Who is a Champion Teacher? A Comparative Longitudinal Analysis of Teacher Practices in Teacher Professional Development Programmes in East Africa
Keywords:
champion teacher; teacher professional development; gender-responsive pedagogy; competency-based curriculumAbstract
This comparative mixed-methods study defines and profiles the “champion teacher” by synthesising primary longitudinal and cross-sectional data from two complementary teacher professional development (TPD) initiatives implemented across East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda): the long-term, pre-service teacher-oriented Foundations for Learning (F4L) programme and the short-course, in?service teacher Strengthening Education Systems East Africa (SESEA) programme. The champion teacher construct is operationalised through a Champion Teacher Index (CTI) comprising three integrated domains: head (cognitive pedagogical knowledge), hands (psychomotor instructional practice), and heart (affective, leadership, and gender-responsive dispositions). Quantitative analysis revealed statistically significant longitudinal differences between the programmes. F4L teachers demonstrated higher mean CTI scores and steeper growth trajectories over time, particularly in reflective practice, collaborative leadership, and sustained implementation of gender-responsive pedagogy (GRP). SESEA teachers exhibited strong short-term gains in the hands domain, corresponding with measurable improvements in student learning outcomes, including a reduction in non-readers from 77.2% at baseline to 32.1% at endline in Tanzania’s Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA)/Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) data. Correlation analysis revealed moderate-to-strong associations between CTI scores and students’ literacy and numeracy outcomes (r = .41–.38, p < .01). Multiple regression analysis further identified mentorship intensity, school leadership support, and programme modality in F4L as significant predictors of CTI scores, collectively explaining approximately 42% of the observed variance. The qualitative findings illuminate persistent structural constraints, including limited teacher academic qualifications, pedagogical inconsistency, and poor parental engagement. The study concludes that cultivating a sustainable cadre of champion teachers requires a sequenced hybrid TPD model that integrates short-course skills acquisition with long-term mentorship, leadership alignment, and community engagement capacities.
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.25.4.35
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