The effectiveness of the professional teacher development for principals in the promotion of healthy school environments

Abstract

The main aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of professional development of principals in the promotion of healthy school environments. The literature review focused on school health-promotion, professional development for principals and a theory of learning organisations. It focused on the essence of health-promotion, revealing its importance and the multiple strategies used. The section on professional development revealed the importance of continuity of trainings and a focus on specific aspects including those of health-promotion. This study used the theory of learning organisations as a framework. Health promotion in its nature can only be effective if teachers are willing to learn and relearn. A qualitative purposive sampling method was used as only principals who attended the continuous professional development that was conducted by SACE between 2013 and 2016 were approached to participate. The study revealed that the promotion of healthy school environments was not understood the same way by participants; the programmes were implemented according to their understanding of health-promotion; and the lack of inclusion of specific topics in the principals' professional development activities impacted negatively on the implementation and resulted in their inability to address the challenges faced by the schools. It was also discovered that the lack of professional development led to ineffectiveness in endeavours of the schools to promote healthy settings. The study provided recommendations for the enhancement of professional development for principals to focus on health promotion.