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Can Facebook groups enhance continuing professional development of

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Can Facebook groups enhance continuing

professional development of teachers? Lessons
from Kenya

Harry Bett & Lazarus Makewa

To cite this article: Harry Bett & Lazarus Makewa (2018): Can Facebook groups enhance
continuing professional development of teachers? Lessons from Kenya, Asia-Pacific Journal of
Teacher Education, DOI: 10.1080/1359866X.2018.1542662

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ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION
https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2018.1542662

ARTICLE

Can Facebook groups enhance continuing professional

development of teachers? Lessons from Kenya
a
Harry Bett and Lazarus Makewab
a
Strathmore University Business School, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya; bVice Chancellor-Academic
Affairs, Rwenzori International University, Kasese, Uganda

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers in Kenya Received 4 October 2017
suffers from challenges such as inadequate resources, poor plan- Accepted 9 September 2018
ning, competing interests, among others. Besides being traditional KEYWORDS
in approach, most CPD sessions are far between to be meaning- Teachers; Facebook Groups;
fully helpful. With increasing uptake of technology and number of professional development;
social media users in Kenya, Facebook can be a potential platform Kenya
to enhance teachers’ professional development. This exploratory
cross-sectional survey focussed on discussions teachers had in the
month of February 2015 on one Facebook Group named ‘Teachers
of English’. A directed content analysis of the 647 posts following
Shulman’s category of teacher knowledge base revealed that
interactions on the group centred on the teaching of English
and Literature, as well as on other education-related matters.
This study concludes that that Facebook Groups can be fertile
avenues for teachers’ ongoing professional development, espe-
cially in developing countries where such opportunities are
scarce.

Introduction
Professional Development (PD) of teachers in Kenya needs urgent attention: with
increasing enrolment in public schools without commensurate increase in the number
of teachers (Sifuna, 2007; Duflo, Dupas, & Kremer, 2011), it is imperative that those in the
field have up-to-date skills that will help learners attain their learning objectives. Even
though there has been an increase in the number of trained teachers in Africa (i.e. from
1999 to 2012), much still needs to be done since being ‘trained’ is not necessarily similar
to having high professional development (UNESCO, 2015, p. 71). Besides, the situation is
not the same in all the African countries. Wenglinsky (2000) suggested that the greatest
influence to student learning is classroom practices that a teacher engages in; practices
which are best sharpened in the field, and hardly during the short stint of pre-service
training.
Studies have shown that pre-service training of teachers in Kenya, as in many other
African countries, is handicapped in adequately preparing teachers to handle learners in
schools (Dayoub & Bashiruddin, 2012; Kelani & Khourey-Bowers, 2012; Pryor,

CONTACT Harry Bett hbett@strathmore.edu; hakibett@gmail.com

© 2018 Australian Teacher Education Association
2 H. BETT AND L. MAKEWA

Akyeampong, Westbrook, & Lussier, 2012). Further, even for those with some kind of
pre-service training, many years in the service without Continuous Professional
Development (CPD) in some cases, has been associated with minimal improvement in
student scores (Ngware et al., 2013). This may be occasioned by cases of teachers who
have forgotten foundational concepts of teaching, or those who remain unsupervised in
their work. This suggests the need for increased opportunities for teachers’ ongoing
professional development, so that learning outcomes are realised with increased effi-
ciency. Unfortunately, since most CPD opportunities in third world countries are few and
primarily donor-dependent (Christie, Harley, & Penny, 2005; Oplatka, 2007), more prag-
matic ways of ongoing professional development of teachers should be considered,
than those currently in existence.
Social media is one such avenue that needs exploration. A study by Hur and Brush
(2009) argued that there are many teacher-generated forums, which if understood, can
yield more beneficial professional development programmes, than those which are
formally organised. Facebook Group is an example of a platform where teachers in
developing countries can discuss professional-related matters, at a minimal (and afford-
able) cost. Carpenter and Krutka (2015, p. 708), whose study sought to explore educa-
tors’ perceptions on the use of Twitter for professional development, similarly observed:
“For educators, social media appears to have the potential to facilitate PD that is more
participatory, grassroots and supportive of teachers’ roles as professionals and intellec-
tuals.” Social media thus needs serious consideration as a CPD platform in developing
contexts.

