The Implementation of School-Based Teacher Professional Development in a Selected South African Rural Context: A Need for Change to Deal with Crises

Abstract

This paper examines the dynamics experienced by teachers, school principals and the circuit manager in implementing school-based teacher professional development (SBTPD) in a selected South African rural context in dealing with crises such as COVID-19. Teachers, school principals and the circuit manager are not appropriately equipped to meet the challenges and needs of this developing country through the accurate implementation of school-based teacher professional development. The advent of COVID-19 has compounded such challenges, particularly in rural schools. Underpinned in the qualitative interpretive approach and using a multiple case study as a mode of inquiry, this paper employed four schools in one education circuit. It generated data through interviews with the circuit manager and each of the four school principals as well as focus group discussions with all teachers in each school. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the researched schools solely relied on the cascade model to implement SBTPD and that there was a lack of collaborative practices among teachers. Considering the findings, this paper suggests that schools initiate their school-based programmes designed to accommodate crises and that teachers, school principals and the circuit manager (CM) undergo capacity-building in appropriately implementing SBTPD, particularly during crises. Keywords: School-Based Teacher Professional Development, Teacher Professional Development, COVID-19, Rural contexts, Dealing with situational crises