Exploring Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: A case study of teachers’ perspectives and practices in a Ghanaian international school

International education has grown globally and in developing countries such as Ghana. However, the international curriculum provided by multinational corporations espouses neo-liberal ideals and multicultural values that may undervalue students’ local cultural values. As a response to the pedagogical dilemmas for teachers, this study explores Ladson-Billing’s (1995) theoretical framework of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) within a Ghanaian international school implementing the Cambridge International curriculum alongside elements from the Ghana Education Services Curriculum. The research explores three questions: the teacher’s implementation of CRP, how CRP is observed in the case study school and how CRP and international curriculum are utilised within the case study school. The findings indicate that CRP is evidenced in the case study school at three levels: personal (teacher), instructional and institutional. At the teacher level, the participants did not fully comprehend the theory of CRP. However, the teachers demonstrated a situated and practical understanding of cultural relevance. They emphasised the importance of incorporating their students’ funds of knowledge and cultural competencies as a pedagogical tool in the class. Within the postcolonial context of the case study school, two primary competencies were found in this study: Global and Local Competencies. These two competencies illustrated how teachers fused global perspectives from the Cambridge International Curriculum while implementing local African and Ghanaian cultures in their teaching practice. At the school level, CRP was observed in instructional ways through written documents and events and in informal ways through the school ethos and classroom pedagogy. Finally, at the instructional level, the Cambridge International curriculum was adapted to include socio-cultural aspects of African and Ghanaian culture to ensure cultural relevance to the students. The research findings demonstrate that some principles of CRP are evident in the case study school, but not entirely, as proposed in the CRP theoretical framework (Ladson-Billings, 1995). The findings illustrate that pedagogy, school policies, and the school’s ethos focus on developing students’ cultural competence and demonstrating cultural relevance. This dissertation recommends teaching local cultural values in addition to the Cambridge International curriculum to support students’ cultural identities and promote a culturally relevant and responsive pedagogical and curriculum framework.