A survey of tutors’ perception of professional development in Colleges of Education in the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

The continuous development of all teachers is seen as the cornerstone for school improvement and successful implementation of educational reforms. Unfortunately, it appears some teachers do not see the need to develop themselves professionally. Therefore, the study sought to examine the perception of tutors in colleges of education about the need for professional development. It was conducted among tutors in the Central Region of Ghana. A descriptive survey design was employed to carry out the study. The target population comprised 156 tutors in the three colleges of education. A census survey was used to collect data from the 156 college tutors in the study area. A 48-item self- developed questionnaire with reliability co-efficient of .87 was personally hand delivered to collect data from the respondents. Data collected were analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean standard deviations). The study revealed that tutors perceived the need for professional development and that attending professional development activities are not time consuming activities since they increase teacher knowledge and expertise, and hence, help to improve the quality of college tutors. Also, it has been found that professional development opportunities are less available. However, it was found that professional development is challenged by factors like workload, inadequate time and funds, securing study leave with pay, domestic issues, lack of relevant reading materials among others. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education should make available opportunities for scholarships, exchange/international programmes, workshops, conferences, seminars and various forms of in-service training activities for tutors.