Growing Acts of Indiscipline in Ghanaian Schools

Indiscipline in schools has attracted the attention of many people and has eventually become the focus of discussions on many platforms. The purpose of the study was to find out the perceptions of teachers and students at the Abuakwa South Municipality of Ghana on student indiscipline behaviours. The study employed the descriptive survey and the approach was concurrent mixed method, involving bothquantitative and qualitative paradigms. Purposive and simple random sampling methods were used to obtaina sample size of five hundred and thirty (530) respondents. The main instruments used for the study were questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide. Data was analysed using inferential statistics and content analysis. Findings from the study revealed that; there was no perceptual difference between students and teachers views on acts that constitute disciplinary behaviours. Additional, there were differences in thestudents and teachers perceptions of the influences of peer pressure on students’ disciplinary behaviours. Itwas recommended among others that peer counselling sessions should be organized periodically among students for them to be aware of acceptable behaviours in the school system and how they can maintain desirable behaviours

Growing Acts of Indiscipline in Ghanaian Schools: Perception of Students and Teachers at Abuakwa South Municipality

Indiscipline in schools has attracted the attention of many people and has eventually become the focus of discussions on many platforms. The purpose of the study was to find out the perceptions of teachers and students at the Abuakwa South Municipality of Ghana on student indiscipline behaviours. The study employed the descriptive survey and the approach was concurrent mixed method, involving bothquantitative and qualitative paradigms. Purposive and simple random sampling methods were used to obtaina sample size of five hundred and thirty (530) respondents. The main instruments used for the study were questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide. Data was analysed using inferential statistics and content analysis. Findings from the study revealed that; there was no perceptual difference between students and teachers views on acts that constitute disciplinary behaviours. Additional, there were differences in thestudents and teachers perceptions of the influences of peer pressure on students’ disciplinary behaviours. Itwas recommended among others that peer counselling sessions should be organized periodically among students for them to be aware of acceptable behaviours in the school system and how they can maintain desirable behaviours

Branding Ghana

Ghana being a developing nation should embark on a national rebranding campaign to change its image domestically and internationally. This paper focuses on ways in which the Ghanaian government can achieve its goals, where the campaign wouldn’t just be another governmental propaganda, but prove worthy of taxpayers’ money, with the effects witnessed by all.Ghana; country branding; tourism

Structural Adjustments And Their Effects: Is There A Way Out For Africa?

The IMF and World Bank have over the years gained a stronghold in African economic policies. This is mainly due to the borrowing and lending relationship between the continent and these sister organizations. This paper seeks to address the negative effects that the IMF imposed Structural Adjustment policies have on the struggling economies of African countries and propose a solution to this problem. The paper also seeks to explore possible alternatives to taking IMF, World Bank loans and gives examples of countries who have explored such options successfully.International Monetary Fund (IMF); the World Bank(WB); Structural Adjustment Programs; loans.

Sources of International Economic Spillovers to Ghana's Economic Growth

In a world where policy co-ordination among countries is paramount, the growth of one depends on the behaviour of another in terms of policy instruments being pursued. One important question this study sought to answer was whether international economic spillovers emanating from all trading partners mattered for Ghana’s growth. The study therefore investigated the spillover effects emanating from three of the eight key trading partners of Ghana, namely, U.S.A., China and Nigeria. The study was conducted over the variables; technology diffusion; inflation rates and GDP growth of trading partners; labour; and capital, using annual data from 1980 to 2009. The methodology used involved estimating a growth equation for Ghana, capturing the effects and specific sources of spillovers from trading partners. An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and a vector autoregressive (VAR) model were used in arriving at various spillover effects from trading partners. The results showed that capital, inflation rates of U.S.A, and China’s GDP contributed significantly to Ghana’s GDP growth both in the long-run and the short-run. High spillover effects were observed to emanate from countries with high GDP growth. Another interesting result emphasized the fact that annual GDP growths are independent of each other. Finally, it was observed that spillover effects generally subsided after about fifteen years of persistent shocks.ARDL, Economic Growth, Ghana, International Economic Spillovers, VAR

Contextual Factors Associated with the Achievement of African American and European American Adolescents: A Diversimilarity Approach

The current study is an extension of Luster & McAdoo\u27s 1994 study of African American children and ecological factors impacting academic performance of these children. Luster and McAdoo found that maternal educational level, income, number of children and living conditions were related to how well children performed in school. Those children from impoverished backgrounds with uneducated mothers had lower quality academic performance. Using the Nation Longitudinal Survey of Youth data (1992), the current study investigated similarities and differences in the impact of ecological factors in European American(n = 266) and African American adolescents (n = 400). The results indicated that the home environment best predicts academic performance in African American adolescents while neighborhood conditions are better predictors of academic performance in European American adolescents. This difference may be related to the function of education for the two groups. Education may be a vehicle for status enhancement for European American adolescents. For African Americans, education may enhance class but not social status associated with racial minority status. These results suggest that educational efforts be developed to assist all adolescent in achieving both status and class objectives

Professionalism of the built environment researcher

What is professionalism? How important is professionalism to any particular field of endeavour and to society as a whole? Does a researcher have to demonstrate professionalism? How is the professionalism of a researcher determined, and how is it assessed? How important is professionalism to the field of research on the built environment? What form does professionalism among researchers on the built environment take? Who should develop the professionalism of such researchers? How should studies of professionalism in the field the built environment be done; what is the method to be applied in such studies? Who will be the gatekeeper of professionalism in that field, and who will undertake the assessment of the levels of professionalism? The study is exploratory in nature. It seeks to address the questions outlined above on professionalism in the field of built environment research. It suggests that the community of researchers on the built environment should give professionalism greater attention. It recommends that further studies on the parameters of the area of research be undertaken and proposes some relevant topics

Identity and mothering: The second generation of Ghanaian migrants

Despite the vast literature in existence concerning the topic of ‘motherhood’, limited studies have been attempted to explore the mothering experiences of British ethnic minority mothers living in the United Kingdom. This study was undertaken with the aim of exploring, clarifying and describing the phenomenon of ‘identity’ and its influence on the mothering practices of eight minority mothers, giving voice to their experiences. A reflexive heuristic methodology was applied and Van Kaam’s modified method of analysis was utilised. The findings revealed that ‘identity’ is a complex phenomenon. Rather than remaining defined by their racial, intergenerational or cultural group associations, the mothers were altering their mothering techniques to suit their preferences and this process appeared to be one which remained open to modification

Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: Fact or fiction? A look at Ghanaian banks

This article examined the impact of corporate social responsibility on financial performance using empirical evidence from the Ghanaian banking sector. Although corporate social responsibility is a hot topic in Ghana and banks do practise it, no detailed study has been conducted to ascertain whether banks derive any benefits therefrom. A sample size of 22 banks was involved. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain primary data whilst archival records were used to gather the secondary data. Main findings: The findings revealed that banks in Ghana view corporate social responsibility practices to be a strategic tool; banks are motivated to practise corporate social responsibility by legitimate reasons as much as they are motivated by profitability and sustainability reasons. Also, although there is a positive relationship between corporate social responsibility practices and financial performance, the financial performance of banks in Ghana does not depend significantly on their corporate social responsibility practices but rather on other control variables, such as growth, origin, debt ratio, and size