Bureaucracy or Innovation? Perspectives on History Subject Panels and the Professional Development of Teachers in Zimbabwe

Bureaucracy or Innovation? Perspectives on History Subject Panels and the Professional Development of Teachers in Zimbabwe

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Teacher professional development has often been carried out by external experts as a once-off activity.This paper shifts from this traditional paradigm where teachers are recipients of external expert advice to one where they professionally develop themselves.The study explores how curriculum planners in WHEY PROTEIN VANILLA BEAN Zimbabwe sought to improve teacher professional development by placing teacher learning in the hands of the teachers using subject clusters/panels.History teachers from eight high schools in one school district in Zimbabwe were case studied to gain deeper insights into how they understood the purpose and practice of history subject panels as an innovation for teacher professional development.Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, a focus group discussion, non-participatory observations and document analysis.

The key findings in the paper indicate that teachers conceptualisation Indoor of subject panels differed from that of school principals who championed their creation.While the latter see subject panels as an extension of their administrative arm, the former view them as learning platforms to improve instructional practice and induct new teachers into the profession.Creating a shared vision between teachers and school principals is suggested to reduce the conflicts that threaten the survival of subject clusters.