Tutors’ Social Perception Of Knowledge Acquired Through Continuous Professional Development In Public Primary Teachers Training Colleges In Central Kenya

Abstract

As part of teacher retraining, CPD has been embraced as a tool to improve education reforms, on teachers’ quality and which translates into quality education. This study examined how tutors in Teachers Training Colleges socially construct knowledge acquired through CPD. The study was conducted in Murang’a and Kamwenja Teachers’ of Central Kenya. The study sought to explore tutors’ perception of knowledge acquired through CPD. The study utilized a qualitative approach using an exploratory research design. Research instruments used were in-depth interview schedule for tutors and principals, key informant interviews and focus group discussions for tutors. The study sample consisted of 38 participants, who included two principals, 30 tutors and six key informants from the Ministry of Education. Tutors were selected through a proportionate random sampling while the principals and key informants were purposively sampled.  Piloting was done at one teachers’ college.  Qualitative data was analyzed and the reporting was done in narrative form. The study found that tutors perceive CPD trainings as platforms for further learning, where they participate in workshops, conferences, seminars, and in-service programs in a bid to improve their masterly of the content, pedagogical skills, and student outcomes. Additionally, it showed that the tutors who are the direct consumers and users of the content of CPD are hardly involved in the process of designing the CPD models thus making institutional ownership a challenge. The findings also indicated many of the tutors complained of been accorded inadequate time, hence proving a challenge in their learning. The study concluded that tutors were trained through Cascade Models of CPD, of which most of them reported that they were not effective enough in facilitating their social construction of knowledge. The study recommends the need to develop a more inclusive and tutor friendly CPD model driven by a user   needs analysis.