Teachers professional development sustainable and generative modes

Abstract

The issue of professional development for teachers has in the recent past drawn substantive attention from education stakeholders, the world over. This is with particular consideration of the relationship that exists between teacher quality and improved student learning outcomes. While effective professional development opportunities can enhance teachers’ knowledge and enable them to develop new instructional practices, literature and studies have revealed ineffectiveness in some of the modes. Of particular concern is firstly, the inability of some modes to support continual improvement of practice. This is as a result of several issues that are connected to the way the opportunities are designed and the level of involvement of the teacher who is the target of the professional development opportunity. Secondly is how feasible and practical is the opportunity given that follow-up is minimal or even none at all. Arguably, the organizers of such opportunities do not seem to recognize the various ways in which adults learn, a factor that may lead to the ‘new’ knowledge taking root or being ignored. However, this situation need not be so, as demonstrated by literature and studies. Professional development opportunities should include inquiry-based and selfdirected activities, coupled with a commitment to working with colleagues in the process of designing learning and assessing procedures. To argue out this thesis, this article will briefly examine current professional development opportunities in the East African context and then propose modes that are sustainable and generative. The article ends with a discussion of the implications for teachers, schools and Ministry of Education officials.