Perceptions of Academic Staff towards Academic Staff Development Programmes in One Selected University in South Africa

Abstract

Academic staff development is a prerequisite of maintaining and improving quality standards in institutions of higher learning. The current study investigates by a means of an interview if the academic staff perceives staff development as a means of skills development in a selected university in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The qualitative data from fifteen academic staff from five faculties in the selected university were analysed using aspects of a grounded theory approach to investigate staff perception of staff development programmes This study identified two central themes of staff development: (1) academic development approaches, (2) academic staff's perceptions of the training and development. This study explores these themes with respect to the stated objective and suggest that staff perceptions of development programmes reveal slightly satisfaction about the programmes offered, however, they do admit that developmental programmes are necessary in pedagogy.