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26 percentage of teachers participate in professional development activities in South Africa because it could seem a burden to the teachers as it would entail more work for them. There is so much more that is required than simply attending these workshops.
For professional development workshops to be beneficial teachers need to be committed to making the changes that these workshops advocate. A case study done by Cohen (1990) showed that even if a teacher willingly participates in the professional development courses and believes that she has made major changes to her practice, her understanding of mathematics is still superficial as she had just adapted the new curriculum materials to her traditional style of teaching. What she needs to do is to unlearn her old ways and adopt rather than adapt the new methods but to do this she needs sustained guidance and support and help from others to do the unlearning (Cohen, 1990). So just attending these workshops will not bring about the required changes. Opportunities in these workshops should be provided not for a shift to content knowledge but rather a shift of content that is related to experiences of the student in the classroom (Dewey, 1992). Professional development should also allow for the teacher to become theoretically knowledgeable in mathematics even if the focus is on curriculum changes and student achievement (Easton, 2008; Sowder, 2007). If it is related to students’
understanding and achievement then teachers will be able to uncover mistakes in students’
understanding and their teaching practice as well as to make them re-evaluate the curriculum in order to effectively refocus students (Sriraman & Tὅrner, 2014). Referring to the case study done by Cohen (1990), for such intensity in professional development workshops to be effective, on-going support and individual or small group work are needed to assist the teacher to work effectively in a context of curriculum changes.
Teachers’ needs and beliefs are important aspects to be considered if professional development is to be successful. Richardson (1996, p. 103) defines beliefs as "psychologically held understandings, premises or propositions about the world that are felt to be true". To change behaviour one must first change one’s beliefs (Pajares, 1992) so changes in beliefs could change instructional practices (Randolf & Philipp, 2007). If teachers’ beliefs conflict with the curricular reforms advocated in professional development workshops then teachers may not change their thinking or practices (Randolf & Philipp, 2007). Gunnarsdόttir (2014, p. 159) posits that teachers need to feel a "coherence between their beliefs and knowledge and their
27 experiences in professional development reforms and policies at all levels". They would need time to work on the new ideas and to reflect on them (Desimone, 2009). Jarry-Shore and McNeil (2014) argue that if large-scale professional development workshops are aimed at showing teachers’ their faults in their current practices then teachers will take this personally as a criticism of their work and may ignore these workshops. Additionally, in developing countries such as South Africa, using the 'one size fits all perspective' by not taking into account the context that teachers work in can be devastating as professional development workshops discuss resources and materials that is needed to teach the mathematics content and these resources are not readily available in all schools (Boger, Yule & Sparrow, 2013). Weldon (2010) claims that teachers are not a homogenous group of people that share similar beliefs and knowledge but belong to different communities and had different experiences during conflict years so using a 'one size fits all' curriculum training will not benefit all teachers. Teachers have to be convinced that new teaching practices work before they can adopt them (Sowder, 2007). Change brings about anxiety especially when teachers are not sure how to bring about change and are worried about the work involved and these issues can be addressed in professional development workshops if these workshops are carried out well (Sowder, 2007).
However, in developing countries where resources for quality professional development workshops are reduced then the needs, knowledge and beliefs of teachers are not adequately addressed (Jarry-Shore & McNeil, 2014). Furthermore, if the Department of Education wants teachers to change their practice according to policy changes, teachers need to be given more opportunities through professional development workshops to make these changes, or curriculum policies will not be adhered to (Spillane, 2000). The state should also make a financial commitment to provide professional development (Spillane, 2000).
While it is recognised that quality professional development workshops are conducive to ensuring curriculum change and student achievement, however big scale workshops may not achieve what it was set out to do. Jita and Mokhele (2014) report that teacher cluster teams typify a recent and popular experiment of professional development and are used to improve teachers’ classroom practice and student achievement. The effectiveness of such clusters is as yet still unclear (De Lima, 2010). South Africa was subjected to the cascade method but using teacher clusters will be more beneficial as teacher clusters are smaller and such interventions are closer to the teachers and the classrooms (Jita & Mokhele, 2014). Teachers form clusters in context in which they work and with teachers that generally have the same issues (Sowder,
28 2007). Professional communities, as introduced by Wenger (1998), are similar to teacher clusters. Their advantage is that they provide an on-going venue for teacher learning. The teachers in these clusters or communities share a purpose of achieving goals, sharing responsibility for decision making and co-ordinating their efforts to ensure student learning (Sowder, 2007). Communities of practice or teacher clusters are closer to home and can be formed within schools or include neighbouring schools but the aim is professional development. It was found that when teachers became part of a cluster community they were able to shed their anxieties about their teaching and content knowledge, thereby gaining a sense of empowerment and confidence in their abilities in mathematics by addressing their specific needs and concerns (Sowder, 2007). Research done by Muijs (2008) revealed that teachers from mutual clusters experienced less stress and difficulty when implementing a new curriculum. In any cluster, however, there has to be access to an expert who can help the teachers with the issues they are experiencing (Sriraman & Tὅrner, 2014). That may be the difficult part if subject advisors or any other expert in the mathematics field are not readily available to cluster teams. It has been recognized that in South Africa the Department of Education has not provided adequate support for teachers at the local and district levels (Lekgoathi, 2010) and this type of support with expert knowledge would be beneficial to cluster teams. There is also a possibility that teachers will develop trust and be more open with their ideas if they are part of a professional development team (Jarry-Shore & McNeil, 2014).
Changes in practice require time and support which can be adequately provided by such teams.
Working towards change where there is support may make it easier for teachers to cope with curriculum change and work pressures.
Professional development is used to orientate the teacher towards a new curriculum but it also intensifies work. It requires commitment and participation in professional development workshops to make effective curriculum changes (Sriraman & Tὅrner, 2014). Teachers have to find time with all the other work issues that they have to attend these workshops. It also takes work and effort for teachers to find out fallacies in their students’ understanding and to change their practice, and that is the requirement for professional development workshops to be successful (Sriraman & Tὅrner, 2014). Teachers need to take responsibility to be aware of current research in mathematics education so that they can give their inputs in workshops (Sriraman & Tὅrner, 2014). Teachers who are already burdened with so many other issues in their practice have to now take on a further burden, There are some teachers who want to create
29 a mathematical community in his or her classroom where debating, discovering, probing and problem solving occur. To achieve this, help thorough professional development is required (Boger, Yule & Sparrow, 2013). However, a mathematical classroom needs time to be administered and with pressures on teachers to complete the curriculum, they do not have time for such endeavours (Leong & Chick, 2011). Teachers’ work is complex and diverse.