Online Follow-Up Professional Development: Exploring Platforms to Deconstruct Inequalities in Teacher Access to Best Instructional Practices

Abstract

Teachers in rural areas need equitable access to professional development to develop their instructional capacities and efficacy. Moreover, the teachers in this district work in rural schools with little access to professional development and resources. Teachers for a Better Belize (TFABB) is a non-profit organization that provides free face-to-face professional development for the teachers in this region. Even with volunteers visiting throughout the year, teachers in this region need more support with content and pedagogy. This study aims to discover if an intervention of follow-up online professional development added to face-to-face professional development will help to develop teachers’ capacities and efficacy. This study will utilize qualitative methods through the use of surveys, interviews, discussions and observations. TFABB volunteers will gain insight into whether this follow-up online professional development lives its mission as an organization and decide if it should be added to future work.