Factors influencing school based continuous professional development (CPD) in selected secondary schools of Mwense district, Zambia.
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Date
2022-08-08
Authors
Lungu, Friday
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing the school based teachers‟
continuous professional development in selected secondary schools of Mwense. The research
employed in the study was descriptive survey method, which was supplemented by qualitative
data. The sampling techniques used included purposive, availability and simple random sampling.
The sample size was 83 teachers, 8 department heads, 4 head teachers, 4 schools continuous
professional development coordinators,1 DRCC with the total of 97 participants out of 150 study
populations. The data gathering tools employed were questionnaire, interview as well as
document analysis. The participants of interview were Head teachers, department heads, and
Continuous Professional Development coordinators and DRCC. Questionnaire was administered
to 83 teachers of which 80 of them were properly filled and returned. Then, the information
gathered through closed-ended questionnaire was analyzed using percentage, frequency, standard
deviation, and mean score while the data gathered through interview and open-ended questions
were analyzed qualitatively. Results of the document analysis were also described. The findings
indicated that the extent to which teachers engagement in professional development activities
such as mentoring, facilitating group discussions and peer observations, and evaluating the
overall successes and failures of the implementation processes were inadequately implemented.
The school Head teachers, professional development facilitators, were providing insufficient
support for the teachers. The major challenges identified were, lack of training, lack of action
research, lack of fulfilling Continuous Professional Development materials, lack of trained
facilitators, insufficiency of supports provided for teachers growth, insufficient allocation of
budget, lack of peer coaching and peer evaluation, and absence of induction program, were
identified by this research as the serious challenges of Continuous Professional Development
realization in selected secondary schools of Mwense District. To overcome the challenges
encountered, recommendations have been forwarded. These include: orienting teachers in
advance with the overall contents of the professional growth, motivating teachers to willingly
take more responsibilities in the implementation process, employing trained facilitators, and
allocation of sufficient resources to effectively achieve the intended goals. Moreover, Mwense
District education office has to allocate the necessary school budget.
Description
Thesis
Keywords
School based teachers--Professional development.