of indoctrinatory practices in the teaching of Christian Religious Studies in mission schools in the Central Region of Ghana. The study used the concurrent parallel design of the mixed-methods research approach. The population for the study was all CRS teachers from mission schools in the Central Region. The census method was used to get all the 39 teachers of CRS in the schools. The instruments for data assembling were a questionnaire and an observation guide. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used to analyse the data. Mission school CRS teachers were found to have moderate knowledge of what indoctrination is. They engaged in indoctrinatory practices at a lower extent when teaching CRS. There was no significant difference (t (37) =-.017, p=.987) in CRS teachers’ participation in indoctrinatory practices based on their religious backgrounds. It was consequently recommended that the Central Regional Office of Ghana Education Service (GES) should organise in-service training workshops and seminars for teachers to deepen their understanding of the meaning and consequences of indoctrination. Furthermore, the Ghana Education Service should encourage teachers to desist from any form of indoctrination during the teaching of CRS.