Between Teachers And Cheaters: Critical Perspectives On Continuing Professional Teacher Development Towards Education 2030 Agenda In Africa
THE TEXT OF THE 25TH INAUGURAL PROFESSORIAL LECTURE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE DELIVERED BY PROFESSOR EMMANUEL O. ADU OF THE SCHOOL OF GENERAL AND CONTINUING EDUCATION. WEDNESDAY 22ND MAY 2019 AT MIRIAM MAKEBA HALL EAST LONDON CAMPUS
ABSTRACT
Reasons why teachers might cheat range from money, politics, sex, favoritism, time constraint, frequent curriculum changes, and unrest. Teachers’ professional development (PD) is related to benefits accruing from Continuing Professional Development (CPD) enterprise which engender changes in learning and teaching, and teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and practices. PD affords teachers to remain professional and not
to be seen as cheaters.
This professorial inaugural speech, therefore, examines some manifestations of cheating by teachers and the critical perspectives on CPD for teachers and classroom-based practices in Africa, intending to differentiate between teachers and cheaters among the teaching professionals.
This paper is based on a review of articles to conduct an analysis of the PD concept and programmes of continuing professional teacher development (CPTD) for fostering the best classroom-based practices among teachers in Africa. The paper is guided by the attitudinal teacher development model.
Other areas highlighted and discussed in this paper include international and national perspectives on CPD, approaches to CPD, professional development types, benefits accruing from CPD and factors promoting it, mitigating CPD challenges, 21st-century implications of PD with the intervention of ICT for teachers’ professional development, CPD policy, and institutional reforms.
The paper concludes that the professional development of teachers is undergoing a continuous professionalism focus towards the education 2030 agenda in Africa and should, therefore, adopt the developed strategies for professional teaching conduct focusing on the empowerment of teachers to help them overcome the upcoming challenges of continuous professional practice and development in the teaching field.
Keywords: Professional development, professional practice, international and national perspectives, Reflection, Professionalism
