“NOVICE AND EXPERIENCED TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS SELF-INITIATED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND POSSIBLE HINDERING FACTORS”
Author :
DOI : 10.18033/ijla.3648
Year-Number: 2017-18
Language : null
Konu : English Language Teaching
Abstract
Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye’deki İngilizce öğretmenlerinin kendi insiyatifleri çerçevesinde başlattıkları mesleki gelişim, mesleki gelişim aktiviteleri ve mesleki gelişimlerini engelleyebilecek bazı olası faktörlerle ilgili görüşlerini inceleyip deneyimli ve daha az deneyimli öğretmenlerin bu üç konuda görüşlerini karşılaştırmaktır. Bu amaçla anket adapte edilmiş ve 70 İngilizce okutmanına uygulanmıştır. Katılımcıların 34 tanesi deneyimlidir ve 36 tanesi de 3 yıldan daha az öğretmenlik tecrübesine sahip az deneyimli öğretmenlerdir. Toplanan veriler betimsel analiz ve bağımsız grup t testi kullanılarak analizden geçirilmiştir. Veri analizi pek çok öğretmenin kendi insiyatifleri çerçevesinde başlatılan mesleki gelişimin yönleri üzerinde hemfikir olduğunu ortaya çıkarmıştır. Fakat, deneyimli ve daha az deneyimli öğretmenlerin görüşlerinde kendi mesleki gelişimleri için gerekli adımları atmaları ve İngilizce öğretiminde meydana gelen son değişimleri takip etmeleri gibi bazı farklılıklar vardır. Mesleki gelişim aktiviteleri konusunda ise deneyimli ve daha az deneyimli öğretmenler arasındaki sınıf olaylarının yöneticiler tarafından gözlemlenmesi, alandaki araştırmaları takip etme ve eylem araştırması yapma akran gözlemi, seminer ve çalıştay benzeri hizmet içi eğitim gibi bazı farklar dışında pek çoğu bu aktivitelerin önemi konusunda hemfikir olmuştur. Son olarak, mesleki gelişimlerini aksatabilecek etkenler konusunda ise, bu etkenlerin önemi konusunda çoğu anlaşmıştır. Fakat, bu konuda deneyimli ve daha az deneyimli öğretmenlerin bakış açıları kişisel ekonomik problemler, aşırı iş yükü, öz motivasyon eksikliği, mesleki gelişim için kurumsal destek ve eğitim geçmişi gibi bazı etkenlerde farklı olmuştur. Bu konuda daha geniş bir bakış açısında sahip olmak için başka bir çalışmanın mülakat aracılığıyla yürütülebileceği tavsiye edilmiştir.
Keywords
Abstract
This study aims to determine the perceptions of the English language teachers in Turkey towards self-initiated professional development, professional development activities and some possible factors that can hinder professional development of them as well as comparing the perceptions of novice and experienced teachers towards these three issues. For this purpose, a questionnaire was adopted and administered to 70 English language instructors. Among them, 34 teachers are experienced and 36 are novice teachers having experience of teaching less than 3 years. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test. The findings of this study revealed that most of the teachers agreed on the aspects of self-initiated professional development. However, there are few differences between the perceptions of novice and experienced teachers towards this issue like teachers’ taking the action for their own professional development and keeping themselves updated with changes in ELT. As for the professional activities, most of them nearly agreed on the importance of these activities except for some differences between the novice and experienced teachers in terms of observation of classroom events by heads and administrators, action research and following research literature on own field, peer observation and in-service training like workshops and seminars. Lastly, as to the possible factors which may hinder their professional development, these teachers were found mostly agree on these factors’ importance. However, the perceptions of novice and experienced teachers in this issue differed in some factors like personal financial problems, excessive work load, lack of self-motivation and institutional support for professional development, and educational background. It is suggested that another study could be conducted through interviews to get a wider picture of the issue.
