HUMANISTIC PEDAGOGY IN GHANAIAN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS: TEACHERS UNDERSTANDINGS, PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES

Humanistic pedagogy emphasises meaningful learning, learner agency, supportive relationships, psychological safety, and whole-person development. Although learner-centred, constructivist, culturally responsive, and competency-based approaches have received increasing attention in Ghanaian mathematics education, little is known about how mathematics teachers interpret these practices through an explicitly humanistic lens. This qualitative descriptive study explored the understandings, reported practices, and implementation challenges of seven Ghanaian senior high school mathematics teachers enrolled in an MPhil Mathematics Education programme. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted in September 2026 and analysed thematically. Five themes were developed: making mathematics meaningful by connecting it to learners worlds; repositioning classrooms around participation, care, and whole-person development; perceived changes in learners relationships with mathematics; practical and institutional constraints; and teacher agency in response to constraints.