Quality of Education for Youth: A Case Study of Secondary Education Provision in Ghana

可持续发展目标4 （SDG 4）是当前全球教育政策议程的核心，该议程将在2030年之前在全球范围内推行（Milligan et al, 2016）。其前身千年发展目标（2000-2015年）侧重于普及初等教育，严重忽视了教育质量，导致当前的“学习危机”，全球数百万儿童上学，但甚至没有掌握最基本的识字和算术技能（世界银行，2018年）。这种学习危机对世界各地的社会经济发展产生了重大影响，在撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）尤为明显。SSA政府正在迅速转向普及中等教育（USE）政策，以追求更高技能的劳动力和更强劲的经济增长。尽管如此，全球教育和研究界仍未就这带来的无数挑战及其更广泛的政策和社会经济影响展开辩论。此外，现有的关于SSA教育的研究大多集中在小学、职业和高等教育上。为了避免11年后的另一次学习危机，USE需要进行新的分析，以告知我们作为学者和实践者的集体理解，什么有效，为什么有效以及如何有效地为政策和实践提供信息。为了解决这些差距，这项拟议的研究将探讨加纳的USE政策的实施及其对第一代中学学习者及以后的新入学的影响。鉴于目前正在进行的多项雄心勃勃的教育改革，包括2017年成立的USE，加纳为这项研究提供了富有成效的背景。首要的研究问题将探讨不同类别学校的不同利益相关者如何概念化和制定使用的质量和期望，以及它对教育交付和更广泛的经济的影响。它还将考虑从初中（JHS）到高中（SHS）的过渡，在课程和教学法方面的包容和学习者的需求，以支持这一过渡。本研究将采用解释主义和社会建构主义的方法，采用定性方法和个案研究方法。除了深入的文献回顾和文献分析外，实证研究还将涉及中学的选择，有目的地抽样以代表当前中学系统中的三个不同层次。使用的方法将包括与教师、校长和主要线人进行半结构化访谈，以及教师观察和与家长进行焦点小组讨论。与该领域的学术工作一致，研究的重点来自于在加纳、马拉维和卢旺达担任顾问、研究人员和捐助方案管理人员的个人专业经验。特别是，在加纳进行早期的USE研究时，非常清楚的是，千年发展目标的挑战正在重新出现，迅速扩大到中等教育需要一种不同的方法。此外，很少探讨全球框架在实践中是如何适应和争议的。这项研究将引起关注全球教育、青年、就业能力和技能的广泛利益相关者的兴趣。这包括学者、决策者、教育部、发展机构和从业者以及教育融资合作伙伴。此外，本研究预计将有助于围绕质量，偶然建构主义和分析以学习者为中心的教育在全球南方正在进行的学术辩论。这项研究在SSA内也具有更广泛的相关性，对于实施USE的国家，特别是对于在不久的将来考虑USE政策的政府。

Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) is central to the current global education policy agenda being rolled out worldwide until 2030 (Milligan et al, 2016). Its predecessor, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (2000-2015) focused on achieving universal primary education (UPE) and critically overlooked education quality which has culminated in the current 'learning crisis' where millions of children globally have accessed school but not achieved even the most basic literacy and numeracy skills (World Bank, 2018). This learning crisis has significant implications for socio-economic development across the world and is acutely felt in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). SSA governments are rapidly moving towards Universal Secondary Education (USE) policies in pursuit of a higher skilled workforce and stronger economic growth. Despite this, the global education and research community is yet to engage in debates on the myriad of challenges this presents and its wider policy and socio-economic implications. Furthermore, much of the existing research on education in SSA focuses on primary, vocational and tertiary education. In order to avoid another learning crisis in 11 years' time, USE necessitates new analysis to inform our collective understanding as academics and practitioners of what works, why and how this may inform policy and practice. To address these gaps, this proposed research will explore the implementation of Ghana's USE policy and its impact on the new intake of first-generation secondary school learners and beyond. Ghana presents a fruitful context for this research in light of the multiple ambitious education reforms currently taking place, including USE which was established in 2017. The overarching research question will explore how quality and expectations of USE are conceptualised and enacted by different stakeholders across different categories of schools and its implications for education delivery and the wider economy. It will also consider the transition from Junior High School (JHS) to Senior High School (SHS), inclusion and learners' needs in terms of curriculum and pedagogy to support that transition.Using interpretive and social constructivist approaches, this research will employ qualitative methods and a case study methodology. In addition to an in-depth literature review and documentary analysis, the empirical research will involve a selection of secondary schools, purposively sampled to represent the three different tiers in the current secondary school system. The methods used will include semi-structured interviews with teachers, headteachers and key informants and, teacher observations and focus groups with parents. In line with scholarly works in the field, the focus of the research emanates from personal professional experiences as a consultant, researcher and donor programme manager in Ghana, Malawi and Rwanda. In particular, when engaging in early USE research in Ghana, it was abundantly clear that the challenges of the MDGs were resurfacing and rapid expansion to secondary education required a different approach. Moreover, the ways in which global frameworks are adapted and contested in practice is rarely explored. This research will be of interest to a wide range of stakeholders focused on global education, youth, employability and skills. This includes academics, policymakers, education ministries, development agencies and practitioners as well as education financing partners. Furthermore, this research is expected to contribute to ongoing academic debates around quality, contingent constructivism and analysis of Learner Centred Education in the Global South. The research also has wider relevance within SSA, for countries implementing USE and particularly for governments considering USE policies in the near future.