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While teachers and administrators in polytechnics in Ghana have categorically expressed the growing need for the former's knowledge and skills to be updated in the era of polytechnic transformation, little attention has been paid to the subject. This study reports a professional development intervention organised for 16 engineering teachers divided among three teacher design teams (TDT) who planned and undertook industrial attachments to update their knowledge and skills in their subject areas. With relevant knowledge acquired, they updated their courses and subsequently conducted teaching tryouts. Data collected during the study through interviews, questionnaires and a logbook sought teachers' learning experiences in TDTs. The results indicated teachers' acquisition of relevant knowledge and skills during the TDT activities. Furthermore, TDT enabled active learning, collaboration as well as dialogue on subject matter among teachers and was a useful means for the professional development process.

Professional development is the key to curriculum-based reform, yet there is little empirical evidence upon which to base decisions of design or implementation of training and development programmes. This study examined the training and development needs of Ghana's polytechnic teachers in an existing curriculum reform scenario as they became involved in curriculum design. Forty-four teachers and four heads of mechanical engineering departments and representatives of the leadership of four polytechnics granted comprehensive interviews and responded to questionnaires. Findings revealed that updating subject knowledge through industrial attachments was a major training and development need for teachers. Teachers indicated that they were keen to get more involved in curriculum design and argued for their subject knowledge to be improved to give them the confidence to do so. The results of the study suggest higher education teachers have training and development needs in relation to effective curriculum design and implementation. It is proposed that polytechnic-industry links are strengthened and that teachers should draw on teamwork to plan and undertake industrial attachments.

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This chapter traces the professional development of polytechnic teachers who were involved in design teams that aimed to update their courses based on recent developments in industry. For 14 weeks, three design teams updated their courses and conducted teaching tryouts. The professional development of six teachers (two from each design team) was traced using Clarke and Hollingsworth’s ((2002). Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 947–967) Interconnected Model of Professional Growth (IMPG). Analysis of interview data revealed that the teachers’ professional growth was facilitated by engagement in curriculum design and classroom implementation. The IMPG helped unearth in-depth understanding of teacher learning and change; it provided an analytical lens into the intertwined changes in the individual teachers’ knowledge and the sensitivity of these changes to complex interactions with content and teaching. Implications for teacher professional development are discussed.