Updating polytechnic teachers’ knowledge and skills through teacher design teams in Ghana

Abstract

While teachers and administrators in polytechnics in Ghana have categorically expressed the growing need for the former’s knowledge and skills to be updated in the era of polytechnic transformation, little attention has been paid to the subject. This study reports a professional development intervention organised for 16 engineering teachers divided among three teacher design teams (TDT) who planned and undertook industrial attachments to update their knowledge and skills in their subject areas. With relevant knowledge acquired, they updated their courses and subsequently conducted teaching tryouts. Data collected during the study through interviews, questionnaires and a logbook sought teachers’ learning experiences in TDTs. The results indicated teachers’ acquisition of relevant knowledge and skills during the TDT activities. Furthermore, TDT enabled active learning, collaboration as well as dialogue on subject matter among teachers and was a useful means for the professional development process