EFFECTIVE TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION: SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ VIEWPOINTS

Abstract

Central to the entire discipline of education in the digital age are the concepts of Teacher Professional Development (TPD) and, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) integration in teaching and learning. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the vital links between ICT-TPD and improved education standards. However, minimum attention has been given to the integrated ICT-TPD programmes that incorporate training opportunities to assist teachers learn how to integrate ICT for teaching based on teachers' immediate professional needs, experiences, and skills considering current improvements in pedagogy. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate secondary schools’ teachers’ perspectives with regards to effective ICT-TPD programmes. Data were collected through interviews of a purposeful selection of sixteen participants who were selected based on their exemplary ICT usage behaviour. Data from the interviews were analysed using the thematic analysis technique to gain in-depth understanding of teachers’ perspectives on the subject under investigation. The analysis revealed five salient components leading to effective ICT-TPD: Teachers as a Community of Professional Practice; Teacher Champions (Mentors/Coaches); Teachers’ Research; Teacher Appraisals (Accreditation); and Cascading good Practice. The findings from this study suggest that teacher’s accounts of appreciation and dissonances with the TPD programmes in the context of integration of technology in teaching mirrored similar issues in literature. However, the findings also revealed some nuanced shifts on teacher perceptions and attitudes to the quality of teacher professional development for ICT integration in classroom teaching. Article visualizations: