Factors influencing Teachers’ Participation in Certification Education: A Special Case of Continuing Professional Development in Belize

Abstract

ABSTRACT Belize’s educational system has been evolving gradually since the early 1960’s to provide quality and competent education to all students. Up to date, the struggle is still visible because the hallmark of the British colonization remains within the educational system. The practice of hiring teachers without proper certification and training in pedagogy has kept Belize disadvantageous in this field. This research intends to explore the possible factors that could be influencing teachers’ participation on enrolling in a teacher certification education program in order to fill in the demands of a rapid increase of students. A quantitative study was conducted on a sample of 206 uncertified teachers’ at all three levels of education. Three personal factors, two task factors and two work environment factors were selected based on the literature and previous research as the independent variables to predict the dependent variable, intention to participate in certification education. Hierarchical regression was used to test study hypotheses. Findings revealed that the personal factor, appraisal of meaningfulness, task factor, pressure of work, and the work environment factor, management support, have a positive influence on teachers’ intention to participate in certification education. In addition, although not hypothesized, some demographic variables such as age, gender, tenure in current job position and highest educational qualification level, also presented influence on teachers’ intention to pursue certification education. These findings have important implications for the Belizean Ministry of Education on policies related to promoting teacher certification education.