Professional Development of Secondary School STEM Educators in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematized Literature Review

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that developing the teaching capacities of educators in sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most sustainable ways of improving its state of education. This study was motivated by a recognition of the need for intimate knowledge of the current state of teacher development in the subcontinent. We conducted a systematized review of existing literature on the professional development (PD) of secondary-school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our review investigated recommendations, programs, and research impact methodologies that have been conducted regarding the professional development of secondary school STEM educators in sub-Saharan Africa. We limited our review to articles that were peer-reviewed within the past 60 years. Twenty-three articles satisfied our inclusion and exclusion criteria and formed the primary studies for the synthesis. Based on our findings, we discussed how the lens of STEM teacher PD has tended to focus on numbers rather than the quality of pedagogical instructional practice. Our study also revealed that the recruitment of participants of the PD interventions, more often than not, failed to cater to the gender diversity of teachers in the respective settings. Recommendations offered by teacher trainers and researchers analyzed thematically were discussed using a macro, meso, micro-level model. Macro-level recommendations included systemic reforms addressing the acquisition of resources, provision of incentives for teacher development, emphasis on teacher licensing, and alignment of education goals to national priorities. Meso-level recommendations suggested including teachers in the co-construction of curricular and instructional content as well as conceptual understanding of teachers' motivations for entering the teaching profession. At the micro-level, recommendations discussed the importance of focusing on personal efforts that STEM teachers take to develop their teaching practice.