What makes useful evidence for educational leadership practice? An interview

An interview with Eric Addae-Kyeremeh about his views on the pressing question ‘What makes useful evidence for educational leadership practice?’ as advice for leaders in educational settings

Management of environmental impacts of gold mining in Southern Ghana.

Many environmental and socio-economic problems have been known to be associated with surface gold mining operations in southern Ghana over many years. In this study, these mining impacts are examined using four case study areas and linked to the type and scale of mining operations and the social and physical geography of each region. Information on mining impacts and adverse impact management was obtained from four mining companies, and 800 residents from 16 communities, in the study area using questionnaires, personal interviews and field observations. Additional information was also obtained from relevant government and other institutions. A critical assessment of the current status of the environment and socio-economic situation of, as well as environmental management measures pursued in, the four mining areas reveals that despite a number of prevailing problems, many mining impact mitigation measures are being pursued in the region. These measures are aimed at environmental protection and minimisation of socio-economic impacts of mining. However, common to most of the mines is the use of largely disjointed, and in some cases, ad hoc approaches in the design and implementation of environmental management programmes. A more co-ordinated and cohesive approach to managing mining impacts is required, to ensure environmentally sustainable and socially responsible mining in the region. The use of an Environmental Management System (EMS) is proposed. A community-centred framework based on the geo-environmental characteristics of the study area upon which such a system could be built is presented. This framework could be adopted or adapted for the development of a viable EMS for surface gold mining, which, in turn, would lead to environmentally and socially responsible mining in the study area in particular, and southern Ghana in general

The availability and accessibility of low vision services in Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions of Ghana.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville.Background: The prevalence of low vision on the African continent is generally high and varies across and within countries, as well as in people of different socioeconomic status. While regional studies on the prevalence of blindness and low vision in Ghana have been conducted, there is a lack of information on the availability and accessibility of low vision services in these regions. The aim of the study was to assess the availability and accessibility of low vision services in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana. Methods: This was a descriptive, quantitative, cross-sectional study design. Hand-delivered semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect information from eye care professionals selected from 58 eye care facilities within the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana. In addition, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 29 low vision patients from the same regions. Results: Forty-four eye care facilities from the Ashanti region and 10 from the Brong Ahafo region responded to the questionnaire, giving an overall response rate of 93%. A total of 29 patients including 16 males and 13 females with a mean age of 33.79±17.42 years were interviewed from four different eye care facilities. Out of 50 eye care facilities who reported that they had low vision patients attending their clinics, 33 (66%) did not provide low vision services and 17 (34%) offered some form of this service. Eleven out of 15 (73.3%) patients reported that it was either difficult or very difficult to acquire optical low vision devices while 10 (83.3%) out of 12 patients reported the same about non-optical low vision devices. Of the 15 patients who responded to the questions on where they obtained their optical devices, 7 (47%) reported that they were donated to them, 2 (13%) obtained them from the market while 6 (40%) reported getting their devices from the hospitals or eye care facilities. For non-optical devices, the patients reported obtaining them from the market 5 (31%) and through donations 5 (31%). Others obtained them from the society for the blind 2 (15%), hospitals or eye clinics 2 (15%) and a resource centre 1 (8%). Barriers to the provision and uptake of low vision services included the lack of testing equipment, lack of assistive devices and high cost of services. Conclusions: Availability and accessibility of low vision services are limited in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions. These findings should help to inform interventions to make low vision services available and accessible as well as to overcome the barriers to providing and utilising these services to minimise the impact of visual impairment

Asante Rule as a Factor in the Emergence of the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana

This paper is a study of the nature of Asante’s relations with states in the Bono part of the Bono Ahafo Region. The paper also examines the consequences of Asante rule on its vassal states. The study reveals that prior to the Asante invasion of the Bono states in 1712, Asante traders bought kola, livestock and pottery from settlements in Bono. The Asante invasion of 1712 notwithstanding, economic relations between the two increased. During the nineteenth century, Atebubu and Bonduku, Kintampo and Wankyi became important market centres visited on a regular basis by Asante traders. Politically however, Asante conquest of Bono soured relations between Asante and the Bono states as a result of the capture and often, the murder of Bono chiefs and their subjects; looting of gold resources of the states and the replacement of legitimate Bono rulers by persons without any claim to legitimacy. Asante rule resulted in the polarization of Bono society, between pro-Bono and pro-Asante states. These factions became antagonistic towards each other and fought each other on a number of occasions. Anti-Asante sentiment grew in intensity from the late nineteenth century. In pursuit of freedom and independence from Asante rule, the Bono identified with the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in the 1950s. In consideration of their support for the CPP in the general elections of 1954 and 1956, the Nkrumah regime rewarded the Bono by constituting their states into an autonomous administrative region in 1959. Though the Bono states were significant in the disintegration of the Asante kingdom, scholars have given little attention to studying how they contributed to Asante’s disintegration and that is what this paper seeks to study. Keywords: Bono, Asante, North-western District, Asantehene, Vassal, ahwesofo

The Role of Networking in Supporting Headteachers' Professional Development and Practice in Ghana

