Problems in promoting the professional development of staff in New Zealand secondary schools (a prima facie study) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration at Massey University

Abstract

This study examines the problems which exist in promoting the professional development of staff in New Zealand secondary schools. It has been approached as a first phase study to establish an initial knowledge base in a field which has not hitherto been the subject of wide research in New Zealand. The introduction clarifies the use of the term 'professional development' in the context of this study and a review of overseas literature draws attention to themes and developments common to this field. An overview of the structures and the systems used to provide and promote professional development and the listing of current provisioning for professional development opportunity lead to a multi-disciplinary analysis of data as a comment on the state of the art in New Zealand. A study fellowship to Australia in 1986 enabled comparative research to be conducted and alerted the author to some of the problem areas in this field in New Zealand. The study concludes with the suggestion of tentative solutions to resolve problems identified in this phase of the research. It recommends that further research at a later stage be undertaken to eliminate error from conjectures made in the concluding chapter of this study.