The purpose of this study was to examine pre-service early childhood educators pedagogical content knowledge in teaching psychosocial skills across the kindergarten curriculum in the Volta Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. A mixed method approach was adopted. Purposive sampling was used to select 4 colleges out of seven colleges in the 18 districts for the study to avoid selecting a college that do not pursue B.ed in early childhood education. Sample of 140 final year pre-service teachers pursuing a degree in early childhood education in colleges in Ghana, who have completed their macro teaching practice programme was employed using census and simple random sampling. Questionnaires were administered after which ten were reselected for the interview session. Data was analysed using means, standard deviation and narratives. The study revealed that pre-service teachers had enough knowledge to achieve two goals of the curriculum and also not much attention has been given to psychosocial skills of the kindergarten curriculum during the preparation of pre-service teachers. Pre-service teachers also had enough knowledge in the use of observation and conversation among others. A thorough examination of the kindergarten curriculum by pre-service teachers during supported teaching in schools and macro teaching practice before getting into the teaching field was recommended.

The purpose of the study was to examine the prevailing children’s problem behaviour and their effects on class activities in pre-schools in Effutu Municipality of Ghana. The study adopted the concurrent mixed methods design. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview schedule and questionnaire. The stratified random sampling technique was used to aid the selection of 15 schools from the Municipality. Simple random sampling was used to select 45 respondents from schools to respond to the questionnaire and purposive sampling was used to sample 15 participants for the qualitative data. The quantitative data was analysed using frequencies and percentages while the qualitative data were analysed thematically. It emerged from the study that the predominant types of children’s problem behaviour which teachers encountered were; aggression, non-compliance, destructiveness, refusal to take instruction and intentional destruction of property. Among the effects of the problem behaviours the study revealed were inattention from class activity thereby impeding participation in academic activities; breeding of social exclusion from peers, the behaviour challenges resulting in violent actions (behaviour) and other misbehaviour against others. Based on the findings, it is recommended that Effutu Municipal Assembly, Winneba Educational Directorate and the headteachers from the selected schools for the study should organize programmes in collaboration with the early childhood unit on how to cope, prevent and deal with   problem behaviour and its effects to ease the burden of parents and teachers and also help the learners to benefit from their academic activities. Early childhood education teachers should also make changes to their lesson delivery strategies by asking learners to read out loud, and by actively engaging the supposed disruptive learners more often to improve their concentration and class participation.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges kindergarten teachers face in administering assessment tools to children with intellectual disabilities in the Kumasi Metropolis. Methodology: Regarding the methodology, a descriptive survey design was adopted using a sample of 120 early childhood teachers from 22 public inclusive schools in the Kumasi Metro. Purposive sampling technique was used to select all 22 public inclusive schools, while convenience sampling technique was employed to select the actual respondents for the study. Questionnaire was used to gather the research data. Means (M) and Standard deviations (SD) were used as statistical tools to analyze the data. Findings: The findings revealed that most public kindergartens teachers in the Kumasi metropolis admitted not being confident enough to try out authentic assessments like portfolios, learning logs, journals, projects graphic organizers, concept mapping and rubrics on children with intellectual disabilities in inclusive public schools (M=3.84, SD=.575, KS=.620) due to inadequate professional guidance. It was therefore recommended that teachers should be equipped with skills and morale in administering authentic assessment practices to learners with intellectual disabilities. The study would serve as an important reference source for inclusive public and private kindergarten teachers, headmasters/mistresses, Teacher Education Division (TED), Early Childhood Care and Development Division (ECCDD) and Special Education Division(SED) of the Ghana Education Service (GES),University of Education (UEW) and the Institute of Education, (IoE) of the University of Cape Coast, (UCC) and other private educational institutions that train teachers in their effort to improve the management of testing with the adequate information about what is actually involved in assessment practices in the Early Childhood Centres. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Besides, the study would contribute to the improvement of testing practices, specifically, on children with intellectual disabilities on construction, administration, and scoring of teacher-made tests in the inclusive early childhood centres. The constructivist learning theory by Lev Vygotsky, which was adopted for this study, postulated that children learn best when they are allowed to construct a personal understanding based on experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.

Purpose: The study sought to explore the parental and peer factors that influence adolescent self-identity development of senior high school students in the Effutu Municipality. Methodology: The descriptive survey design using the quantitative method was adopted for the study. A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 310 students for the study. Frequencies, percentages were used to answer the research questions while Independent-Samples t-test was used to test the hypotheses. Findings: The findings revealed that frequent parent-adolescent communication enhances adolescent self-identity development. It was also found that peer feedback was a source of adolescent self-identity development. The study also revealed that there was statistically significant gender difference with regard to peer factors contributing to adolescent self-identity development. Unique contribution to theory and practice: It was recommended that during Parents Teachers Association meetings, parents should be educated by the schools on the need to create conducive environments at home to help their children build strong self-identities since parents make impact on their self-identity development.