PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR THE TEACHERS: IMPLICATIONS TO QUALITY EDUCATION LYDIA KGOMOTSO MPHAHLELE

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT Professional Growth: Increased Experience Formal Experiences Involvement of Teachers : Reflections However: The use NPFTED attempted, but not yielded intended results.

Quality : Definition Meeting the expectations of the client: Customer Supply Relationships Not about Test Scores Quality Education: Engendering the quality of thinking, feeling and acting individuals who are committed to development of self, home, family, community and wider society.

Literature review Programmes are unsatisfactory Because they lack of collective analysis Absence of the role of HETs Limited access and involvement to PD Budget constraints Results: Have not met intended goals

Arguments for PD: Analysis of the continuing PD Improving teachers conceptual knowledge Re-skilling and up-skilling of teachers

PD: FRAMEWORK PD Process

PD Design Framework Commit to a vision for the learning process Analyze data Set goals to establish benchmarks or milestones to assess progress toward the vision Plan the professional learning process Do implement your PD plan Evaluate to determine whether and in what ways the learning process is successful (or not) Use information from evaluation to inform future learning processes Act: Implementation

Literature  Professional education and development of teachers work best when teachers themselves are integrally involved in it, reflecting on their own practice.  When there is a strong school –based component.  And when activities are well co-ordinated

Teacher development include Formal experiences such as attending workshops and professional meetings like cluster systems and mentoring. Teacher development must have as its core process a “ community of learners” whose members accept joint responsibility for the high levels of learning of all students. The teachers in this community of learners must meet regularly to learn, plan, and support one another in the continuous improvement.

PD – Cont. PD: Itself is goal oriented : Needs to be continuous, supported and promoted Techniques to be contextualised according to specific needs Personal plans to represent learning goals [SMART – GOALS] The focus: Improving learning and teaching Essence: Structure for professional growth

Planned Improvement: PD EPDSA Cycle Evaluate: What is existing Plan: Identify the needs - analysis Do: Develop a plan Act: Implement training – check the impact Study: Evaluate the training

Effective PDs Engages teachers in on-going, extended learning (contact hours plus follow-up) Provides access to new technologies for teaching and learning Actively engages teachers in meaningful and relevant activities for their individual contexts Promotes peer collaboration and community building

Effective PDs Has a clearly articulated and a common vision for student achievement Improve teachers’ knowledge of the academic subjects that they teach Advance teacher understanding of effective instructional and classroom management strategies