Teachers’ professional development in schools: rhetoric versus reality

Abstract

"Across the country of Ethiopia, a centrally planned and prescribed professional. development programme was implemented in schools, with the intention of enhancing teachers’ knowledge, skills and disposition, thereby improving student. learning and achievement. This article explores and describes the lived experiences of teachers involved in continuous professional development in. Ethiopian secondary schools. Grounded in constructivist and critical perspectives,. data from the study illuminate that there was a disparity between what is. conveyed rhetorically about professional development programmes and the. actual practices in schools. The major barriers besetting the realization of teachers’. professional development were the narrow conception of professional development,. a managerial approach to implementing professional development initiatives, ineffective educational leadership, appalling staff needs and motivation, and the intensification of teachers’ work

Designing effective professional development for technology integration in schools

“…The context and culture within which teachers' work are critical for successful technology integration (O'Dwyer, Russell, & Bebell, 2004;Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010;Gemeda et al, 2014;King, 2014). O'Dwyer et al (2004) found that school and district leaderships as well as policies related to technology are among the important factors related to teachers' use of technology in the classroom.…”

The implications of school improvement and school effectiveness research for primary school principals in Ethiopia

“…A recent empirical study (Fekede et al 2013) used interviews with 18 teachers from three schools to explore teachers' perspectives on the nationally-mandated CPD programme. The authors found that teachers were extremely-even passionately-demotivated by working conditions, low salaries (also Sarton et al 2009) and poor leadership.…”

Is Teacher Professional Development an Effective Way to Mitigate Generational Digital Gap? Result from a 3-year Statewide Teacher Professional Development

“…Research has shown that high quality professional development could help improve teachers' work by helping them update their knowledge, change attitudes, and improve competency related to technology integration (Peterson & Palmer, 2011). However, in a review of technology professional development, it was found that a significant amount of these programs were ineffective (Gemeda, Fiorucci & Catarci, 2014). The reasons of ineffectiveness include ignoring the needs of teachers, problems with time, inappropriate instructional methods, outdated content, and lack of hands-on practice (Potter &Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2012).…”