The Rurality of Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD)

Abstract

This paper draws from a completed study that assessed the effectiveness of the current strategies for implementing CPTD programmes in rural junior secondary schools in a rural Education District of Eastern Cape Province. The researchers argue that the rurality of the continuing professional development of teachers resonates from the comprehensive failures of specific education policies in addressing various historical challenges of life in rural South Africa. Rural schools are confronted with poor schooling conditions, high levels of illiteracy, lack of parental participation, poor transportation, non-attendance and shortage of teachers. Resulting from the introduction of numerous new curriculums in South Africa, rural schools' inadequacies alongside the inconsistencies in the rural- urban education policies' dichotomy and implementation have been significantly exposed. The paper concludes that it would seem most plausible to suggest that the professional development needs of rural teachers should be addressed differently in rural areas. Some recommendations have been suggested.