Abstract:
Capacity Building for Teachers is done through Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in order to improve the quality of Education. This is a planned and lifelong process whereby teachers try to develop their professional and personal qualities and to improve their knowledge, skills and practice leading to their empowerment, improvement of their organization and their learners.Effective teaching requires considerable knowledge and skills which should be developed as a teacher’s career progresses. High quality professional development requires workplaces to be enhanced with rigorous scholarship with professionals continually developing and supporting each other so that the learners benefit from the best possible teaching. The purpose of the study was to establish the status of Capacity Building for Teachers in Kenya with reference to basic education level. The study employed mixed research methods in data collection and analysis. The study was carried out in three purposively selected Counties. Interviews were conducted and questionnaires were administered in order to gather data. The study established that: there is no Policy Frame work on CPD which sets the standard for Kenyan teachers; CPD is taken by teachers as an individual initiative and not a government undertaking and that the teachers’ workload is exceptionally high leaving no room for teachers to undertake any other activity. This paper concludes that not much attention has been given to the CPD for the teachers in Kenya and it is still equated to In-Service Teacher Training. The study recommended the following: that CPD framework for teachers should be developed, CPD content should be developed, integration of ICT platforms in the training should be a priority, and collaborative approach should be adopted to involve all the stakeholders and partners. The study further recommended that licensing of teachers should be introduced and renewal of the same should also be linked to CPD.
