Teacher Professional Development Practices: an Exploration of the Present Status of Arba Minch University (Amu), Ethiopia

Teacher professional development (PD) is recognized as an essential component of every educational program for the advancement of teachers' professional knowledge and skills to improve their practical teaching performances and thereby improve student learning regardless of the educational level. In order to make appropriate interventions and bring positive changes to the PD practices of Arba Minch University, conducting a systematic study on the existing PD experiences of the university has been found very imperative. Accordingly, this study has been undertaken and tried to explore the prevailing PD practices of the university. The study has found out poor profile of instructors' PD experiences ', favourable attitudes of instructors towards PD undertakings but unfavourable reactions towards management support to the PD activities of the instructors. The management views that it is supportive of instructors' PD efforts. The study also showed significant differences between various groups of instructors regarding the PD issues considered. The study suggested various measures to be taken by government, the university management, academic development centre and instructors themselves.