Abstract:
Teachers in secondary schools need to update, strengthen and sharpen their competencies through in-service training in order to meet new challenges and emerging issues in education. Access to professional development programmes through this in-service training has a multiplier effect on teachers‟ effectiveness and students‟ academic performance. In order to achieve this, the role of the school head teacher is critical in staff professional development. Little documented evidence exists on the actual level of support that head teachers accord to staff professional development in secondary schools in Kenya. This study assessed the influence of secondary school head teachers‟ support on teachers‟ professional development in Nakuru District, Kenya. The study adopted an ex post facto design. The target population included 600 teachers from 45 public secondary schools. A random sample of 226 teachers was drawn from 40 randomly selected schools. Data was collected using a structured questionnaires administered to the respondents. Content validity of the research instruments was established. The instruments had reliability coefficient of 0.75. The collected data was processed and analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.5 for windows. The study findings indicate that majority of the teachers were aware of the importance and need for professional development and the available programmes. Head teachers are ready to support teachers who look out for opportunities for professional development. Staff professional development programmes are very effective in improving teachers‟ performance in schools by boosting their skills and knowledge, and overall student performance. From the findings, the study recommends that there is a need for all the schools, and especially head teachers, to actively provide an enabling environment that facilitates identification of training needs, participation of teachers in staff professional development programmes and application of the knowledge learnt. As a result of the role of the individual teachers in professional development programmes, there is need for them to take the initiative and show the need for it. There is need for the government and school management to encourage staff professional development by allowing their teachers to enroll in such programmes. There is also a need for the schools and the TSC to consider including staff development as criteria for promoting teachers in secondary schools.
