CHALLENGES IMPACTING ON SBTPD

A number of issues were identified by most participants as challenges impacting on the implementation of SBTPD in the schools. Drawing from the nature of the challenges, it was noted that some of the challenges were associated with the location of the schools in a rural context. For most participants, the challenging issues were the implementation of the CPTD policy, shortage of school resources and infrastructure, lack of growth in career opportunities as well as lack of collaborative practices among teachers. These subthemes are discussed in the ensuing section.

179 5.6.1. The non-implementation of the CPTD policy

Responding to what were the dynamics of implementing the Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) policy, participants in the study indicated that the CPTD policy was a good policy for TPD, however, there were challenges with CPTD implementation in schools. In school A, it emerged that the policy of CPTD was as good as non-existent. This was their view:

It is a good policy because it is for development purposes, though there are problems with

it, for example we have not been able to sign-up on the SACE website, well, some of us. Others have signed-up but cannot get access to the site anymore. So, right now it is as good as non-existent because we cannot access it, therefore it is difficult to say it is working for us or not. (Group A)

From school B, the group participants indicated that they had done only the signing up regarding CPTD policy implementation.

We have been able to do the sign-up, but we have not uploaded any activities between the three activities that we are supposed to upload so that we get our points. Some of us signed up and left it there, so we don’t think the CPTD was a serious thing to begin with. But because we do attend workshops and we sign the SACE register, we will get points from attending those workshops, because the facilitators usually tell us that they submit the registers so that we get PD points. (Group B)

Group participants from school C made known that there were no penalties for lack implementation of CPTD. They said:

Some of us are signed-up, some have not yet signed-up with SACE, which is the controlling body, but we also do not even have a file for CPTD, actually we do not know what is supposed to be in that file. But we do attend workshops and do everything that we are supposed to do as teachers. It is just that we have not done it, maybe if there was a penalty or any monitoring or just support, we would be telling you a different story. (Group C)

School D group participants revealed that those mandated to offer support and assistance with CPTD had not been forthcoming. They said:

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We did the sign-up and uploaded a few activities with the help of the SMT back then in 2017. After that it has been difficult to access the site and no-one is trying to rectify the mistake or do the follow-up, and we have tried to seek help from the Teacher Development section in the district office but to no avail, so we just left like that. (Group D)

When interviewing the school principals, it emerged that that the common challenge with the implementation of the CPTD policy was the way in which it was presented to the teachers. Pa had this to say:

The issue of CPTD is a bit upsetting somehow. You know we were called as principals previously, to implement the CPTD policy, the way it was introduced is a problem, it was just a once-off thing and we have never heard about it since, we are not accumulating any PD points and on-one seems to care. (Pa)

Pb pointed out that the timing of the CPTD policy implementation as well as the approach in which

it was introduced were not appropriate. He said:

The approach in which it was brought into the system somehow needs revision… we have attended workshops and we were supposed to have started files, it was also supposed to be monitored, even the facilitators have not been so effective in going about to give support step-by-step as per the process of CPTD. The problem is the timing as well as the approach which was not appropriate for it to be effected in our education system. To be honest, I have not started yet with the implementation of CPTD. (Pb)

Pc indicated that there had been no monitoring and support for the implementation of the CPTD

policy, no penalty for non-compliance and no recognition for compliance. She said:

The other problem is the way this policy was introduced to us, it was just a two-hour workshop and after that we were told to go and perform, so it was very difficult… is that it has never been monitored since it was introduced. Whether you implement this policy or not, nobody monitors or evaluates that, there are no punitive measures for non-compliance and there has been no rewards or recognition for those who are supposedly doing it, especially here in rural schools. (Pc)

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Pd revealed that the lack of implementation of this policy was caused by the manner in which it

was handled by the DBE. He said:

You know if you can go to any school here, you may find that not a single principal has done anything to the effect of CPTD. It is the way it was introduced and also the way it has been handled by the Department since it was its introduction… I do not even have a file for CPTD. (Pd)

The CM expressed his concern and acknowledged that the implementation of CPTD had been marred with challenges since its inception. He said:

The biggest challenge related to CPTD is registering on the SACE website, the site is not accessible for teachers to register and it is a problem we are told will be solved every time we enquire… We got the design of the policy and it was presented to us, we started with it, but the follow-up of newly appointed principals has never happened, workshops have been held to tell principals about the different types of activities, but the follow-up has not been there, that is why I am saying it is still in its infancy stage. We have a huge problem with the SACE website, because as you attend, you should be logging on and say I have attended, but it is not possible. These are the hiccups in the implementation of the CPTD policy. But its value is there. (CM)

The data showed that one challenge was the implementation of the CPTD policy, which included registration with and accessing its South African Council of Educators (SACE) website. For a school to be considered a learning organisation, Easton (2008) suggests that professional learning needs to be supported by resources which include time (see section 2.5.3). The lack of professional expertise in support, resource provision and monitoring for the implementation of CPTD renders it non-existent. Teaching, learning and other TPD programmes have continued while the implementation of the CPTD policy has been relegated to oblivion. As a result, the CPTD policy is perceived to be a stand-alone policy, more so because teaching and learning in schools have continued with this policy on the side lines, Speck’s (1996) adult learning theory emphasises that teachers need to be in charge of their own learning and that their everyday teaching activities are aligned to their professional development learning (see section 3.3). The findings reveal that the implementation of CPTD policy invalidates the assumption that teachers need to see that their

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professional development is work-embedded and that their existing knowledge, experiences, practice, perspectives and insights are acknowledged.

5.6.2 Lack of infrastructure and school facilities

Focusing on the relationship between resource provisioning and the implementation of SBTPD, participants (teachers, school principals and the CM) indicated that the lack of basic infrastructure and some of the school facilities was a great deterrent to the effective implementation of SBTPD, particularly in schools situated in the rural areas. Teacher participants pointed out that this challenge prevented them from applying in their classrooms as they teach, what they had learnt from TD workshops and prevented them from being better teachers. From school A, group participants revealed that the lack of basic infrastructure prevented them from attending TD workshops. This was their view:

The position of our school in this rural area is a challenge in itself… because our school is far from the town and the road is not good… we cannot attend workshops as much as we want to and we are not visited as much we would want to and they always cite road problems. (Group A)

From school B, it emerged that not only did the lack of basic infrastructure hinder the teachers from improving on their teaching practice, it also impeded them from collaborating and networking teachers from other schools, which was essential for effective SBTPD:

…it poses a challenge with collaboration. Some teachers do not want to collaborate because schools are far away from each other and also there are road and transport problems. (Group B)

Participants in school C indicated that the lack of school facilities and basic school resources prevented them from teaching to their full potential as well as implementing what they had learnt in TD workshops for the improvement of teaching and enhancing learners’ performance:

We do not have a library, a science laboratory for the Grade 7s, we do not even have a science kit for that matter, Grade 6 and Grade 7 are taught in the same class because there