Effectiveness of teacher advisory Centres (tacs) in teacher professional development in Nairobi County

Teacher Advisory Centres (TACs) were established in the 1970s for Kenya primary school teachers’ professional development. However the teachers lack professional development opportunities and there are reports on teacher centred teaching approaches and poor pupil learning outcomes. Research has found that teachers who participate in sustained curriculum based teacher professional development activities reported changes in practice resulting in turn to high student learning achievement. The study interrogated the problem: How effective are TACs in teacher professional development? Schulman theoretical framework guided the study which focuses on content mastery and pedagogical knowledge. The study examined the extent to which TACs conduct teacher professional development activities, the challenges they face and the impact of teacher professional development on classroom practice. Descriptive survey was employed and the study was conducted in Nairobi County. TAC tutors and teachers were the main study subjects. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data. Findings included that TAC tutors spend only 40% of their time performing teacher professional development duties and 60%, performing administrative duties of Ministry of Education. They lack facilitation. Lecture and question and answer characterized classroom instruction. TACs tend to be ineffective in teacher professional development. Recommendations made were that TAC tutors should be relieved of MOE administrative duties, facilitated, equipped with resources, knowledge and skills; provided clear organizational structure and career path.