Facebook and education

On the 27th of June 2017, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook numbers had
officially hit the two billion mark (Nowak & Spiller, 2017). This represents approximately
26% of the total world’s population, quite tremendous a growth from 2004, when the
site was first founded in Harvard University. Facebook has revolutionised many sectors
of our lives, providing a fertile ground for research work in all fields. The advantage
Facebook provides is that it gives researchers an opportunity to collect not only con-
crete data, but also observe human interactions in a natural setting, as it would be in
ordinary lives (Petti & Triacca, 2013; Wilson, Gosling, & Graham, 2012). While studies by
researchers such as Hew (as cited in O’Bannon, Beard, & Britt, 2013) have claimed
Facebook has little educational value (arguing that it is mainly used administratively
and less pedagogically), other researchers such as Rutherford (2010), Aydin (2012) as
well as O’Bannon et al. (2013) have found this social media platform to be invaluable in
education.
Early studies on Facebook use among rural Kenyans revealed that not many indivi-
duals spent time on the social media platform owing to factors such as prohibitive
internet costs and lack of internet access, among other factors (Wyche, Schoenebeck, &
Forte, 2013). Latest statistics on internet use in Kenya, however, show a different picture.
A report by the Communication Authority of Kenya estimated internet users as of
June 2018 to be 41.1 million (CAK, 2018), which is quite high compared to
a population that was projected in 2017 to be 46.6 million people in the country
(Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), 2018). This supports the claim that many
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 3

Kenyans can now easily access internet connections, largely due to ubiquitous phones
and cheap mobile data. In fact, internet uptake has been quite high in Kenya, with usage
(at 72.2%) that is higher than most African countries like Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and
Zambia (Cirera, Lage, & Sabetti, 2016). Teachers’ professional interaction is one aspect
that this growth in technology in Kenya has benefited from.

Teachers’ interactions on Facebook groups

One Facebook feature that enhances interactions among like-minded people is the
presence of Facebook Groups. This is a place where individuals from the same profes-
sion, or of the same passions and interests can meet virtually and share ideas that will
enhance the objectives of the group (Bosch, 2009; Staudt, St. Clair, & Martinez, 2013).
Facebook Groups can be closed (where new members are vetted before being allowed
to join) or public (open to all interested persons). An advantage with Groups on
Facebook is the opportunity for individuals with similar interest to discuss ideas and
share resources without necessarily being friends on the website (Phillips, Baird, & Fogg,
2011). This is quite helpful to those who desire to participate in group activities on
Facebook while maintaining their privacy.
Ranieri, Manca, and Fini (2012) in a study of five groups of Italian teachers who shared
resources and practices, found out that teachers who shared information and experi-
ences in school life in general reported a greater impact of the Facebook Group on their
actual professional lives. Additionally, Pilgrim and Bledsoe (2011) discovered in their
study that teachers who liked and followed professional pages on Facebook after ten
weeks were more knowledgeable about education-related organizations and resources
available for teachers, than those who did not. Through Facebook Communities (groups,
pages etc.), teachers are also able to share opinions and ideas, as well receive updates
on relevant seminars, conferences, courses etc. (Petti & Triacca, 2013). The foregoing
findings seem to point to the fact that teachers’ participations on Facebook discussions
and teaching-related forums have a positive impact on their professional life; this being
more pronounced for those teachers who actively engage in the group.
Some studies have also examined the areas of discussion that teachers in online
communities participate in, with suggestions that professional-related topics are
engaged in. Duncan-Howell (2010) realised in his study of three online communities of
teachers that they spent 1–3 hours per week interacting with colleagues, and that 86.7%
of them found these communities to be useful for their professional development.
Similarly, Rutherford (2010) analysed in her study Ontario Teachers’ Facebook Group
which had over 8000 members. Their 278 posts and 1867 discussions revealed that
pedagogical content was the most frequent at 26.2% while 70% of their discussions
were related to the practice of teaching, hence likely to impact the education sector.
Staudt et al. (2013), as well as Mercieca and Kelly (2017), have recommended
Facebook as a potentially viable avenue for novice teachers to receive programme
support, continued mentoring and general professional help. This is very helpful since
in many cases, such beginning teachers either have a limited pool of seasoned teachers
to mentor them, or even none at all (Helleve, 2010). This is similar to Sari (2012) and
Maher and Prescott (2017), whose studies led to the conclusion that online forums for
4 H. BETT AND L. MAKEWA

