The Professional Development of Teacher Education's in the Developing World: A Consideration of recent developments in Papua New Guinea

This paper addresses the matter of the extent to which efforts aimed at the professional development activities of community (primary) school teacher educators in one developing country, namely, Papua New Guinea (PNG), correspond to the subjects’ own perceived professional needs. The general background is outlined first. Then the results of a study of a group of Papua-New-Guinea-teacher-educators’ perceptions of their professional needs, as accessed through semi-structured interviews are presented in order to gain a preliminary indication of the appropriateness of recent developments aimed at the professionalisation of teacher education in the country and to suggest some further developments which could be set in train. Finally, the importance of establishing a national association of teacher education is highlighted.