Challenges Facing the Effectiveness of Secondary School Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development in the Sekyere District: Enhancing Practise with Human Performance Technology

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue III, March 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Challenges Facing the Effectiveness of Secondary School Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development in the Sekyere District: Enhancing Practise with Human Performance Technology

Alexander Kyei EDWARDS^1* & Isaac OSEI-MENSAH^2
1Centre for Educational Policy Studies, University of Education, Winneba-Ghana
²Department of Educational Leadership, University of Education, Winneba-Ghana
*Correspondence author

Abstract: – The proposition is that the concept of human performance technology (HPT) into teacher continuous professional development (CPD) will enhance effectiveness in advancing the work of teaching. Data came from 120 out of the 150 purposively sampled SHS teachers from Sekyere District who responded to a survey questionnaire with open-ended items. Results showed four main motivational factors: (i) capacity building (83.3% Agreed), (ii) pedagogical content knowledge upgrade (88.0% Agreed), (iii) meaningful contents to add value (88.3% Agreed), but for (iv) a career progression and/or to gain experience through CPD was moderately low (56.7% Agreed). Also four challenges were discovered within the opinions of respondents. Therefore the study revealed a new thinking for consideration in the use of HPT theoretical framework for knowledge transfer to enhance the effectiveness of teacher CPD. The discourse focuses on challenges and implications for professional development, policy direction, and a practical application of HPT in the Ghana Education Service (GES). Study recommendations include first, school leadership to motivate teachers when it comes to CPD in secondary schools. Secondly, the National Teaching Council (NTC) should prescribe contents based on their need assessment for other training providers, HPT experts, and CPD facilitators to bring consistency, relevance, and quality to the work of teaching. Finally, it is believed that HPT providers in partnership with NTC should enhance CPD successfully to simplify the necessity for the teacher certification, teacher education practices, and add value to the government’s free secondary education policy.

Keywords: Ghana Education Service (GES), Continuous professional development (CPD), Human performance technology (HPT), Teaching profession
Contribution

The study is starting a conversation around the challenges of Teacher continuous professional development (CPD) practices in the Ghana education system. The new thinking is the use of human performance technology (HPT) as a proven method of effective instructional design for career training and development. The discourse articulated here is for a consideration in framing of CPD with HPT theory and practise for policy leadership. It is to make a significant contribution to the policy leadership discussion towards the Ghana’s National Education Agenda 2030.

Read More