What do Ghanaian teachers think about the language-in-education policy in Ghana? Exploring teachers’ attitudes, practices, and perceptions

Teachers’ attitudes toward language-in-education policies influence not only their instructional decisions, but also students’ language experiences and educational outcomes. Exploring teachers’ attitudes is therefore critical if we aim to understand how language-in-education policies are enacted in practice and how they impact student learning. This qualitative case study explores Ghanaian teachers’ attitudes, practices, and perceptions toward the language-in-education policy in Ghana. It employs semi-structured interviews to capture the rich and nuanced experiences of primary school teachers at a public school located in the Effutu Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana, seeking to understand why they hold certain attitudes toward the policy, and how their ideological beliefs influence their policy interpretations and implementations. Findings show that the teachers’ attitudes, practices, and perceptions are influenced by a combination of personal, institutional, and sociopolitical factors that shape how they interpret and apply the policy. This study offers valuable insights into what pre- and in-service teacher education programs in Ghana can do to help primary school teachers develop an accurate understanding of the policy and cultivate decolonial language ideologies that validate and affirm Ghanaian students’ multilingual identities. Implications are discussed for practice, policy, and future research.