Communication Practices Among Administrators in Colleges of Education in Ghana

Colleges of Education in Ghana occupy an important position in the country’s educational system as the primary institutions responsible for training professional teachers. However, the ongoing national educational reforms (elevating the college status to the university level) require effective administration and communication, which are essential for their success. Administrators in these institutions serve as the backbone of policy implementation, coordination, and institutional governance, yet empirical evidence on how they communicate and how effective these practices are remains limited. The primary goal of this paper is to examine the communication practices of administrators in selected Colleges of Education in Ghana, with a particular focus on their effectiveness and the challenges that hinder their sustainability. Using a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, data were collected from 31 administrators in Tamale College of Education, Bagabaga College of Education, and St. Vincent College of Education in the Northern Region of Ghana through structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The quantitative aspects of the data were analysed using descriptive statistics in SPSS, whereas qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s framework. The findings reveal that administrators employ a combination of formal channels, such as memos and meetings, informal interactions, including face-to-face discussions and digital platforms, such as email and WhatsApp, to perform their duties. The findings further indicated that communication practices were generally perceived as enhancing coordination, collaboration, and decision-making within the colleges. On the other hand, bureaucratic delays, limited Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, resource constraints, heavy workloads, and cultural resistance to change emerged as significant barriers. Drawing on organizational communication theory, participatory decision-making models, and ICT adoption frameworks, the study concludes that strengthening communication effectiveness requires systemic reforms, including clearer institutional policies, improved ICT investment, targeted capacity-building, and workload redistribution.