Extent of Teachers' Participation in Professional Development Activities for Instructional Delivery in Junior Schools in Turkana East Sub-County, Turkana County, Kenya

Abstract

This study examined the extent of teachers' participation in professional development (PD) activities for instructional delivery in public Junior Schools (JS) in Turkana East Sub-County, Turkana County, Kenya. The study was guided by the objective of establishing the frequency, nature, and continuity of teachers' PD participation within a Competency Based Education (CBE) context that increasingly demands learner-centred pedagogy, technology integration, and continuous professional growth. Anchored on Guskey's Theory of Teacher Change, the study adopted a convergent parallel mixed-methods design combining quantitative and qualitative strategies. The target population comprised 140 public JS teachers, 32 Heads of Institutions (HOIs) and 2 Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs), from which a target sample of 138 respondents (104 teachers, 32 HOIs, 2 CSOs) was drawn using simple random and census sampling techniques. Data were collected using a questionnaire, an interview schedule, an observation checklist, and a document analysis guide. Data were analysed descriptively (SPSS version 30) for the quantitative strand and thematically for the qualitative strand. Findings revealed that teachers' PD participation was substantially higher for formal, centrally organised sessions including the Ministry of Education training and school-based in-service training, than for professional learning communities and peer teacher groups or regular participation beyond annual activities. Qualitative and documentary evidence corroborated these findings: PD attendance registers and training certificates were present in 90.6% and 84.4% of schools respectively, while CSOs and HOIs described training as irregular and largely conducted annually. The study recommends that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) provide continuous, equitable PD opportunities, and that schools establish professional learning communities to sustain teacher growth beyond formal training sessions.