Evidence has shown that the most effective environment for teachers to improve their teaching skills is in their own classrooms, preferably in collaboration with a mentor, a tutor, a colleague or a peer coach but crucially, in their own authentic context.
Professional development that takes place away from the school can be expensive, time-consuming and often results in poor transference of newly developed skills to teachers’ everyday contexts Confident implementation is thereafter unlikely.
The KICP In-Service Teacher Education programme seeks to root professional development within the teachers’ school, taking into account their unique context of teaching and learning, the individual needs of learners, the role of parents and carers and the role of the teacher in the community.
The Future of In-Service Teacher Education
With the help and support of our existing and new funding partners, KICP hopes to take the programme forward, on a macro scale, reaching more teachers in more schools across diverse communities in South Africa. At an internal level, the In-service team hopes that by introducing relevant professional development, they might be the seed of a culture of life-long learning in schools, where staff teams actively seek ongoing professional development.