This thesis is about headteacher professional development in Ghana and headteachers’ capacity to harness professional capital within their peer network to advance their practice. It is set against recent developments in Ghana around headteacher capacity building and the need to improve leadership practice in government basic schools where resources have been limited. Although networking and the notion of collaborative learning in professional learning communities are well-developed practices in some of the world’s best education systems, very little is known about such developments in Ghana and how the professional capital embedded in these network relations is contributing to practice. The research strategy is underpinned by pragmatic beliefs that research questions are the principal determinants of the research philosophy. Therefore, rather than committing to a research philosophy at the start of the study, the questions posed determined the methodological framework. Through a mixed-methods design, this empirical study deploys a two-phase sequential and exploratory strategy drawing on qualitative and quantitative datasets. The study finds evidence of a learning community of headteachers who, through frequent network interactions, build professional capital to enhance their practice. Headteachers indicated five key content-specific types of information and professional advice they exchange in this peer network. For these types of information and professional advice, the study reveals that age, experience, type of school or academic qualifications do not significantly influence headteacher choice of who to go to for information and professional advice. However, the data indicate a positive and significant relationship between headteacher gender and their likelihood of seeking information and professional advice about how to help ineffective teachers improve their practice and how to deliver the national curriculum effectively. The findings imply that policymakers should recognise network relations that exist among headteacher groups and direct resources to supporting peer learning and collaboration rather than the over-reliance on trainer-led workshops for headteacher professional development

Corpi neri in spazi maschili bianchi. Le atlete italiane nere o di origini straniere nello sport italiano.

Lo sport, fenomeno complesso ed in continua trasformazione, riflette inevitabilmente le trasformazioni sociali che avvengono all'interno della societ\ue0. Un'attenta analisi dei modelli di partecipazione allo sport delle figlie della migrazione in Italia mostra l'esistenza di \u201cspazialit\ue0 razzializzate\u201d (Harrison, 2013). Da tali contesti emerge infatti una vera e propria geografia dell'esclusione (Sibley, 1995) frutto di regolamenti sportivi federali che spesso ostacolano l'accesso allo sport, non solo ad alti livelli, alle giovani di origini straniere nate e/o cresciute in Italia. Tali limitazioni, tuttavia, non sembrano contenere la presenza sempre pi\uf9 numerosa e strutturale nelle diverse discipline, di tali atlete nello sport italiano (Tailmoun, Valeri, Tesfaye, 2014). Dall'atletica al calcio fino ad arrivare al cricket le Black Italians (Valeri, 2006), sportive nere che vestono la maglia azzurra, hanno dimostrato l'avvenuta mutazione del volto dell\u2019Italia anche a livello sportivo. \u201cNon esistono negri italiani\u201d, coro diretto durante un match a Mario Balotelli, calciatore italiano di origini ghanesi, evidenzia per\uf2 come il processo di definizione dell'italianit\ue0 sia ancora oggi conflittuale ed in progress. La presenza nelle diverse squadre Nazionali di atlete nere o di origini straniere induce a riflettere non solo sul nuovo colore dello sport italiano, ma soprattutto sulla necessit\ue0 di riconsiderare, in senso pi\uf9 inclusivo, il concetto di italianit\ue0. La \u201cnerezza\u201d di tali atlete ci consente di indagare attraverso un approccio intersezionale quale \ue8 il colore legittimo dello sport italiano. Le Black Italians (Valeri 2006) ci permettono di investigare come viene costruita l'italianit\ue0 da parte delle istituzioni sportive italiane, ma ci consentono anche di capire come tali sportive costruiscono e negoziano le loro appartenenze all'interno dello sport e della societ\ue0

Livelihood Options for Rural Poor Households in Ghana: A Case Study of the Asutifi District

About 87 percent to 89 percent of rural households in Ghana engage in small scale farming. However, rural poverty in Ghana is deepest among food crop farmers due to the vulnerable nature of their livelihood. Food crop farmers depend on single weather oriented agriculture and find it difficult to avoid or withstand livelihood stress and shocks such as drought, crop failure, pests and disease infestation among others. This study therefore focused on the need for rural households to develop additional livelihood options to provide vital income diversification, spread risk and provide means to cope when farming and other sources of income fail. Data from 138 heads of household who have adopted either Grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus), edible Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) and edible Snail (Achatina achatina) production as an additional livelihood activity to augment their livelihood options in the Asutifi District revealed that these supplementary livelihoods yields more income benefits than farming and other traditional livelihoods. The study concludes that rural households must be assisted to diversify their livelihoods if they are to overcome poverty. Keywords: Rural Livelihoods, Poverty, Ghana

A ThDP-dependent enzymatic carboligation reaction involved in Neocarazostatin A tricyclic carbazole formation

Acknowledgements This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31570033 to Y. Y.) and the Leverhulme Trust-Royal Society Africa Award (AA090088 to K. K and H. D.). Open access via RSC Gold 4 Gold.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Local Revenue Mobilization Mechanisms: Evidence from the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese District in Ghana

This paper examined the local revenue mobilization mechanisms in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese District in Ghana. A total of 214 respondents made up of 20 officials of the Assembly and 194 tax payers were involved in the study. The study demonstrated that despite the availability of other sources of local revenue, the Assembly was yet to take advantage of them. The strength of the Assembly’s local revenue collection measures included revenue collectors’ inclusion in tax decisions, house-to-house collection, and database. However, the weaknesses included poor taxpayer participation in tax decisions, inadequate personnel for revenue mobilization and poor cash management systems and accountability mechanisms at the Assembly. Some of the challenges the Assembly faced in improving local revenue generation were unwillingness on the part of the taxpayers to meet tax obligation, low pace of development and political considerations. It is recommended that the Assembly should put in place strong monitoring and supervisory mechanisms to check the revenue collectors, sanctions defaulting collectors, and also create room for private participation in local revenue collection. Keywords: Decentralization, revenue mobilization, subsidiarity principle, fiscal decentralizatio