An exploration of the state of the school-based teacher professional development in selected primary schools in Luwero district.

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring the state of school-based teacher professional development in four selected primary schools in Luwero district. This study set out; (i) to establish the existing forms of school-based teacher professional development opportunities in the four selected primary schools (ii) to examine the contributions of school-based teacher professional development in meeting the professional learning needs of teachers in the selected primary schools (iii) to find out the teachers’ perceptions of school-based teacher professional development in the selected primary schools. The study adopted a qualitative research approach and particularly, a case study research design to collect data from four selected primary schools. A total of forty-five purposively selected participants participated in the study, and comprised; four Headteachers, four Directors of Studies, four Heads of Department, thirty-two teachers, and one Coordinating Center Tutor (CCT). The data collection methods comprised interviews, focus group discussions and document review. In addition, data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The study established that the common forms of school-based teacher professional development utilized in the four primary schools include; mentoring, workshops, departmental meeting, seminars, induction training. The findings further showed that to a greater extent, the teachers’ professional learning needs were addressed by the forms of school-based teacher professional development mentioned above. Some of the contributions include; gained more skills and improved their pedagogic practices. The study also established that the teachers’ perception of school based teacher professional development were largely positive. The study, therefore, recommends that school-based teacher professional development should be promoted in primary schools as an effective strategy for contextualized teacher learning and improvement of practice.