School-focussed staff development: opportunities and challenges: a case study
Date
2014-05-28
Authors
Meer, Naeem Suliaman
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Abstract
This report sets oat to establish the need for a school-focussed staff development programme within
South African schools given the changing educational imperatives in teacher education. It challenges
the notion that a person with a university degree or teaching certificate is equipped for lifelong service
as a teacher, by addressing the role that institutions can play in promoting professional development.
The study focuses on the experiences of one school to evince teacher enhancement strategies. The
methodology employs observation, interviews and a questionnaire pertaining to both the success of
and the need for school-focussed staff development.
The study found that the importance o f staff development increases as teachers develop new
rationales and create new strategies to fit their particular context and needs. It further found that
giving teachers the opportunity to make instructional innovations enhanced whole school
development It stresses the need tor educational authorities to devolve more autonomy to schools,
by supporting initiatives which integrate staff development and problem-solving approaches. Lastly,
it makes recommendations on the induction o f professional dev elopment to facilitate structural and
ideological evolution within schools. By locating this within the case study school, it found links
between staff development and school achievement. Finally it stresses the need for schools to design
programmes to suit fheir particular context. The study concludes by encouraging further research in
the area of school-focussed staff development applicable to the South African context