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The feminization of student’s leadership in the universities: the election of the first female SRC president in KNUST
Effects of students’ self-reflection on improving essay writing achievement among Ethiopian undergraduate students: a counterbalanced design
The choice of English as a home language in urban Ghana
The feminization of student’s leadership in the universities: the election of the first female SRC president in KNUST
by Anderson, Eugenia Ama Breba
Historically, women have been marginalized in student leadership in higher education institutions; nevertheless, recently, a number of women have gradually taken up leadership roles and risen to the topmost ranks previously held by only men. In Ghana, there is a gradually shifting from an exclusively men-dominated headship position for the SRC president to the inclusion of women. This article uses the glass cliff and feminization of leadership theories to establish the gradual changes in student leadership. This paper contributes to scholarship on women’s leadership by using the historic election of Yvonne Osei Adobea in 2023 as the first female SRC president in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to question whether this is a symbol of feminization of student leadership or a form of glass cliff. Using key informant interviews, archival data, and participant observation, this paper uniquely explored the extent to which student leadership in universities has been feminized. The paper argues that despite the overall marginalization of women’s leadership, some women have broken through the glass ceiling of student leadership. In addition, the inability of the male leadership to adequately address student needs has introduced the glass cliff phenomenon of experimentation with women’s leadership. © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Effects of students’ self-reflection on improving essay writing achievement among Ethiopian undergraduate students: a counterbalanced design
by Gebremariam, Hailay Tesfay
Reflection in education has seen an upsurge in research interest since as reported by Dewey (How we think, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, 1991) ground-breaking work, which plays an integral role in fostering students’ self-reflection and demonstrable learning skills. However there have not been enough studies to determine whether writing instruction from the perspective of self-reflection before action improves undergraduate students' essay writing achievement. This article investigates the effects of Ethiopian university-undergraduate students’ self-reflection before action on their essay writing achievement through the mediation of teaching writing instruction. The study's methodology involved two phases of intervention in a counterbalanced design. The participants were 47 male and female students aged 19–22, from Arba Minch University. They were assigned to a control group and an experimental group using the matched sampling technique. During the first phase, the experimental group (Group A) was instructed to engage in self-reflection-based course activities over a period of two months while the control group was not. In the second phase Group B was engaged in self-reflection-based course activities over a period of two months while Group A was kept under control. To collect data, preliminary students’ self-reflection was provided using an open-ended questionnaire, and pre- and post-tests of writing were given to both groups. Mean and standard deviation statistics were applied after the thematic analysis of the qualitative data. Additionally, a univariate analysis of variance was performed to answer the query regarding the impact of self-reflection on students' essay writing performance. The findings demonstrated that, despite the students encountering numerous difficulties during their essay-writing exercises; the self-reflection-based instruction had a significant positive impact on the participants' essay-writing achievement. In conclusion, the findings have some implications for teaching essay writing instructions. © 2023, The Author(s).
The choice of English as a home language in urban Ghana
by Grace Ampomaa Afrifa
In this paper, we investigate the choice of English as a home language in Ghana, a multilingual nation where 81 languages are spoken by a population of about 27 million people. In the past, while English was reserved as the de facto language of official domains, e.g., government business and education, Ghanaian languages were used in informal domains such as homes, markets and churches. Recent research and observations show a gradual shift from the use of indigenous languages in some informal domains to the use of the English language, especially in urban centres. This study uses audio-recordings, questionnaires and observations to gather data from 20 homes from 2 geographically and socio-economically distinct urban communities in Accra. The findings of the study show that economic status, age, inter-ethnic marriages and educational background are the main factors influencing the choice of English as a home language in urban Ghana. Other factors, such as the media, the language in education policies and the use of the internet, also play a role in the use of English in Ghanaian homes. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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