Professional Development Needs of Yoruba Language Teachers in Senior Secondary Schools in Plateau State

Teachers of indigenous languages in minority-context settings face unique professional challenges that standard in-service training programmes rarely address. This study assesses the professional development needs of Yoruba language teachers in senior secondary schools in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria. Using a needs assessment methodology, data were collected from 60 Yoruba language teachers across secondary schools in Jos, Shendam, and Pankshin local government areas through structured questionnaires and focus group discussions. The study evaluates current teacher competency against professional benchmarks in areas including linguistic knowledge, communicative language teaching methods, Yoruba literature instruction, assessment design, and cultural pedagogy. The theoretical framework draws on teacher professional development theory and competency-based teacher education. Existing literature on Yoruba language teacher development has focused on Southwest states, with the professional challenges of Yoruba teachers working in culturally distant northern Nigerian contexts largely unaddressed. This study fills that contextual and professional gap. The research investigates whether Yoruba teachers in Plateau State receive language-specific professional development, whether general in-service training meets their subject-specific needs, and what teachers themselves identify as their highest-priority development areas. Findings are expected to reveal significant unmet development needs, particularly in communicative methodology and Yoruba literary analysis, and to highlight the professional isolation experienced by minority-context Yoruba teachers. Recommendations will address the design of a Yoruba-specific professional development programme for minority-context states. Keywords: professional development, Yoruba teachers, senior secondary schools, Plateau State, teacher competency.