Continuous Professional Learning in North Shoa Zone Secondary Schools: Enhancing Teacher Agency and Student Achievement

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the practice of continuous professional learning for teachers. A concurrent mixed research design is employed, and both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used. The convenience sampling technique is used to select three secondary schools in the zone. Data are collected through questionnaires, semi-structured interview guides and document analysis. The collected data are analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentage, frequencies, mean and standard deviation). Moreover, data collected through interview guides and document analysis are qualitatively analyzed and described through narrations. The major findings indicate that the majority of teachers believed initial training (pre-service training) is sufficient to make one a professional teacher. Furthermore, it is disclosed that the majority of teachers do not have a positive attitude towards the teaching profession. They tend to consider CPD as a useless activity that does not have any financial return, and it is a deliberate imposition on teachers. Moreover, the absence of well-planned and organized CPD activities both at the institutional and individual teachers’ level, as well as the lack of adequate monitoring and evaluation, and timely and appropriate feedback, are among the main challenges that hinder the effective implementation of CPD in the secondary schools. Based on the major findings, it is concluded that the practice of CPD in secondary schools is ineffective with regard to the development of teacher agency as well as students’ academic performance. Finally, it is recommended that CPD has to be properly institutionalized as part of the schools’ responsibility; monitoring and feedback provision mechanisms need to be established, and teachers' CPD performance needs to be featured in their career structure