An investigation of the availability and value of in-service education and training for secondary school physical science teachers in Malawi : a case of Blantyre city

Current science education stakeholders such as Sadler (2006) and Supovitz and Turner, (2000) emphasize the importance of teachers' professional development as a means of improving student level of enrollment and achievement in sciences. The provision of in-service education and training (INSET) programmes, as a consequence, have come to constitute a critical area of investment for almost all educational systems in order to improve the teaching and learning of sciences. In order to maximize the trustworthiness of the research findings, this study employed a mixed methods approach (deductive and inductive) to examine the availability and value of INSET programmes for secondary school physical science teachers in Malawi. The study's site was Blantyre, one of the major cities in Malawi. A survey questionnaire administered to 49 physical science teachers constituted the main data collection instrument. The participants were randomly selected from 12 secondary schools across Blantyre City. Informal classroom observations of four teachers selected from the 49 teachers who responded to the survey questionnaire were done to confirm or query the results of the questionnaire.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

School of Education

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Chamba, Madalitso Musekeje

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Soudien, Crain

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11907

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11907