Jama and GhaSPidgin in Ghanaian high schools: towards a framework for understanding disavowed curriculum

A growing body of scholarship has explored dimensions of school curricula, but the out-of-classroom experiences of students remain underexplored. This article contributes to this discourse by investigating GhaSPidgin and Jama in Ghanaian high schools, using the ‘Funds of Knowledge’ theory to explore how these practices, originating from Indigenous knowledge systems, provide culturally relevant skills, social capital, and cognitive resources that are often ignored in formal education. Employing a qualitative multi-method approach, including interviews, observations, and student narratives from six high schools, the study analyses the role of GhaSPidgin and Jama within informal curricular spaces. The findings demonstrate that while these practices are not officially recognised, they are integral to student identity, community-building, and creative expression. Inspired by this, I introduce the concept of a ‘disavowed curriculum’ – indigenous educational practices present in schools but delegitimized by dominant Eurocentric standards. The findings also highlight ways students resist efforts to suppress these practices, challenging the constraints of formal curricula. I call on educators to recognise and integrate these practices into official curricula to harness their educational value and reduce their potential miseducative consequences.