Is anybody listening? Teachers' views of their in-service teacher professional development programme

Abstract

This paper reports on a segment of a research project that conducted an overall evaluation of the Diploma in Education (Dip.Ed.) programme provided by the School of Education of The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine for the period 2004-2009. The Dip.Ed. programme provides initial training for teachers employed in the secondary school system in Trinidad and Tobago. The overall study utilized the following models as theoretical and conceptual lenses: Guskey's (2002a) model of evaluating the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) on teachers' practice; and Guba and Lincoln's (1989) fourth generation evaluation model. This paper, which reports on the teachers' perspectives, presents findings on the extent to which the Dip.Ed. programme met their expectations, the benefits and limitations of the programme, and the impact of the programme on their practice. Data from teachers were gathered using an open-ended questionnaire, and were analysed with the NVIVO qualitative data analysis software. The paper considers the implications of these findings for the overall improvement of the Dip.Ed. programme and teacher professional development