DepEd’s Training and Development: A Way to Enhance Teachers' Performance and Self-fulfillment

Joan A. Bugtong

The Department of Education's continuous endeavor to enhance teachers' performance and self-fulfillment via a range of educational techniques and initiatives is known as teacher training and development. These initiatives have taken on a wide variety of applications in the contemporary workplace, where blended learning is prevalent, ranging from training in highly specialized teaching skills to long-term professional development. Indeed, the quality of workers, as well as the continuous development of teachers' abilities and productivity via training, are now generally acknowledged as critical elements in guaranteeing a school's long-term success. The goal of teacher training and development is to update teachers' knowledge of a subject considering recent advances in the field; to update teachers' skills, attitudes, and approaches in light of the development of new teaching techniques and objectives, as well as new circumstances brought about by the CoVid-19 pandemic; to exchange information and expertise among teachers and others, and to assist weaker teachers in becoming more effective. Professional development for teachers may or may not be required. Some professional development may be declared mandatory because the skills and knowledge that the development activities seek to improve are thought to be essential for teacher quality. Participation in such events may even be mandatory for teacher certification in certain instances. It is also essential for teachers to use their professional judgment when selecting and participating in development activities that they believe would be most helpful for them. A high level of mandatory professional development may indicate a more tightly controlled professional development system with less flexibility for teachers to select the development they believe they need. As teachers, we expect that the Department of Education, via its many division offices, will perform needs assessments regularly, utilizing data from teacher surveys to identify areas of professional development that are most required and wanted by teachers. Data from these sources may help ensure that professional development is not separated from practice and that it supports the knowledge and skills that teachers must acquire.