teachers can offer greater opportunities for interactions and professional development
at a more affordable cost, while mitigating the challenges of geographical distance.
Also, with limited time on their side, teachers can follow education-related pages or
form groups where they can share ideas and materials, hence grow professionally
(Phillips et al., 2011). This is not only convenient but also highly invaluable to these
professionals, and especially in contexts like Kenya, where geographical distance would
require more resources for teachers to gather physically. Sumuer, Esfer, and Yildirim
(2014) found out that teachers used Facebook for educational and professional devel-
opment hence the need for professional development programmes to incorporate it.
This is also seen in Duncan-Howell’s (2010) study which realised that 86.7% of teachers
believed online communities were useful in their professional development.
As the foregoing discussion suggests, online groups have important professional
contribution, as it helps teachers build Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) which
‘provide instant access to information and connections to thousands of individuals with
an array of expertise’ (Trust, 2012, p. 133). Such avenues can be useful alternatives that
teachers in countries such as Kenya can explore. While some online forums are formal,
others (like the one currently under study) are informal and teacher-directed. Yet the
most important thing is the understanding of how teachers use such platforms for
professional development.
Evidently, many studies have focussed on teachers’ use of Facebook to enhance
learning, especially with their students (Archambault, Wetzel, Foulger, & Williams,
2010). However, how teachers use Facebook as professionals need further exploration
(Ranieri et al., 2012; Sumuer et al., 2014), especially among themselves and along their
areas of specialization. As teachers in third world countries such as Kenya face immense
challenges regarding both pre-service training and continuous professional develop-
ment (Bett, 2016), one area of interest is how teachers use Facebook groups for
professional interactions, which is the concern of the present study.
An understanding of how teachers in Kenya are engaging in ongoing professional
development (and especially through social media) is relevant, more so at a time like
this when the education curriculum in the country is changing (KICD, 2018). Also,
owing to a poor performance of English as a subject (both in primary and secondary
schools) in national examinations in Kenya (KNEC, 2015; KNUT, 2016; Matiang’i, 2015;
Otieno, 2016), there is need for finding ways of enhancing the professional develop-
ment of teachers of English, as a mitigation measure. This study will thus contribute
in this direction.

The current study

Teachers of English (ToE) is a closed Facebook Group formed in 2011, and is composed
of 20,592 members (as of 18 July 2018). At the time of study (February 2015), however,
the membership of the group was 11,000. One of the authors has been a member of the
Group since July 2014. Majority of the active members in the group are primary and
secondary school teachers of English in Kenya. The group, was founded by three
administrators (two male and 1 female) with the aim of teachers creating a platform
for teachers of English to share ideas.
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 5

The main aim of the study was to explore the discussions on the ToE Facebook
Group, and to establish if these discussions had any professional contribution to its
members. Specifically, the study sought to answer these two research questions:

(i) What kind of discussions do teachers on ‘Teachers of English’ Facebook Group

have?
(ii) Are these discussions of any professional significance?

According to Kelly and Antonio (2016), there are methodological and ethical con-
siderations for studying teachers in online groups, and more so those in closed groups.
However, as one of the authors is a member of the Group under study, it was
methodologically possible to access posts and engagements from members, and
more so interpret findings in light of the everyday activities of the Group. The same
author also asked for permission to study the Group one of the administrators, and
a separate Facebook account was created solely for the purpose of data collection (by
a research assistant). Confidentiality has been maintained by keeping members’ names
and details anonymous.
The study, an exploratory cross-sectional survey, focussed on posts to the Group for
the month of February 2015. According to Carpenter and Krutka (2015) the social media
landscape can be quite capricious, meaning it might be useful to study a given period of
time. This led to a focus on the month of February for the study. In Kenya, school
calendars begin in January, while national examinations results have traditionally (at the
time of study) been released in December (for primary schools) and February (for
secondary ones). Crucial education-related discussions such as selection of schools for
those transiting from primary to secondary level-are thus likely to happen in this month,
as January is mostly the “settling” month. Content analysis was used to examine the
aforementioned posts.
A directed content analysis was carried out similar to the study carried out by
Rutherford (2010). According to Hsieh and Shannon (2005), a directed content analysis
builds on existing theory or study. In Rutherford’s (2010) study, the content analysis was
based on Shulman’s (1987, p. 8) categories of teachers’ knowledge, which are:

● Content knowledge
● General pedagogical knowledge
● Curriculum knowledge
● Pedagogical content knowledge
● Knowledge of learners and their characteristics
● Knowledge of educational characteristics
● Knowledge of educational ends

