Assessment of the Relevance and Experience of Point-Based Teacher Continuous Professional Development (PBTCPD) Workshops in Ghana (Published)
The Government of Ghana introduced the Teacher Professional Allowance to improve teachers’ continuous professional development. Following the introduction of the allowance, there has been an increase in the number of workshops organized for teachers at a fee across the country. This paper assessed the Relevance and Experiences of the Points-Based Teacher Continuous Professional Development (PBTCPD) Workshops in the Bono Region of Ghana. The study employed an online survey design using a close-ended and open-ended questionnaire as the data collection instrument. 358 trained in-service teachers participated in the study. The data from the study were analysed using descriptive statistics. The results from the study show that the workshop contents were relevant but did not meet the needs of teachers. Moreover, the analysis of the teachers’ views on the PBTCPD suggests that there was little or no desire to attend the point-based CPD workshop. In addition to this, despite the significant effort of using the point-based CPD workshop as both a promotional and effective teaching and learning tool, the overwhelming majority of the teachers saw the point-based teacher CPD workshop as one of the means to take back the Teacher Professional Allowance.
Keywords: Continuous Professional Development, Experience, Professional Development, Relevance, point-based workshop
Quality Enhancement in Teaching Using Self-Assessment Strategies: A Case Study of Selected Schools in the Zambezi Region of Namibia (Published)
This qualitative study explored how self-assessment strategies can be used to enhance quality education in schools. Purposefully sampled school principals and heads of department (HoDs) of five combined schools in the region participated in the study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the five participating school principals while the HoDs were engaged in a focus group interview. This study revealed that schools have common understandings of quality and quality education. The study revealed that the use of a single type of teacher self-evaluation (TSE) deprives innovative teachers from initiating and exploring other viable self-assessment strategies. Therefore, this study recommends a creative application of alternative self-assessment strategies in order to enhance the quality of education in selected schools in the Zambezi Region of Namibia.
Keywords: Continuous Professional Development, Quality Education, Self-assessment, quality education enhancement, self-assessment strategies, teacher effectiveness