Ellen Abakah

2 Publications in AERD

Author Publications

Teacher learning from continuing professional development (CPD) participation: A sociocultural perspective

By Ellen Abakah

Recently, there have been calls for understanding how teachers’ professional development translates into effective practice and the challenges involved. This study responds to these calls by examining Ghanaian teachers' engagements in CPD activities, unpacking the process of their learning and knowledge contextualization in real classroom situations. Framed within the sociocultural theory, the study collected data from 16 Junior High School teachers (JHSs) in the Central region using in-depth interviews and non-participant observations. The findings reveal three pathways to teachers’ learning as part of their professional development: (1) formal participation in continuing education, (2) non-formal CPD forms, particularly the workshops and in-service training, and (3) teachers’ self-initiated informal learning activities. The findings further reveal that learning from these CPD activities was not automatic but a mediating process through teachers’ critical reflection, agency, and social interaction. This process of learning from CPD follows a circuitous path of five stages, influenced by teachers' context of practice, depicted in a CPD learning cycle. The study recommends that CPD activities provide realistic learning experiences, enabling teachers to contextualize and implement new knowledge in real classroom situations. © 2023 The Author(s)

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Reframing motivation as ‘investment’ in teacher continuing professional development

By Ellen Abakah

This study is framed within Norton’s notion of ‘investment’ to explore the factors influencing teachers’ reasons and decisions to participate in continuing professional development (CPD) activities. Data were collected from 522 junior high school teachers in the Central region of Ghana using a survey and in-depth interviews. The findings reveal that teachers more frequently participated in informal CPD activities than in organised ones. Also, motivation to participate in CPD activities extended beyond intrinsic and extrinsic motivators to include sociocultural factors such as the nature of teachers’ identity and agency, which were shaped by existing contextual conditions in teachers’ professional practice. Such social conditions increased teachers’ expectations of resources from CPD participation. Therefore, teachers invested in CPD activities where their expectations of resources from participation outweighed the cost to be expended on such involvement. The study opens up a debate for rethinking teacher motivation to include the notion of ‘investment’ to provide a much deeper understanding of the complexities involved in teachers’ reasons for participating in CPD activities. © 2023 Teacher Development.

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