Assessing the Impact of Professional Development on Physics Tutors’ Knowledge about the National Teachers Standard and the new Teacher Educational Curriculum Framework in Ghana
- January 22, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: Education, IJRSI
International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VII, Issue I, January 2020 | ISSN 2321–2705
Isaac Sonful Coffie1, Godwin Kwame Aboagye2, Eugene Adjei Johnson2
1Department of Science, Wiawso College of Education, Ghana
2Department of Science Education, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Abstract: – The purpose of this study was to find out the perception of the physics tutors about the impact of a continuous professional development on their knowledge about the national teachers’ standard, the national teacher education curriculum framework and the 4-year B. Ed curriculum. The study employed descriptive cross sectional survey using an online survey. The population for the study comprised all colleges of education tutors who teach physics. In all 85 tutors took part in the online survey. The data collected was analysed using means, standard deviations and ANOVA. The results indicated that the professional development has had great impact on teacher’s knowledge about the national teachers’ standard, the national teacher education curriculum framework and the 4-year Bachelor of Education curriculum. It was also found that there was no statistically significant difference in the impact of the professional development based on tutors’ qualifications. Implications of the study for practice are drawn.
Key words: professional development, teachers’ knowledge, physics, national teachers’ standard
I. INTRODUCTION
There is evidence that effective professional development activities can help in deepening the knowledge level of teachers and can result in improvement in their teaching practice [1]. There are varied goals for organizing professional development programme for teachers [2]. Some are organized to produce transformation in attitudes, beliefs and perceptions of teachers [3;4]. Educational reforms and school improvement programmes demand professional development. This is because there is rapid growth of knowledge in all fields of education which requires new expertise so that teachers can be abreast with emerging knowledge. Also, reforms in education demand that teachers and administrators change their roles to take up fresh task. Professional development is therefore needed by teachers and administrators in order to understand these roles and perform well [2]. Professional development is very important when it comes to bridging the gap between the initial teacher training and educational reforms. It is a key focus for educational improvement [5].
