An Evaluation of Teachers Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in Religious and Moral Education Curriculum in the Junior High Schools (JHS) of Ghana

The objective of the study was to evaluate teachers Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in Religious and Moral Education Curriculum in Junior High Schools (JHS) in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem (KEEA) municipality of Ghana. The study adopted the descriptive survey design using quantitative and qualitative methods. Methods were combined both for triangulation and complementarity. Triangulation was used to test the consistency of findings obtained through different instruments used, whilst complementarity clarifies and illustrates results from one method with the use of another method. The accessible population for the study was 130 JHS Religious and Moral Education teachers in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem Municipality. Purposive and census sampling techniques were used to select municipality, circuits and RME teachers respectively. The main instruments for data collection of study were questionnaire and an observation checklist. The quantitative data entry and analysis was done by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22, software for data analysis. The data analysis was informed by the research question which guided the study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the research question (frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation). At the same time, the data for the hypotheses were analysed through ANOVA and an independent-sampled t-test. The qualitative data was analysed by the use of the interpretative method based on the themes arrived at during the data collection. The themes were related to the research question and interpreted on the number of issues raised by respondents. These were based on question on the structured observation checklist. The study revealed that teacher's pedagogical content knowledge is critical when it comes to children's moral and spiritual development because content and pedagogy have to be presented and adopted to the learning needs, interests, and uniqueness each learner brings to the learning context. And this is where the usefulness of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge becomes a useful tool. The research hypotheses of the study also concluded that years of teaching experience do not always guarantee the development of PCK for RME