All the posts were thus put in these categories, although three others were intro-
duced: Bonding (those relating to things that enhanced members’ togetherness in the
Group); Opportunity, which related to posts by members either advertising for posts in
their institutions, or seeking a teaching vacancy, and finally “Others”-the ones that could
not fit into any other already listed categories.
6 H. BETT AND L. MAKEWA

Posts that were commercial in nature-i.e. those that advertised products and any
other that did not make sense (for example written in any other language, but without
an English translation), which totalled 27 in number, were discarded. Eventually, 647
posts were then analysed, one of the authors coding the data into the categories
highlighted, with the help of a research assistant.

Limitations of the study

Our study focussed on posts to the Facebook Group only, and not the attendant
comments. One characteristic of social media users, and Facebook to be specific, is for
users to given unrelated comments to the original post. Hence, while we may have had
a question on Content Knowledge, the responses may have been far removed from this.
Also, one of the authors with the help of a research assistant worked on the coding of
the data for this study. While diligence was exercised in the coding process, using more
than one professional coder would have been more advantageous to the study.

Responses to posts in the group

As already mentioned, while the follow-up comments were not the concern for this
study, there was a noticeable trend when it came to response to posts. Responses
largely depended on the area of discussion, and the “poster”. Posts on grammar and
those on social life (fun, bonding) generally attracted larger responses (above 60 com-
ments per post). Also, Observations from this study (and other periods outside this
study) by one of the authors who is a member, revealed that response to comments also
depended on who would post it. Typically, those by active members and the Group’s
administrators tended to elicit more reactions, than those from the inactive ones.

Findings
This is the summary of study findings:
As seen in Table 1, majority of the posts (at 31.8%) in the Group centred on English
Content Knowledge. Most of the teachers in their posts, desired to understand or master
an aspect of their specialization, since mastery of content is one key ingredient of
effective teaching. The posts cut across all areas of English taught in primary and

Table 1. Numerical and % representation of discussion topics.

TOPIC NO %
Content Knowledge 206 31.8
Bonding 176 27.2
Others 98 15.1
Curriculum Knowledge 62 9.6
Knowledge of Educational Contexts 41 6.4
Opportunity 28 4.3
Knowledge of Learner Characteristics 15 2.3
Pedagogical Content Knowledge 11 1.7
Knowledge of Educational Ends 9 1.4
General Pedagogical Knowledge 1 0.2
TOTAL 647 100
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 7

secondary school (grammar, writing, listening, speaking etc.) as well as Literature taught
in high schools (areas include oral literature, poetry, set texts, among others). Our
analysis shows that questions on English grammar were the majority. Sample posts:

How many sounds are silent in this word “rendezvous”?

What’s the difference btn phrasal verbs and verb phrase ?

briefly explain features of style used in the play. “Betrayal in the city”.

Given the common use of social media platforms for social engagements, con-
nections and interactions which enhances relationships among individuals, it was not
unexpected that bonding would have the second highest number of posts at 27.2%.
Posts in this category ranged from issues to do with members’ conduct in the Group,
jokes, religious encouragement (an almost regular posting known as “Golden Dew”),
updates of what members were up to, etc. Basically, all posts in this category aimed
strengthening the relationships among the members. Some of the posts here
include:

using only three adjectives. . .describe yourselves please.Lets goooo

If you are on midterm like me, please share your plan for the long weekend. Am clueless
and I need something to do.

Do you people have a Whatsapp group?

The “Others” category amalgamated all posts that could not fit in any of the already
listed categories. Some of the posts were on trending current affairs (for example the
discussion on a Kenyan Member of Parliament who had recently been assassinated,
recent terrorist attacks and its effect on education, etc), a good number were on famous/
interesting quotes. It was interesting to note that most of the quotes given had some
educational-connotation. Examples:
“. . .high quality teachers are the most important factor in a child’s education.”

If a heavily-protected Kenyan MP is not safe in the streets of Nairobi, then we are no

exception. From an angle, I see this country gradually turning into a Nation of Fear,
I strongly abhore this for God’s sake. . .

Does the kid take the mother’s IQ or fathers?

