An investigation of school based continuous professional development: Perception, practices and challenges

This paper aims to explore teachers' perceptions, practices and challenges of school-based teacher professional development program. The survey sample consisted of four secondary and preparatory schools, four school principals, four school continuous professional development (CPD) coordinators, one CPD focal person and 198 teachers. The major findings of the study were 1) there was positive perception of teachers toward school based CPD program in the study area, and 2) even though teachers have positively perceived but the practice of CPD program implementation is at low level in the sampled school. As the findings of the study confirmed, teachers’ lack of support from school management and supervisors, and lack of collaboration with teachers and school leaders were among the factors that affected the implementation of CPD program in the stduyarea.The study also indicate as teachers with more teaching experience relatively positively perceive the programs and teachers with 2nd degree holders practice more CPD activities than 1st degree holders in the study area. On the basis of these results, some suggested were recommended for policy makers and future research.