ENHANCING TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING FOR MARGINALISED GIRLS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF PEDAGOGICAL PROCESSES IN AN ACCELERATED EDUCATION PROGRAMME IN GHANA

Abstract

Despite global progress in school enrolment, many children enrolled in basic education still achieve learning outcomes that are only slightly better than those children who never attended school. Additionally, millions of children remain out of school altogether. The ones most affected are those from poor, marginalised backgrounds, particularly girls, who face structural barriers related to poverty and restrictive cultural norms that reinforce their marginalisation. Transformative learning, which is concerned with empowering learners to overcome these barriers while fostering societal change, is increasingly recognised as crucial for improving learning outcomes for marginalised groups. However, the practice of transformative learning, particularly the teaching approaches and methodologies used to challenge and address these structural barriers––referred to in this study as transformative pedagogy—remains underexplored. This is particularly true in low and lower-middle-income countries, where pedagogy, though a significant barrier to learning, is frequently overlooked in educational interventions and research. This research aims to address this gap by exploring how the pedagogical processes in a community-based accelerated learning programme in southern Ghana, can foster transformative learning for marginalised out-of-school girls. The Strategic Approach to Girls' Education (STAGE) programme, intended as a "transformational intervention" for marginalised out-of-school girls between the ages of 15 and 19, is the focus. This programme aims to remove the structural barriers that prevent them from accessing education and adversely affect their learning outcomes. This study is grounded in transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 2003, 1997). However, a major limitation of the theory is that it has limited representation of marginalised groups and downplays the socio-cultural contexts that shape learning experiences. To address this gap, this study integrates the philosophy of the Akan people of Ghana—reflected in their collective worldview, beliefs, values, and intellectual traditions— into the study’s theoretical framework. This integration enables the use of indigenous Akan knowledge, embodied in the Adinkra symbols, to enhance transformative learning theory and foster a more inclusive discourse in education. The study uses a qualitative multiple case study design to explore the pedagogical policies and frameworks of the STAGE programme across four selected school communities. It includes a review of key programme documents and semi-structured interviews with nine stakeholders involved in the programme's design and implementation. Five classroom observations in each community were followed by in-depth interviews with the facilitators to explore how these strategies were put into practice. Additionally, 32 learners across these communities were purposively sampled and interviewed to gain insights into their transformative learning experiences in the programme. Visual elicitation methods comprising drawings and artefact analysis were also employed to ensure that learners’ voices were central to the data collection process and to capture a more comprehensive understanding of their learning experiences. The findings indicate that the STAGE programme addressed some of the structural barriers to learning, resulting in transformative shifts in learners’ self-identity, self-confidence, educational aspirations, economic prospects, and social engagement. However, the depth of these outcomes were limited by factors such as inadequate facilitator competence, resource limitations, socio-cultural resistance to girls' participation, a rigid curriculum and language barriers due to teaching manuals being in English rather than the local language used in instruction. Additionally, Akan cultural values of respect for elders, gender roles, communalism and spirituality, both facilitated and constrained the transformative shifts experienced by learners. This study reveals that engaging community members, especially religious and traditional leaders, can foster community-wide shifts in attitudes toward girls' education. The findings suggest that knowledge and transformative change are not just individual endeavours; rather, they are deeply intertwined with community bonds and cultural values. The study therefore emphasises the need to broaden transformative learning beyond the traditional focus on individual critical reflection, as this narrow focus fails to address the complex socio-cultural challenges marginalised girls face in contexts where learning is linked to cultural values and collective identities. The study proposes a framework that integrates communal and cultural dimensions based on Akan philosophy into transformative learning. Key components include communal learning, the involvement of traditional and religious leaders, culturally relevant instruction that addresses gender inequalities, and dialogue that engages the broader community, particularly women and girls. The involvement of the broader community and community leaders in the framework embeds Akan cultural beliefs in community and the central role of community authority figures in reinforcing social values and initiating change. Unlike the traditional emphasis on individual critical reflection, this framework therefore emphasises the interconnectedness of individuals, as believed in Akan culture, and transformative learning as a collective process. Additionally, the integration of gender equality links transformative learning with gender-transformative practices, moving the framework beyond classroom-based gender-responsive practices. This culturally grounded framework broadens the scope of transformative learning and contributes to a more inclusive framework that highlights community and cultural influence in learning. This approach could better enable education to influence both individuals and the larger community, addressing socio-cultural barriers and promoting meaningful individual and social change.