Abstract
School leaders and teachers were compelled to adapt to the ‘new normal’ of teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective school leadership during this time necessitated a more collaborative, wider networking, and most importantly, a more responsive leadership approach. A key aspect of responsive leadership is equipping personnel with the information, skills, and confidence to handle challenging situations. For school leaders, this can be achieved through effective continuous professional teacher development (CPTD) activities. CPTD pertains to how teachers continue to improve their professional knowledge and skills while in service. However, according to previous research, many CPTD programmes appear to be irrelevant, untailored, and ineffectual, despite the well-documented favourable association between CPTDs and improved student achievement. The main aim of this study was to analyse teachers’ perceptions of CPTD initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study employed a generic qualitative approach, focusing on high schools in South-East China. Online open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 32 participants. Findings revealed that CPTD programs did not sufficiently satisfy their pertinent teaching and learning needs nor did it address their professional challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, teachers were dissatisfied with the limited duration of CPTD programs, coupled with an overwhelming workload, as many indicated that they did not have enough time for professional development. According to the study’s findings, several characteristics were found to be viable suggestions for enhancing CPTD in any other crisis situation and some of these include strong subject content focus, active learning, collaboration, expert mentoring, as well as sufficient time for participants to absorb and implement new knowledge and skills.