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Top1. Introduction
There is evidence which suggests that most teachers in developing countries are not adequately prepared in their pre-service teacher education (Kitta & Fussy, 2013; The World Bank, 2005). In this regard, supporting continuous learning for teachers can be considered a remedy to address teacher preparation shortcomings and enhance the professionalism of teaching in particular. It is, however, important to note that regardless of the quality of pre-service teacher education, both novice and experienced teachers require nurturing in order to become effective teachers. The reason behind the emphasis for continuous learning relies upon the recognition that the professionalism of teachers is not only crucial in improving teaching performance (Ince, 2017), but also in identifying learners’ needs (Moulding, Stewart, & Dunmeyer, 2014) and making the teaching career appealing and respected (Spooner-Lane, 2017).
Numerous studies point to different ways through which teachers develop as teaching professionals. For example, Mahmoudi and Özkan (2015) who explored novice and experienced teachers’ perspectives about professional development activities, revealed that teachers believe they can enhance their professionalism through visiting their colleagues in other schools and attending international conferences. Fulfilling these conditions, they argue, yields desired academic outcomes for students. These two categories of professional learning, however, are costly to achieve as they are determined by available resources at both school and local levels (Caldwell, 2009; Hennessy, Haßler, & Hofmann, 2015; Sabar & Shafriri, 2006). Reading professional documents and peer observations are also identified as central to enhancing teachers’ professional growth. While the former depends entirely on how schools are endowed with teaching and learning materials (Sandholtz & Ringstaff, 2013), the latter is determined by the competence of role models for the vicarious learning experience to occur (Bandura, 1995; Wolf, Foster, & Birkenholz, 2010).
An explanation to why teachers in the third world countries are less prepared in their teacher colleges and universities could be that in-service staff professional learning has been a neglected aspect of education expansion policies (Buckler & Gafar, 2013; Kelani & Khourey-Bowers, 2012). Lack of or inadequate funding is one of the factors which impede the ability of educational authority figures to improvise and or implement various professional development programmes (Szelei, Tinoca, & Pinho, 2019). In their qualitative study, Geldenhuys and Oosthuizen (2015), for instance, found that continuous professional learning in South Africa was mainly constrained by a small contribution of school leaders to teachers’ professional development. This means that school leaders were required to be adequately funded by the government in order to become capable of supporting professional development for their teachers.
Most literature identifies that school and beyond school factors contribute to the development of teaching professionalism (Forte & Flores, 2014; Szelei et al., 2019). In school contexts, teachers may learn by networking with colleagues or engage in classroom teaching observation by school principals (Balyer, Karatas, & Alci, 2015; Kose, 2009; Tyagi, 2010). Outside the school, however, teachers may acquire knowledge and skills from school inspectors and district educational officials who visit schools and provide feedback about teaching (Flecknoe, 2010; Hopkins et al., 2016). Literature (Bandura, 1994; Tschannen-Moran, Hoy, & Hoy, 1998) suggests that teachers develop professionally only when they interact with models similar to themselves. In Tanzania, school inspectors, heads of schools and district education officials are selected from among teachers themselves (United Republic Tanzania, 2008). To this end, authority figures can be regarded as similar and knowledgeable models.