IMPACT OF TEACHERS’ TRAINING IN REFORMING QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CENTRES IN AWGU LOCAL GOVERNMENT EDUCATION AUTHORITY OF ENUGU STATE

Abstract

Professional development of teachers is a continuous program teachers undergo to improve and keep
up with the new trend in the teaching profession. This study was carried out to find out the impact of
Teachers Training in Reforming Quality Professional Development of Teachers in Early Childhood
Education Centers in Awgu Local Government Education Authority Enugu State. . This study adopted
a descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised 231 early childhood teachers in
the 77 Government owned early childhood centers in Awgu LGEA, Enugu State. The sample size was
150 teachers selected using simple random sampling techniques. Data was collected using a 22 items
structured questionnaire titled "Impact of Teachers Training in Reforming Quality Professional
Development of Teachers in Early Childhood Education Centers (ITTRPQDTECEC). Cronbach
alpha was used to test the reliability of the instrument which yielded an overall co.-efficient of 0.80
which was considered reliable. Mean was used for data analysis. Findings revealed that teachers
that undergo training have better classroom management skills, trained teachers has better
communication and positive relationships with pupils and parents and help teachers learn new and
effective teaching practices among others. Also, challenges facing professional development of
teachers are no leave permission, limited time, inadequate resources and lack of ongoing mentoring
and coaching, lack of personalized professional development plan and insufficient content. The
possible solutions to the challenged facing the professional development of teachers are; teachers
should be allowed to go on study leave, adequate financial support should be made available for
teachers, also provision of high quality content and professional development program should be
provided for the teachers Based on the findings, it was recommended that study leave should be
granted to teachers to enable them to go and update their professional knowledge among others. In
conclusion, this study examined the impact of teachers training in reforming quality professional
development of teachers in early childhood education. Based on the findings of this study ,it was
revealed that teachers training is beneficial to the teacher as it helps them gain confidence in their
ability to impact knowledge in the classroom, pupils who are taught by trained teachers have easy
understanding of the concept been taught. More so there are challenges hindering the Professional
development of teachers in early childhood education center in Awgu LGEA. These challenges have
kept some teachers stagnant for some time making it seem impossible to attain the peak of their
profession. Meanwhile, solutions were proffered to the challenges which if implemented will have a
great impact on the professional development of teachers.