Teachers’ Professional Development Programmes for Effective Instructional Service Delivery in Public Senior Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated teachers’ professional development programmes for effective instructional service delivery in Public Senior Secondary Schools in Rivers State. The study was guided with three research questions and three corresponding null hypotheses. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised 6557 teachers’ in the 302 public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. The sample for this study was 984 teachers’; the teachers’ were stratified into male and female teachers. The sample was determined using 15% the total population of the study. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire titled “Teachers’ Professional Development for Effective Instructional Service Delivery Questionnaire” (SPDEGAQ). The reliability of the instrument was ascertained using Cronbach Alpha method. The reliability co-efficient obtained for each of the sections were 0.88, 0.86, and 0.78 respectively. The average reliability index was 0.83 which showed that the instrument was reliable. Mean (X) and Standard Deviation (SD) statistics were used in answering the research questions while the null hypotheses were tested using the independent t-test statistical tool at 0.05 level of significance. The respondents agreed that the various Teachers’ development programmes were adopted for effective instructional service delivery in public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. It was concluded that workshops, seminars, academic conferences, in-service training programmes, and mentoring programmes play pivotal roles in providing teachers with the necessary knowledge, skills, and support to excel in their roles. The findings underscore the importance of investing in diverse and comprehensive professional development opportunities tailored to the specific needs and contexts of educators in Rivers State. The study therefore recommended among others, that state ministry of education should conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to identify specific areas of professional development required by teachers in public senior secondary schools.