ATTITUDE OF BASIC SCHOOL TEACHERS TOWARD PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES WITHIN THE ASSIN NORTH DISTRICT

Teacher professional development programmes which are meant to enhance skills, knowledge, abilities and beliefs are inseparably linked to effective teaching and learning. The purpose of the study is to determine the understanding and some factors that influence the attitude of basic school teachers towards professional development programmes within the Assign North District. Thirty (30) basic school teachers comprising six (6) head teachers and twenty-four (24) classroom teachers within the district were selected using simple random sampling for the study. The main instruments used for data collection were questionnaire and an interview guide. The study was an embedded mixed method design that involved simultaneous collection of data set by a qualitative and quantitative approach. Question-by-question model was used for the analysis of qualitative data and descriptive statistic was used to analyse the quantitative data. The study revealed that teachers in the district have appreciable knowledge of professional development programmes (PDP) and a positive attitude towards professional development programmes. Some of the factors that influence teachers’ attitude towards professional development training include career mobility, possible acquisition of knowledge, skills and possible networking with other teachers. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education in collaboration with other stakeholders of education and organizers of professional development training programmes should develop systematic and comprehensive professional development plans for teachers. There must be monitoring and evaluation team to visit teachers in their respective schools by the organizers after the training programmes through robust supervision. Also, teachers in the district are to be encouraged to create a network platform with the other teachers within the district to work in collaboration to be abreast with current educational issues and share ideas in connection with methods of teaching in their schools. In addition, the professional development programmes should be geared towards hands-on and practical activities to meet the particular needs of the basic school teacher. This will make basic school teachers attach seriousness towards such programmes.