The Recommended Instructional Approach in Ghanaian Basic Schools; A Review of Constructivist Approach of Teaching and Learning in the Mathematics Classroom

Teaching and learning mathematics in Ghanaian basic schools has been a concern for many years. This is because of the low learner achievement in national assessments by the West African Examination Council, where learners’ performance in mathematics at the end of primary education has been consistently low. In other assessments, such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) report, the average performance of Ghanaian learners has been below the international average score. In an attempt to address the issues and improve the quality of teaching and learning mathematics, there have been curriculum reforms that revised the content-objective-based curriculum to a learner-standard-based curriculum and aimed at shifting teaching from traditional teacher-centered to more learner-centered (constructivist) teaching approaches. Adopting constructivist techniques as a teaching strategy and fostering a positive learning environment produce an active learning environment that enhances learning for both students and teachers and encourages students to think critically. In this paper, we review the constructivist approach to teaching and learning, analyze its successes and challenges, and discuss the implications for students and teachers of teaching and learning mathematics through constructivism in schools.