The Continuous Professional Development of School Principals: Current Practices in Pakistan

Schools in Pakistan are going through a period of transformation and reform. In line with these reforms, the National Education Policy has advocated the importance of establishing ongoing professional development for principals. The main focus of this study was to explore the current practices of Co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of education and research 2018-04, Vol.40 (1), p.245
Main Authors: Nasreen, Abida, Odhiambo, George
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Career Development
Continuing education
Data Analysis
Education policy
Education reform
Educational Change
Educational leadership
Educational Practices
Faculty Development
Foreign Countries
Informal Education
Instructional Leadership
Methods
Outcomes of Education
Principals
Professional Continuing Education
Professional development
School principals
Secondary Schools
Teaching
Teaching Methods
Training
Vocational guidance
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Summary:Schools in Pakistan are going through a period of transformation and reform. In line with these reforms, the National Education Policy has advocated the importance of establishing ongoing professional development for principals. The main focus of this study was to explore the current practices of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the obstacles that they have to face in the pursuit of CPD. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were utilized. Data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 30 randomly selected secondary school principals from Lahore (Punjab, Pakistan). The findings identify the areas for improvement in terms of design related to content and process. The data revealed that the principals were not satisfied with the current CPD opportunities and the content of the training programmes. In addition, the principals reported a number of constraints that they encountered in their pursuit of CPD, relating to time, finance and workload. This research provides distinctive findings that can inform the development of CPD programmes for school principals in order to improve the quality of their leadership keeping in mind both the old problems and the new realities faced by the school leaders. This research work can also equip the school leadership with the most recent data, thus enabling them to understand and consider the current situation when making decisions for the future. In recent years, the position of school principal has become a multilayered responsibility and this study may provide an insight into the dynamics of school principals' continuous professional development in a period of educational transformation and reform.
ISSN:0555-7747