9.6% of the posts were on Curriculum Knowledge. These are posts that touched on
any aspect of the curriculum at large, or regarding the teaching of English and
Literature. For some members, their posts would seek clarification on what the curricu-
lum expected, while for others, it was a request for the right materials to use in their
classes. Sample posts:

TOE Is fieldwork in literature supposed to be taught in secondary school and if so at which

level is it supposed to be taught?
8 H. BETT AND L. MAKEWA

kindly tell me which stories from ‘when the sun goes down’ have featured in K.C.S.E so far,
and is it possible for a story to be repeated in the national exam?

ToE please help me,where can i get suitable visual materials especially videos to teach
English??

Knowledge of Educational Contexts contained posts that related to the educational

environment, whether within the teacher’s, nationally, or globally. For example, one of
the hot topics of the season was the strike by teachers from North Eastern Part of Kenya
owing to increased terrorist activities. Others included a raging debate then on whether
contraceptives should be introduced to learners in schools. Sample posts:

The TSC (Teachers’ Service Commission) should transfer and or deploy muslim teachers to
teach in North Eastern. And the problem will be half solved.

Is your sch fleecing hapless parents like this one charging 120k

What’s your opinion on giving contraceptives to students?

The category on Opportunities, which was one introduced and not part of Shulman’s
had a 4.3% of the posts. In this category, most of the posts were by teachers who
needed teaching opportunities. Such were those either fresh from college, or teaching in
one school and desired one with better remuneration. We also had teachers who sought
to swap their positions with fellow teachers in different part of the country. Swapping is
one of the more convenient and recognized ways that teachers in Kenya use to get
transferred to schools of their choice-mostly those in their local (rural) homes. There
were also posts for non-English or Literature positions for friends of the members, or of
positions in the members’ school. Examples:

A registered Teacher of English and Literature urgently needed. Kimuchul Secondary(Bomet

County). Deadline Wednesday.

Hi teachers, any school in need of a kisw/history teacher within nairobi?

Comrades, please help. I badly and urgently need a job, Eng. & Lit. I’m in Machakos County.

Is there any TOE out there especially from Nakuru or Nyahururu who would be interested to
swop with me? Am in Nyeri. Kindly alert me i ll call back. Thanks

Knowledge of Learner Characteristics had an almost similar standing with Knowledge of

Educational Ends as it made up 2.3% of the posts. Typically, posts in this category were
comments, questions, observations that foregrounded the kind of learners these tea-
chers dealt with. Some teachers seemed to be seeking help on how to handle such
learners, while others wanted to know if they were the only ones with a particular kind
of learners. Examples:

you know you are done when you walk into a class and find thatmost of your candidates to
be have problems with spelling.Even when they copy from the board.Where are the good
old days when pupils were learning?

Creative writing is one of my favourite areas in English. However,Its quiet disheartening to

know that even the best of my students of my students make mistakes ghey aren’t
supposed to.
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 9

Do your students have this negative attitude towards poetry? I don’t know many people
find poetry. . .

The third last category, was Pedagogical Content Knowledge at 1.7%. In this category,
teachers sought to know how to teach specific aspects of the English language, or those
of Literature. For example:

Hi TOE!.. i hav found it hard to teach this topic on !!!”modal verbs!” Who can assist me on the
same,i find then confusing for real....kindly assist

Is there any pedagogy or a tactic one can employ(use) to teach creativity and make the
learner think outside the box when writing any given composition?

I love Literature so much. In college I missed so many lectures – none was Literature. I also
do Writing as a support profession. However, I find it hard teaching Writing and Literature to
high school learners.

Knowledge of Educational Ends had to do with posts that examined the values, and
purposes in education, among others. Though with 1.4% of the overall posts, it is clear
teachers did think about the overall purpose and ends of education, at least in Kenya.
A trending discussion at this time had to do with a TV expose of a college that was
issuing questionable qualifications to its candidates. Examples:

Quote of the day:In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and
remains so, maybe for twenty years-Jacques Barzun

TYPE THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO MADE YOUR ENGLISH WHAT IT IS TODAY .They
Receive Gods Favor Today

Notes from CERTIFICATES OF DOOM on NTV

Unsurprisingly, there was only one post on General Pedagogical Content (0.2%).
This is because the Group was mainly for Teachers of English and Literature, whose
main concern was the two subjects. Members were highly likely to ask questions and
comment on matters that directly touched on the specific aspect of the English, and
Literature, rather than teaching in general. The one post in this category was:

What factors make one an effective teacher??

