Teacher Professional Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: What Works, for Whom, and Why? A Critical Review
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Abstract
Teacher professional development (TPD) has become a central pillar of education reform policy across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), yet two decades of investment have produced uneven outcomes that call for systematic critical examination. This paper presents a desk review of the empirical and policy literature on TPD provision in SSA, with particular attention to Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ghana. Anchored in Ndlovu-Gatsheni’s tripartite coloniality framework and supplemented by Wenger’s Communities of Practice model, the review interrogates the political economy conditions shaping TPD design and delivery, the evidence base on effective modalities, and the structural barriers that limit equitable access. Findings reveal that one-size-fits-all training remains the dominant provision model despite consistent evidence of teacher dissatisfaction and limited practice change; that school-based, peer-driven, and contextually grounded modalities produce stronger outcomes; and that gender and geographic inequities in TPD access persist largely because program delivery structures fail to account for the embodied realities of teachers in marginalized contexts. The paper concludes by proposing the concept of locally owned, contextually grounded TPD ecosystems as the policy architecture most aligned with SDG 4 commitments and the imperative to decolonize professional learning in African education systems.
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