Student Teaching in Ghana
Beginning in the Fall of 2008, the School of Education at SUNY Geneseo sent its first group of teacher candidates to Ghana for a student teaching experience at the Village of Hope, an orphanage and school for children (mostly orphan) in Fetteh, a rural community in West Africa. The program has evolved over the past few years and includes a 7-week student teaching placement in Kumasi, the largest city in Ashanti, Ghana. Candidates stay at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the alma mater of the 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan.
The program includes a focused student teaching placement with scheduled seminars along with cultural visits and excursions in Ghana to bring meaning to this international student teaching experience. In the Fall of 2013 a group of 7 teacher candidates from SUNY Geneseo will be joined by 3 graduate school candidates from The University at Albany (SUNY) under the direction of Dr. Cheryl Kreutter from SUNY Geneseo. The program will run from October 26 through Dec. 6 with student teaching placements in KNUST Basic School as well as other local schools. Evening seminars will address a variety of topics drawing on candidates’ daily work in their classrooms and providing time to reflect on the similarities and differences between education in Ghana and the U.S. Upon arrival in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, the group will head to Kumasi for orientation, a campus tour, and a welcoming event. Excursions and cultural events planned during their stay in Ghana include visits to Kumasi’s craft villages, cultural evenings, drumming lessons, a visit to the King’s Palace and Cultural Centre, Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, local fish markets, Lake Bosuntwe, Ghana’s Parliament, Busia Museum, the School of Education at University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast Castle, the beach, Kintampo Waterfalls, and visits to urban education centers in Accra.
