Teacher Professional Development and Quality of Pedagogical Practices in Public Secondary Schools in Uganda

Abstract

The study examined the influence of teacher professional development on quality of pedagogical practices in public secondary schools in Uganda and specifically examined the extent to which induction, coaching and training workshops explain variations in quality of pedagogical practices. A cross-sectional survey design was used in which 76 head teachers and 934 teachers from 95 public secondary schools were selected using multistage sampling. Descriptive and ordered logistic regression was used to analyze data collected from teachers, while content analysis was used to analyze data collected using lesson observations, document analysis, and interviews. The findings revealed that teacher professional development significantly explains quality of pedagogical practices, and yet institutionalized continuous professional development systems were lacking in these schools. To enhance quality of pedagogical practices, the MoES should expedite the implementation of the Secondary Teacher Development Management Systems programme meant to ensure continuous professional development of teachers.