Teachers' Engagement in and Practice of Continuous Professional Development: Factors Affecting CPD’s Implementation in Primary Schools

Abstract

As knowledge is dynamic, what is new today becomes obsolete tomorrow which warrants the need to upgrade or update one‟s professional understanding of the field. The purposes of this study were twofold: unveiling the current status of continuous professional development (CPD) implementation and divulging those factors that affect teachers‟ engagement in the practice of CPD. Participants were selected purposefully from teachers, principals and supervisors, and data were collected using interviews, focus-group discussions, open-ended questionnaires and informal discussions. Using qualitative data analysis methods, major categories emerged. From the results it was found out that the status of CPD practice was not that much effective and all the stakeholders were hesitant about its effectiveness. Teachers engaged in CPD were not making the most effective use of it. They associated it with other issues often unrelated to the purposes of CPD. Emphasis on generic contents of training materials, lack of ownership, inconsistencies on its provision, disparity of knowledge among teachers, and supervisors and principals, and conceptual problems about CPD were among the identified factors that hindered its effective implementation. More importantly, the core owners, viz.; teachers, also seemed to have a gloomy picture of its effectiveness. Some possible interventions were suggested based on the findings.