Discussion
The present study sought to explore the kind of discussions Kenyan teachers in the
“Teachers of English” Facebook Group have, and if these discussions have any profes-
sional contribution to the members. Generally, as the findings show, most of the
discussions in the platform revolved around the teaching of English and Literature,
and indeed education in general. This suggests that the Group is of significance to the
teaching profession, and especially in Kenya. This section will focus on the two research
objectives.
10 H. BETT AND L. MAKEWA

Discussions on ToE Facebook group

From this study, it was apparent (see Table 1) that the posts in the “Content Knowledge”
category were dominant, and this is significant. According to Pryor et al. (2012) both
trainee and established teachers in their study (which was carried out in 6 African
countries, Kenya included) felt that their inadequate subject content knowledge hin-
dered them from being effective in the classroom as teachers. Our findings seem to
suggest that teachers in our study were either less confident on content knowledge, or
generally desired to improve in this area. Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson,
and Orphanos (2009) argued that one of the key tenets of effective professional devel-
opment is a focus on specific curriculum content, showing the need for both formal and
informal CPDs (like the one currently under study) to focus on subject content
knowledge.
The “Bonding” category was introduced in line with Edwards (2005, 2011) suggestion
of relational agency. Edwards argued that “relational agency involves a capacity for
working with others to strengthen purposeful responses to complex problems”
(Edwards, 2011, p. 34). While in this study the concern was only on the posts made,
follow up comments required the resourcefulness of members in the Group. Studies
have shown that teachers use online forums to get emotional, collegial and practical
support (Kelly & Antonio, 2016; Leung, Chiang, Chui, Lee, & Mak, 2011), which necessarily
“bonds” them in the process. In our study, members desired to get to know each other
more, even as their online posts revealed. For example, it was common for member to
explain their working contexts and experiences while posting on the Group.
Consequently, relationships among active members in the Group improved.
A brief discussion on the category on “Opportunity” is important in this study. This
category was not only evident from the posts by the users, but also reflective of the
Kenyan context where teachers are not absorbed immediately after training into the
workforce (at least by the government). While the statistics vary, the estimated shortage
of teachers in primary and post-primary public institutions in Kenya is projected to be
116,000 in 2019 (Teachers Service Commission, Kenya (TSC), 2015). The Kenyan govern-
ment ceased direct employment of teachers in 1996, as a response to fiscal requirements
by the IMF and World Bank (Kafu, 2011), and now employ a handful yearly to “fill the
gap” caused by natural attrition. With many trained but unemployed teachers out there,
individuals often have to rely on their networks (Hart & Steinbrecher, 2011; Kelly &
Antonio, 2016) for arising opportunities, as seen in this study.
While pedagogical content knowledge is considered significant (Kelani & Khourey-
Bowers, 2012); the distinguishing mark of “a content specialist” from that of “a pedago-
gue” (Shulman, 1987, p. 8), our findings reveal that not many engagements by teachers
in the study focussed on this aspect (1.7% in Table 1), which agrees with the findings by
(Kelly & Antonio, 2016). The rest of the categories, curriculum knowledge, knowledge of
educational contexts, knowledge of learner characteristics, knowledge of educational
ends and general pedagogical knowledge did not attract many discussions (with per-
centages less than 10). The “Others” category which had a 15.1% representation, had
many posts that could not fit any other categories listed, yet contained discussions that
were educationally relevant.
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 11

Professional significance of discussions on the ToE Facebook group

It is important to note that the focus of the current study is on a platform (Facebook
Group) which is a good example of an informal, self-directed professional development
by teachers. As argued elsewhere in this paper, both pre-service and ongoing profes-
sional development programmes for teachers in Kenya are inadequate, hence the need
for other workable alternatives (Bett, 2016). According to Dayoub and Bashiruddin
(2012), whose study sought to understand how English Language teachers in Syria
and Pakistan develop professionally, the authors realized that with limited PD opportu-
nities, self-directed learning was one main avenue teachers adopted to benefit them-
selves professionally. This is similarly argued by Mushayikwa and Lubben (2009) who
observed that self-directed learning is evident among teachers in resource-scarce
environments.
What the foregoing studies suggest is that teachers will find ways to grow profes-
sionally, especially in situations where formal programmes are either missing, or insuffi-
cient. Our findings in this paper support this line of argument, as the teachers in the ToE
Facebook Group used the platform available to them to “self-direct and informally grow”
professionally, for example by seeking to increase their content knowledge of English
and Literature in English. Mercieca and Kelly (2017, p. 11) study among early career
teachers, capture this observation aptly:

The results show that SNSs, particularly private Facebook groups, have a significant role to
play…they are a valuable source of support for those who are in less than supportive
schools and/or who are casual teachers…for teachers in a variety of other situations,
including those in isolated schools, those teaching either senior subjects or specialised
subjects alone in their school and those who find it helpful to continue the collaborative
support they found in their ITE training.

