Filipino senior high school teachers’ continuing professional development attitudes: Exploring the roles of perceived demand amid a national education reform

Abstract

The professional development of teachers is an important component of quality standards for any educational system, as teachers’ engagement in continuing professional development (CPD) activities are related with aspects of professional commitment and satisfaction. In this study, we explore how perceived demands of a national educational reform in the Philippines are associated with different indicators of senior high school teachers’ professional development. A survey of 289 teachers recruited to teach senior high school for the first time in the Philippines indicated that perceived demand was not associated with CPD participation intentions, but that perceived demand related to job requirement and to career planning had different associations with attitudes towards CPD. These different associations can be viewed as adaptive responding to the uncertainties in their changing work environment. The implications for conceptualizing the context of teachers’ professional development, and the external factors that strengthen or weaken teachers’ positive attitudes towards CPD are discussed.