Investigating School-Based Continuous Professional Development in Government Primary Schools of Wolaita Zone: Activities, Implementation and Challenges

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the school-based continuous professional development in primary schools of Wolaita Zone. A mixed method with convergent design was employed. The target population of the study was teachers, school principals, and cluster school supervisors. The sample consisted of 389 participants selected using purposive and multistage sampling techniques. Data was collected using questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion (FGD). Means and standard error were used to analyze the quantitative data and thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data from FGD and interview. The study found that teachers have inadequate access to continuous professional development (CPD) activities and less satisfied with them. Moreover, financial cost, location, timing and suitability of provision workload, personal circumstances, and knowledge of opportunities, school policy and availability of staff were found to be the inhabiting factors for the effective implementation of CPD. Facilitators or opportunities for the successful implementation of CPD were also  found to be poor. Thus, the study concluded that the implementation of CPD activities at the government primary school level in Wolaita Zone was not adequate and facing challenges.