Reflective Analysis of the Ghanaian Upper Primary School Standards-Based Creative Arts Curriculum: Implications for Teacher Education and Training

The standards-based Creative Arts Curriculum was introduced in 2019 in all Ghanaian primary schools to promote critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and innovation among schoolchildren. However, studies suggest that the majority of primary school teachers in Ghanaian public schools are generalists, which presents challenges for the suave implementation of the curriculum. Some experts have recommended in-service training, while others propose art education top-up programes for classroom teachers. It is important that any intervention strategies adopted are not only needs-based but also aligned with the curriculum that the teachers are expected to implement. This study explored the word frequency analytics tool in ATLAS.ti and Google Collab softwares to gain insight into the upper primary curriculum through critical reflection and deductive content analysis. The findings reveal that the curriculum is learner-centred, with the main goal of guiding learners through various pedagogies to produce artworks. Based on the analysis, deductive conclusions were drawn, recommendations were made, and practical implications were offered for policy and practice in teacher education and training for generalist in-service teachers. The paper concludes by discussing the limitations of the study and providing recommendations for further research.