Abstract
This qualitative exploratory case study sought to determine the perceptions of school
managers towards the professional development of educators in the field of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT), in rural South African schools. As a case study, it
focused on two primary schools purposefully sampled to provide insights into the
perceptions of school managers on the continuous professional development of ICT
educators. The research also attempted to explore the implications that continuous
educator professional development in ICT has on educators particularly in learner
performance in rural schools. The concept of teacher professional development was
considered as the enhancement of educator knowledge, skills, work ethics and
pedagogical competences for effective or best classroom practices. This study, thus
conceived as implying the development of educators’ computer skills and abilities for
computer mediated teaching and learning, covering aspects as capacity building and
developmental in the use of the computer, not only as a tool to enhance blended learning
but also in teacher administration, generating pedagogical content knowledge and as
tools for communication among management, educators, parents, learners and other
stakeholders in the general school community as a whole. Data for this study was
collected through interviews and observations, instruments considered as ideal in
situations where the researcher would be looking forward to eliciting thick descriptions
through exploring the views of participants in their natural settings. The analysis of data
followed a thematic approach where the emerging themes were first clustered into code
families, described by Nieuwenhuis (2012) as superordinate themes and these formed
the basis of the discussion of the findings. Among the key findings of the study was, the
study unearthed insights into ways through which rural school managers can help mitigate
the rural-urban dichotomy in ICT teaching and learning, which has become characteristic
of schools in South Africa. The conclusion derived from this study is that while it is
common knowledge that the latter category (urban schools) tend to have access to
cutting- edge ICT teaching and learning opportunities, their rural school counterparts still
either do not have full access to basic ICT education or depend on ICT educators who
lack the requisite teaching and learning media and or the equipment needed for effective...
M.Ed.