Keywords
- Professional development has been understood and defined in different ways in theliterature. Gall and Renchler (1985), for instance, defined professional development as„„efforts to improve teachers‟ capacity to function as effective professionals by having themlearn new knowledge, attitudes, and skills‟‟ (p. 6). Fullan (1995) described professionaldevelopment as „„the sum total of formal and informal learning pursued and experiencedby the teacher in a compelling learning environment under conditions of complexity anddynamic change‟‟ (p.265). On the other hand, Craft (1996) and Johnson and Golombek(2011) interpreted professional development as an effort to enhance one‟s professionalknowledge not only in preparation stage but also after this preparation stage. However,other researchers like Shawer (2010) and Richards and Ferrell (2011) argue thatprofessional development refers to engaging in career-building activities after completingteacher training. According to Day (1999) who gives a broader definition of professional development,
- Professional development consists of all natural learning experiences and those consciousand planned activities which are intended to be of direct or indirect benefit to theindividual, group or school, which constitute, through these, to the quality of educationin the classroom. It is the process by which, alone and with others, teachers review,renew and extend their commitment as change agents to the moral purposes of teaching;and by which they acquire and develop critically the knowledge, skills and emotionalintelligence essential to good professional thinking, planning and practice with children,young people and colleagues throughout each phase of their teaching lives (p. 18).Professional development has been categorized into two, which are top-down and bottom-up processes. While top-down professional development is presented for educationalleaders and principles (Glickman, 2002; Sparks, 2002), Cheng &Wang (as cited in Mann,2005) states that bottom-up professional development is presented mainly for individuals and groups.
- Teachers have many responsibilities like teaching the subject matter, delivering thecurriculum, being in contact with parents, meeting students‟ and the society‟s needs,understanding educational policies and social practices as well as norms. Although theexpectations and responsibilities of teachers are various, there is one point that should betaken into consideration by teachers, which is to update themselves in a rapidly changingworld (Tan &Teng,2015). Teacher professional development is a crucial part of life cycle ofteachers. Hassel (1999) defines it as the improvement of teaching skills and competenceswith the purpose of getting outstanding outcomes for students. On the other hand,Richards and Farrell (2005) states that it serves for longer term goals and it is related tothe growing understanding of teachers of teaching and themselves as teachers. Theypropose many developmental goals for teachers such as understanding their own roles,revising their theories, developing understanding of different ways of teaching andunderstanding students‟ perceptions of classroom facilities. Teacher professional
- development include many aspects in terms of teacher practices such as beliefs ofteachers and identity of them and other aspects like professional practice of teaching andteachers (Hewson,2007). Also, Aminudin (2012) states that professional development forteachers is claimed to equip teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to adapt the changes.
- As for the link between professional development and teacher professionalism,Hargreaves (2000) states that professionalism means the quality of teaching, mannersand standards guiding it. Also, he points out that teacher professionalism has evolvedwith the effect of changes in education systems. Besides, he states that there have beenfour phases of teacher professional development, which are pre-professional age, the ageof autonomous professional, the age of collegial professional and post-professional inother words postmodern. While pre-professional age is related to student-teachers‟becoming a teacher through practicum and developing as a result of individual trial anderror, the age of autonomous professional is related to working in isolation andchallenging unquestioned traditions applied so far. The age of the collegial professionalrefers to enhancing professionalism through collaboration, and lastly the post-professional age or postmodern refers to driven by developments in economics and digital revolution in communications.
- There are debates about whether teacher professional development should be consideredas a process or product based. From product perspective, we should pay attention towhat teachers can do after attending teacher professional development activities. Mostresearchers agree that teacher professional development should end up improvement inteaching practice and enhancement in students‟ learning (Tan and Teng, 2015). Anotherview of teacher professional development belongs to Mann (2005) who proposes thatteacher development has more personal and moral aspects while professional development is career orientated and more instrumental.
- Another issue is teachers‟ perspectives on the idea of professional development in thattraditionally teacher professional development has been regarded as a series of short-term workshops and presentations with little regard to practice. Besides, it is perceived asbeing conducted by an expert who is outside of school environment. Such a narrow viewof professional development has been criticized on the ground that teachers‟ experiencesand opinions have not been taken into consideration (Aminudin, 2012). Besides, Guskey(2000) argues that this narrow view of teacher professional development has thepossibility of resulting in teachers‟ viewpoint of professional development experience asuseless and meaningless. Therefore, it is suggested that to increase professional activities‟effectiveness and many research have been conducted on how to increase professional development activities‟ effectiveness (Aminudin, 2012).
