Understanding Teachers as Adult Learners in Professional Development Activities for Enhanced Classroom Practices

Professional development of teachers is significant to classroom practices; this is why it's necessary for teachers to engage in regular in-service professional development activities. The purpose of teachers' professional development is to enhance their classroom practices for better performance of their learners. This paper aims at providing the need to understand teachers as adult learners in various professional developments designed for teachers. It will help on how teachers are trained with appropriate and needed professional needs, as well as the types of communication approach that can be used in different professional development activities; which can enhance the effectiveness and the usefulness of such professional development activities to teachers' classroom practices. Quality of teachers translates to the education system in any country; teachers are critically significant to the educational system. It is, therefore, important that teachers are provided with appropriate and needed professional development activities, where they can actively learn what can be adopted or integrated into their classroom practices. Ideally, professional development activities are to provide collaborative support and training to teachers to make them better in classrooms. These activities should be continuous to sustain the dynamic education system of today. The professional development activities impact meaningfully on teachers' development, teachers' skills and attitudes are enhanced for classroom practices, further snowballing into the quality of education learners receive. Therefore, the integration of a few basic principles of adult learning into the design of teacher professional development activities can improve classroom practices of teachers. This conceptual paper explores some of these concepts and how the characteristics of adult learners, self-directed learning, transformative learning and critical reflection can enhance classroom practices.