Teachers’ voices about the modality and role of facilitators of Continuous Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) provision in selected primary schools in Khayelitsha, Cape Town

Face to face and online CPTD programmes have expanded rapidly since the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. Yet, there is limited empirical information regarding how teachers in under-resourced schools experience and perceive the quality of these CPTD programmes in enhancing their professional learning and growth. Focusing on delivery modalities and facilitation, this study investigated the perceptions and experiences of primary school teachers in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, regarding the quality of implementation of face-to-face and online CPTD programmes they have attended over the previous two years. Through mixed-methods, the data were collected using 167 questionnaires and ten semi-structured interviews. While teachers reported broad exposure to online CPTD, they consistently expressed a preference for face-to-face provision. Interview data indicated that these preferences were shaped less by modalities and more by interactional affordances through facilitation. The study, therefore, highlights the perspectives teachers adopt when evaluating the perceived value of CPTD programmes in resource-limited settings. Through such evaluation, the study contributes to post-pandemic CPTD literature by showing how modality preferences intersect with facilitation in under-resourced schools, offering implications for designing and delivering context-sensitive CPTD programmes.