Abstract

Since 1994, there have been various changes in South Africa’s educational system in regard to the school curriculum. South African schoolteachers were expected to undergo training to keep abreast with all these changes. Therefore, continuous staff development played a crucial role in ensuring that teachers’ knowledge and skills were upgraded. The aim of this article is to give the teachers’ perceptions about staff development at primary schools in Tembisa. In this study, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. A population of 30 principals, 36 deputy principals, 111 heads of department, and 644 teachers from 30 primary schools were considered. Data were collected through a structured distributed questionnaire. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with some of the principals who participated in the study. The main finding was that the staff development programs that were provided to teachers did not benefit them. The subject facilitators of these staff development programs from the Department of Education (DoE) were not well equipped, and hence, the attempted approach was one-glove-fits-all. The study recommends that the principals should always provide encouragement and motivation for teachers to attend the staff development program workshops. The DoE should ensure that subject facilitators are well trained to properly support the teachers.