Abstract:
The colleges of education in Ghana have been involved in continuous
professional development for over four years with support of Transforming
Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL). The main purpose of this research
was to assess the perceived impact of the continuous professional development
programme on physics teaching at the colleges of education. The study
employed a mixed method design specifically concurrent parallel design. An
online survey was conducted which was followed by interview with some of
the physics tutors. The survey data were analysed using means and standard
deviations and ANOVA. Data from the interview were analysed typologically.
It was found that the professional development is perceived by the physics
tutors to have great impact on their teaching practice as tutors are able to use
gender responsive pedagogies and inclusivity strategies to involve students
interactively in physics classrooms. It was also found that the commitment of
school leadership and support of the professional development team help in
the implementation of the professional development ideas. The study however,
found that unwillingness of tutors to change, tutors’ perception, lack of
resources, lack of time and the long period of the professional development
are some of the factors thwarting the implementation process. It was therefore
recommended effort should be made by the college authorities to provide
basics resources like projectors for teaching in the colleges. It was also
recommended that there should be an explanation by the T-TEL team to tutors
as to why the programme has extended so long and if possible a time that the
professional development will end.
