Effectiveness of school-based professional development programmes : teachers' perspectives / Hawwa Khalisa Shareef

Abstract

Based on the 2009 directive from the Ministry of Education, all schools in Maldives have been conducting School-Based Professional Development (SBPD) programmes for the last nine years. At present, there is no published research done to examine the effectiveness of these programmes. Therefore, this research was undertaken to analyses the effectiveness of SBPD programmes from the perspectives of teachers.

In this research, a qualitative case study informed by the interpretive paradigm was adopted to explore the selected phenomenon. One of the most popular preschools in Male' was purposefully selected as the case study school. Data was collected through semi-structured Rice-to lace interviews from ten teachers who have participated in all SBPD programmes conducted in the school.

The finding of this study indicates that teachers consider the SBPD programmes to be effective to some extent. Teachers believe that SI3PD programmes are important for their development and they participate with a positive attitude. However, they have raised some concerns regarding the content, organising and implementation of the programmes. In this regard, suggestions have been put forward as to how the SBPD programmes may he improved to achieve optimal results.

The main conclusion drawn from the research is that from the perspectives of teachers.
SBPD programmes are effective in some dimensions and there are many areas that can be improved with little considerations and efforts. It identifies implications for practice and suggestions for further studies.

Key words: School-based professional development. Teachers' perspectives, effectiveness,