Our study findings also mirror those of Rutherford’s (2010) study which discovered that
70% of the discussions on the Facebook Group she focussed on were education-related.
It is noteworthy that even posts (in the Facebook Group under study) that looked “non-
educational” (such as “Bonding” and “Others”), had some professionally rich content. For
example, a number of posts had jokes, or quotes from the set books studies in
secondary school literature, which would often provoke a discussion within the see-
mingly off-topic post. Findings by Duncan-Howell (2010), as well as that of Sumuer et al.
(2014) concluded that online environments are helpful in teachers’ professional devel-
opment, which similarly concur with our findings.
It is also important to note that collaboration, or “togetherness” is one aspect that
clearly comes out in this study, which helped in accentuating the professional
relevance of the Group (Edwards, 2005). Whether through a question asked, comment
given, advice sought or even a joke shared, the teachers in our group took advantage
of the fellow teachers “in the house” much in the same way teachers in a staffroom in
one school would do. A number of studies have shown that teachers use online
forums to collaborate and share practical information related to their profession (Hart
& Steinbrecher, 2011; Kelly & Antonio, 2016), which agree with findings from our
study.
12 H. BETT AND L. MAKEWA

Conclusion and implications

Our study, being exploratory, has shown that social media platforms can indeed prove
useful with regard to teachers’ professional development. As the findings and discussion
sections document, teachers on Facebook Groups do discuss matters that are profes-
sionally rich and related to their everyday practice as teachers.
However, it would be misleading to suggest that all the ToE Group members are
beneficiaries of the discussions therein. Findings from the data analysed, and observa-
tions by one of the authors who is a member of the Group, seem to imply that not all
members participate in the discussions on the platform. Participation could be in
posting to the Group and responding to questions or comments; generally, being an
active member. This suggests that those who would benefit the most from the Group
are those who are active, who contribute regularly to events in this platform, as they are
able to keep abreast of the happenings in the Facebook Group. This consequently
enhances their professional growth.
From our study, there are implications worth considering, especially by bodies in
charge of teacher education and management in Kenya, and other developing countries.
In contexts such as ours where formal CPD programmes for teachers are few and initial
teacher training inadequate, there is need to further explore the role of online platforms
(and particularly social media) in teachers’ professional development. An understanding
of this role will be helpful in enriching existing pre-service and CPD programmes in the
nation. Findings in our study show that both beginning and established teachers are
bound to benefit from discussions on a forum such as the one currently under study.
Perhaps more importantly though, is to be keen on newer forms of professional devel-
opment that teachers might be using, or leveraging on, to enhance their professional
growth. Other forms of social media (apart from Facebook), or indeed media in general,
might prove useful in teachers’ ongoing professional development.
Yet caution must be exercised in this regard. The Group currently under study is
informal and teacher-led. The temptation, especially by government educational agen-
cies, is to create a formal online platform where teachers can grow and interact
professionally. While such a move is laudable and bound to work, it is important to
understand the characteristics of informal teacher-led online forums, which may not
apply to formally organised ones.
Similarly, while other countries can learn from this study, it is important to consider
the place of general national culture, and how this might mediate the interactions in
a social media group such as the one currently under study. Since change of leadership
in 2002 (with the incoming government being associated with true democracy) the
democratic space in Kenya has widened, with attendant increase in freedom of expres-
sion. While laws are lately being put in place to regulate social media use, individuals
have for long “fully expressed” themselves on such platforms. Other countries may not
have similar environments.

Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the two anyonymous peer reviewers who gave insightful comments to this
paper.
 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION 13

Notes on contributors
Harry Bett Student Research Co-ordinator at Strathmore University Business School (Kenya), and
a PhD in Communication student at Daystar University, Kenya. A trained teacher of English and
Literature.
Lazarus Makewa Deputy Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs, Rwenzori International University,
Uganda. Professor of Educational Communication Technology. Passionate and experienced tea-
cher, researcher and educator in general.

ORCID
Harry Bett http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3049-4155

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