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International Review of Education

, Volume 60, Issue 2, pp 217–234 | Cite as

Reconceptualised life skills in secondary education in the African context: Lessons learnt from reforms in Ghana

  • Kwame Akyeampong
Article
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Abstract

Early notions of life skills in Africa did not take into account the importance of a flexible and portable set of skills that would enable youth to adapt to changes in the world of work and lay the foundations for productive well-being and behaviour. Rather, life skills education in many secondary education curricula in Africa started with an emphasis on developing specific technical vocational skills considered essential for employability or self-employment. Using Ghana as an example, this paper shows how secondary education curriculum reformers recommended shifts that embraced a new interpretation of life skills focused on 21st-century skills. This gradual move also reflected the difficulty that secondary education in general has had in networking with the world of work to provide work experience that would lead to the development of work-related skills and enhance employability. The author’s main argument is that although the reconceptualisation of life skills in secondary education to reflect 21st-century skills is a welcome shift in the African context, this needs to be accompanied by reforms in teacher education. Classroom teaching and learning need to be adapted in a fundamental way in order to ensure that youth fully benefit from the inclusion of 21st-century life skills in secondary education curricula. Such reforms must include pedagogical practices which nurture communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills.

Keywords

Life skills Youth employability Technical and vocational skills Secondary education Teacher training Ghana 

Résumé

Reconceptualisation des compétences pratiques dans l’enseignement secondaire en contexte africain : enseignements tirés des réformes au Ghana – Les premières notions en Afrique des compétences nécessaires dans la vie courante ne tenaient pas compte de l’importance d’un ensemble de compétences flexibles et transférables, qui permettent aux jeunes de s’adapter à de nouvelles situations dans le monde du travail et de créer les bases pour un bien-être et un comportement productifs. L’enseignement des compétences pratiques préconisé à l’origine dans de nombreux programmes de l’enseignement secondaire en Afrique mettait l’accent sur l’acquisition de compétences professionnelles techniques spécifiques, considérées comme essentielles à l’employabilité et à l’auto-emploi. Prenant le Ghana en exemple, l’auteur montre que les réformateurs du programme d’enseignement secondaire ont recommandé des modifications nées d’une nouvelle interprétation des compétences pratiques, axée sur les compétences requises au XXIe siècle. Cette évolution progressive reflète aussi la difficulté générale de l’enseignement secondaire à se connecter au monde du travail, pour organiser des expériences professionnelles permettant d’acquérir des compétences utiles dans la vie active et d’améliorer l’employabilité. L’argument principal de l’auteur est que si la redéfinition des compétences pratiques dans l’enseignement secondaire en vue de refléter les compétences pour le XXIe siècle est un tournant salutaire dans le contexte africain, cette démarche doit être accompagnée par des réformes dans la formation des enseignants. L’enseignement et l’apprentissage en classe doivent faire l’objet d’une adaptation fondamentale, pour garantir que les jeunes profitent pleinement de l’inclusion dans les programmes d’enseignement secondaire des compétences pratiques requises au XXIe siècle. Ces réformes doivent englober les pratiques pédagogiques qui enrichissent les compétences de communication, de collaboration, de créativité et de pensée critique.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University of SussexBrightonUK

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