Teaching and Learning Embroidery and Appliquė in Selected Senior High Schools in the Eastern Region of Ghana
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Date
2018-10
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KNUST
Abstract
Embroidery and Appliqué are topics that are taught under Fabric decoration
techniques within the elective Textiles syllabus. The two topics are classified under
Stitches in the Needlework component of Fabric decoration techniques. These are
interesting topics but it seems many Textiles students are not able to acquire the
knowledge and technical skills that they need to be able to answer West Africa
Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) questions in Needlework as
the Textiles syllabus was designed to do. The study therefore sought to investigate
the teaching and learning of embroidery and appliqué in the Senior High Schools in
Ghana, using four schools in Akuapem South District of Eastern Region as a case
study to find out the challenges and to suggest ways of improving the teaching and
learning outcomes. Specifically, the study set out to identify and describe how
teaching and learning of embroidery and appliqué are done in the selected senior high
schools, and also to find out how the strengths and weaknesses in the teaching and
learning of embroidery and appliqué in the selected senior high schools can be
resolved. Data needed to answer the research questions were collected using two sets
of a self-administered questionnaire that were administered to 86 respondents
comprising 79 Form 3 Textiles students and seven (7) teachers. Additional data were
collected through observation during a practical intervention project in which the
study respondents were taught embroidery and applique lessons. Analysis of the data
collected revealed that the schools lack standard textbooks and reference materials to
guide the teaching and learning of textiles; the required materials were also not
available in the schools’ libraries. All the teachers in the four schools (coded A, B, C
and D) were therefore using whatever reference textbooks they buy from private
bookshops, and what they are able to borrow from their colleague teachers in different
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schools. Out of the 7 teacher respondents, only the Textiles teacher in School C had
specialized in embroidery and appliqué and was teaching both the theory and practical
aspects of the two fabric decoration techniques while the other teachers were only
teaching the theory of embroidery and appliqué by means of the lecture method. The
schools had inadequate basic hand tools and equipment such as embroidery machines
for Textiles and particularly, for effective teaching and learning of embroidery and
appliqué so the students buy their own tools and materials for practical lessons. The
intervention lessons made it possible for the textiles teachers and their students to
learn about and use appropriate tools and materials to create different stitches and
produce embroidery and appliqué articles, which gave the textiles teachers some level
of proficiency to enable them to guide their students to do practical works in
embroidery and appliqué for acquiring technical knowledge and skills for WASSCE
and employment purposes.
Description
A Thesis submitted to the school of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy