© Kamla-Raj 2015 Int J Edu Sci, 10(1): 149-155 (2015) Teaching Strategies for Rural Dysfunctional Schools: Can Teachers Make a Difference? A. P. Kutame * , F. Ravhuhali, H. N. Mutshaeni and M. Maluleke University of Venda, Thohoyandou, Limpopo, South Africa * E-mail: Philip.kutame@univen.ac.za KEYWORDS Professional Development. Quality Teaching and Learning. Teaching Skills ABSTRACT While there are strategies and models for teachers advocating for promotion of effective teaching in schools, these have not been successful in improving the quality of teaching in public secondary schools. The aim of this study was to develop a model which promotes the quality of teaching through teachers’ professional development. Quantitative data was collected through closed-ended self-administered questionnaires. Two hundred teachers were sampled through simple random sampling procedure. Results show that though teachers were attempting to improve the quality of teaching in dysfunctional schools in rural areas, their efforts have been short lived. A model to assist in improving teachers’ skills and the quality of teaching through their professional development has been developed. The model shows that teachers must be involved in the planning, conception and implementation of their professional development to improve their teaching skills. Teachers’ professional development linked to promotional development would improve the quality of teaching and learning. The model promotes teacher observation process while teaching in class to improve skills. INTRODUCTION There are different kinds of teacher profes- sional development models that have been and are still being developed and implemented in dif- ferent countries to promote and support effec- tive teachers’ professional development from the beginning of their career until they retire (Ville- gas-Reimers 2003). These teachers’ profession- al development strategies for effective teaching in schools have not been successful in improv- ing the quality of teaching in rural dysfunctional public secondary schools. Rural schools are dis- advantaged when considering several aspects which affect teacher performance including re- sources and HIV/AIDS status of teachers (Lu- madi 2014) and personal professional develop- ment (Ravhuhali 2014) and increase in teenage pregnancies (Mbulaheni et al. 2014). A school becomes dysfunctional when, due to abnormal or impaired functioning, it fails to accomplish the true purpose of teaching and learning for which it was instituted (Pretorious 2014). Preto- rious (2014) writes further that dysfunctional schools are characterised by unstable manage- ment conditions, inappropriate or lack of leader- ship, lack of vision, an unhealthy school climate and culture, and low staff and learner morale. Caena (2011) believes that there are key profes- sional learning activities that enable teachers to tackle rapid changes which incorporate aspects such as keeping teachers updated, allowing them to experiment and reflect on their practices and allow them to be innovative and to share knowl- edge among themselves. Caena (2011) states that there are prerequisites conditions which affect teacher learning (Balcazar and Nopo 2015) and can be linked with teacher professional devel- opment in which teachers improve their skills in the teaching of subjects they specialise in (Lu- madi 2014) thereby benefiting the learners in the school. These conditions are psychological fac- tors, thus teacher cognition and motivation, and organisational factors such as leadership, teach- er collaboration, staff relationships and commu- nication, locus of control, opportunities for teachers’ learning (Caena 2011). Porter et al. (2000) state that one of the strat- egies for effective teaching in rural schools is to ensure that See comment in PubMed Commons belowteachers are immersed in the subjects they teach, and have the ability both to communi- cate basic knowledge and to develop advanced thinking and problem-solving skills among their students in order to carry out the demands of education reform (Porter et al. 2000). Smith and Gillepsie (2007) note that there are two models of teachers’ professional development for ef- fective teaching which can be used to assist teachers to gain the needed knowledge, skills and strategies to bring about quality teaching and learning.