Empowering Teachers as Agents of Social Cohesion: Continuing Professional Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Development education (DE) has become increasingly crucial in equipping teachers and learners for a socially just world. Educational efforts towards social justice (SJ) emphasise the need to provide teachers and learners with knowledge, skills, and attitudes to promote positive action. This article explores one continuing professional development (CPD) programme in South Africa to promote social cohesion (SC) in schools and classrooms. Drawing upon the experiences of ten teachers who attended this programme, the article analyses the ways in which this programme capacitated them to become active agents of transformation and change. The article argues that, whilst the programme was received positively by the teachers, the efficacy of the programme in supporting teachers to become change agents is constrained by their context and the dynamics of programme delivery.