PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND TEACHER COMPETENCE ENHANCEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN
BUGIRI MUNICIPALITY, UGANDA
CHAPTER ONE
- Background
1.1.1 Historical background
Provision of education as a social service and public good is a primary responsibility of the government in many countries (Daviet, 2016). However, teacher competence has become a major challenge in many countries around the world. The 2001 UNESCO Report indicated that the world’s sixty million teachers were deemed needing professional enhancement to further their knowledge of content and teaching skills. Relative to their country’s formal teacher education standards, half of teachers in developing countries were unqualified (UNESCO, 2012).
Globally unqualified teachers are found in all fields of study,many secondary school teachers in many countries possess qualifications unrelated to teaching (Orleans, 2007).Uncovering factors that enhance quality of teaching and learning is critical to improving the overall quality of education of a country. Musaazi (2006) advises educational planners and administrators to emphasize teacher professional development to bring about desired classroom behaviors from teachers. Musaazi (1982) asserts that the period of pre-service training is too short to sufficiently equip teachers with knowledge and skills to address the ever changing pedagogical demands. In congruence with Musaazi, other writers (Campbell & Thomas, 2013) emphasize the central role professional development plays in this era of change where teachers have to continuously be equipped with new knowledge in their respective fields of study.
In other countries, such as Finland and Japan, where students outperform those in the U.S. in a variety of subject areas, collaboration among teachers is an essential aspect of instructional improvement (Mirel&Goldin, 2012). Oftentimes, changes in educational practices may lead teachers to feel as if a new initiative pertaining to teaching practices is something created to do to them and not necessarily withthem as professionals, especially if a new initiative is being handed down from politicians who may know little about education and the best interest of students (OBrien, 2014).
Theory of the study
The COACTIV Model of Teachers’ Professional Competence; this theory was developed by Baumert and Kunter (2006). At the theoretical core of COACTIV is a model of teachers’ professional competence that consists of professional knowledge, professional beliefs, motivational orientations and self-regulatory abilities to be key conditions for successfully managing the demands of the teaching profession (Baumert and Kunter, 2006). In mutual interaction, these aspects of competence establish the foundation of teachers’ professional practice. The model further assumes that professional competence is the result of an occupation-specific process of development that hinges on a variety of learning opportunities specific to the teaching profession. The COACTIV Model assumes that teachers are the most important element of the education system because their education and qualification can therefore play a decisive role in optimizing educational processes (Cochran &Zeichner, 2005). This model informs the study by spelling out the concepts of teaching competence among teachers; that is professional knowledge, professional beliefs, motivational orientations and self-regulatory abilities. As such, this theory is adopted to effectively have the yard sticks of assessing the influence of Professional learning communities on teacher competence enhancement on secondary school.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The indicators of Teacher Competencein Uganda are student the number and percentage of students passing exams, student attendance in class, regular teacher attendance, limited repetition in class and the ability of students to master their subjects well (Ssewamala et al, 2011), availability of enough school physical equipment/facilities (ESSAPR, 2013/14) teacher presence in class (UWEZO, 2015) and learning/performance outcomes (Mwesigye, 2015). Despite government of Uganda’s efforts to improve teacher competence Bugiri district has been facing several challenges as regards to the professional competence of teachers this is indicated by the fact that Bugiri district is one of the districts with the poorest performing students (2015) and on the same note according to Ntuyo, (2018) in 2017 it was reported by the Daily monitor Newspaper, that Bugiri District in Eastern Uganda was among the poor performers in the country, with nearly40percentofthetotalstudentsfailingtheexams.This therefore possess questions on the professional competence of teachers and it is against this background that this study intends to investigate into the professional learning communities on teacher competence enhancement on secondary school teachers in Bugiri municipality, Uganda.
1.3 Objectives of the study
- To investigate the influence of Professional learning communities onapplication of Information and communication technology skills.
- To examine the influence of professional learning communities on educational pedagogy among secondary school teachers.
- To determine the relationship between professional learning communities and teachers commitment to work.
1.4 Research Questions
- What is the influence of Professional learning communities onapplication of Information and communication technology skills?
- What is the influence of professional learning communities on educational pedagogy among secondary school teachers?
- What is the relationship between professional learning communities and teachers commitment to work?
- Hypothesis of the study
H1: There is a relationship between Professional learning communities andapplication of Information and communication technology skills?
H2Professional learning communities affect educational pedagogy among secondary school teachers.
H3: There is a relationship between professional learning communities and teachers’ commitment to work.
1.5 Conceptual Frame Work
Professional learning communitiesTeacher competence enhancement
Moderating variables
The independent variable is Professional learning communities, while the dependent variable is Teacher competence enhancement. The framework shows that Professional learning communities nurtureteacher competence enhancement and measured in form of values, skills and knowledge of teachers (MoES, 2010).
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design
The study intends to use descriptive research design because it attempts to collect data from members of a population in order to determine the current status of that population in respect to one or more variables, (Kothari, 2009). The researcher will use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to obtain data for the study.
3.2 Area of study
The study will be carried out in Bugiri Municipality. The researcher has chosen Bugiri Municipality because of the high levels of students’ failure in secondary schools in the district.
3.3 Population of the study
The population chosen for this study will be chosen from all the 10 secondary schools in Bugiri municipality with a target population of 10 head teachers, 10 deputy head teachers, 200 Teachers, ,02 district educational officers.
3.4.1 Sample size
It is impossible to study the whole targeted population of the study and therefore the researcher shall take a sample of the population this is also further supported by Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) Using Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) table for sample size determination approach, a sample size of 140 respondents will be selected from the total population of 222 respondents.
3.4.2 Sampling techniques
The study will use random sampling technique for selecting teachers and purposive sampling for selecting Head Teachers and DEOs.
3.5 Data collection methods
After the approval of the research instruments, the researcher will get an introductory letter from the research supervisor in the Faculty of Education at Kyambogo university.
3.6 Data Collection Instruments
i. Self-Administered Questionnaire
ii. Interview guide
iii. Document review checklist
8 Data management and processing
Data collected will be both primary and secondary derived from library, Journals, news papers, articles, and textbooks.
3.9 Data analysis
The data will be analyzed using the SPSS computer program. The SPSS computer package will be used to generate frequencies, descriptive statistics, tables and graphs. The researcher will use both quantitative and qualitative methods during data analysis. Quantitative data will involve the use of frequencies, tables against their percentages, and other statistical expressions; that is pie-charts, histograms, bar graphs and frequency graphs as to show values that aid in data interpretation, while qualitative findings will be analyzed using the themes of the study and incorporated with the quantitative findings of the study.
3.10 Ethical considerations
The study will be planned to be conducted in accordance with the ethical requirements and standards of Kyambogo University.
