Relationship Between Teachers' Participation in Professional Development Programmes and the Effectiveness of Their Instructional Delivery in Junior Schools in Turkana East Sub-County, Kenya

This study examined the relationship between teachers' participation in professional development (PD) programmes and the effectiveness of their instructional delivery in public Junior Schools (JS) in Turkana East Sub-County, Turkana County, Kenya. Teacher instructional delivery is a key determinant of learners' academic success, shaped directly by teachers' pedagogical knowledge and skill, yet the extent to which PD translates into improved classroom practice varies across contexts, particularly in arid and semi-arid (ASAL) settings such as Turkana East, where infrastructural and resource constraints limit the transfer of PD into learner-centred teaching. Anchored on Guskey's Theory of Teacher Change, the study adopted a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. The target population comprised 140 public JS teachers, 32 Heads of Institutions (HOIs), and 2 Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs), from which a sample using census and simple random sampling, with sample size determined through Yamane's (1967) formula. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data from interviews were analyzed thematically. Descriptive findings showed that PD participation was strongly associated with more learner-centred teaching, effective lesson preparation, diverse assessment practices and greater confidence in lesson delivery, although regular use of teaching and learning materials during assessment remained low owing to resource constraints. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship between teachers’ participation in PD activities and instructional delivery (r = .624, p < .001, N = 100). Qualitative and observational evidence corroborated this relationship, with HOIs and CSOs describing PD as a driver of improved curriculum delivery. The study concludes that PD participation is significantly and positively associated with instructional delivery, though resource-related gaps continue to moderate its full translation into classroom practice, underscoring the need for targeted resource support alongside continued PD investment.

professional development, instructional delivery, convergent parallel mixed-methods design, junior schools, Turkana East Sub-County

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