Continuous Professional Teacher Development in Sub-saharan Africa ─ Improving Teaching and Learning

Continuous Professional Teacher Development in Sub-Saharan Africa explores the prospects that the on-going continuous professional development (CPD) of teachers working in schools offers for meaningful change, particularly towards improving the quality of educational provision for the majority of the continent's children. By reflecting on teacher professional development efforts and their place in broader education reforms, the book highlights the challenges of teacher CPD in these education contexts - contexts strongly shaped by endemic poverty, under-development and social upheaval. The collection draws together examples of innovation and resilience, and the valuing of teachers as critical role players, enabled and empowered through their on-going development as education professionals.

The first part of the book contextualises the CPD of teachers in Africa, providing a conceptual framework for a selection of case studies into CPD provision in sub-Saharan countries. Each case study explores a particular area of concern where CPD features as a key strategy towards addressing the challenge with each chapter including a critical assessment of the nature, form and aim of the particular initiative considered; its conceptualisation and design; as well as critical issues that have or are emerged through the process of implementation. The contributors reflect on the future possibilities the initiatives and their potential value for strengthening and improving education in similar contexts.

Drawing together a wealth of experience, the volume identifies the policy and research implications for the future of CPD across the continent, providing important lessons that can be integrated into a post-2015 development agenda for Africa.

Yusuf Sayed is South African Research Chair in Teacher Education, and the Founding Director of the Centre for International Teacher Education at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa. He is also Reader in International Education at the University of Sussex, UK, and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the Rhodes University, South Africa.