There are some challenges encountered while providing CPD to teachers.
The first one is the way it is perceived. Teachers often see CPD as a top-down process normally run by the school management. Indeed, recent surveys would tend to back this position with head teachers generally dominating the decision-making process within schools (Friedman and Phillips, ibid). In this way, the benefits are often viewed in terms of management goals rather than for the individuals concerned. There is a growing awareness that it is imperative to tailor CPD to the needs of employees and make it much more about the personal development of individuals within an organisation and not just for the benefit of the organisation itself (Dent et al., 2008).
The second problem is the trainers themselves or rather the information provided to the trainers in preparation for their courses is another matter. Since some organisations do very little to highlight where training is required and what skills their workforce lack or need, it is hardly surprising that outside trainers are not able to respond to the genuine needs of the participant teachers.
The third problem is the outsourcing of CPD is that trainers come in, do their training and then disappear; the training tends to be superficial (Weston, 2013). There is no backup, no planned system of evaluation of impact. The problem of evaluation is critical from the employer’s perspective and a lack of demonstrable impact means that some organisations perceive CPD as an additional expense with very little return.
In order to overcome these challenges in this project focused on improving teachers’ competencies in 9 competence areas which are necessary for teachers in 21st Century. We worked with teachers to develop, deliver, evaluate and adapt the content in each region ensuring that the final outputs are relevant, targeted and suitable for each context.