- In most countries, teachers are expected to continue learning after their teachereducation programs with the purpose of adapting to the changing needs of society andstudents. Mushayikwa & Lubben (2009) define continuing professional development as apermanent cycle of teacher learning, which begins with initial teacher training and lasts as long as teacher is in teaching profession.
- Teachers‟ continuing professional development can function in different ways such asmaintenance, improvement, or change (Day &Sachs, 2004). Other researchers likeCheetham and Chivers (2001) also support this view by arguing that teachers should beable to keep up-to-date with new trends in their fields and learn new techniques andmethods to meet students‟ changing needs. Also, they need to improve themselves andadapt to the educational change (Fullan, 2007). Although teacher training helps teachersto be prepared for teaching, it is not comprehensive enough to prepare them foreverything. There can be changes in teaching and learning conditions to which theyexposed during their teaching education; therefore, it is necessary for them to enhancetheir teaching skills (Missoum, 2015). Also, continuing professional development is statedto be essential for teachers to enhance their own pedagogical knowledge and skills, whichwill also enhance students‟ learning (Desimone, 2009). By participating in ongoingprofessional development activities, they can keep updated with their professional fieldand with pedagogical changes. Also, the need for continuing professional developmentstems from the view that teachers have a lot of knowledge and skills, but they arerequired to continue to build expertise and improve the existing expertness (Main &Pendergast, 2015). Parallel to this, to continue professional development is regarded ascrucial since it is believed to enhance schools, teacher effectiveness and students‟ learning (Day, 1999; Hargreaves,2000; Opfer&Pedder, 2011; Verloop, 2003).
- Continuing professional development can be achieved through workshops, conferences,mentoring, doing action research, visiting other education institutions and peer coaching(Lieberman, 1996). It can also include formal and informal teacher learning programs aswell as being self-directed and initiated by institutions (Conlon, as cited in Yuen, 2012, p.388). Such activities have been aimed to result in a process, ongoing teacher learning, which eventually result in teachers‟ becoming experts (Kelly, 2006).
- On the other hand, these continuing professional development activities have beendivided into three, which are updating knowledge and skills, reflection on experiences,and collaboration with other teachers (Schraw, 1998; Timperley et al., 2007; Verloop,2003). For the first category, which is updating knowledge and skills, Vries, Grift, andJansen (2013) list reading (professional literature and educational sites), and schooling(workshops, training, conferences). For the second category, which is reflecting onexperience, they state that reflection is a crucial professional activity and it is crucial tocontinuing professional development. Schön (1983) also supports this by claiming thatreflection makes teachers‟ implicit knowledge and beliefs explicit and they can make somechanges if it is needed. The last category, which is collaboration with other teachers, it isregarded as reducing stress and increasing confidence (Cheetham &Ch+ivers, 2001), andit offers feedback and new ideas as well as challenges (Kwakman; Putnam &Borko, as cited in Vries, Grift, and Jansen, 2013, p. 80).
- It has been defined as teachers‟ development in terms of experience, attitudes, andintellectual aspects, which are initiated by themselves (Karaaslan, 2003). Teachers areexpected to ask for help from their institutions and colleagues, and plan areas ofimprovement to develop professionally (Texas Education Agency, 1997). For professionaldevelopment to be successful, Bailey, Curtis, and Nunan (1998) state that it should becontinuing, sustained, and self-directed, which also highlights the importance of continuing and self-directed professional development.
- Teachers are expected to take part in their own professional development throughdesigning ways depending on their preferences, beliefs, and perceived needs (Mora, Trejo,& Roux, 2016). If professional development arises from teachers‟ own needs and interests,there is a high possibility for them to be committed to these professional developmentareas and activities, and changes will be more likely to deep and permanent (Kohonen, 2002).
- Richards and Farrell (2005) point out that the focus in teacher education has shifted frominstitutional to individual self-directed process. This reveals that such a shift towardsself-directed process is also related to self-directed professional development. Similarly,Darling-Hammond and Bransford (2005) state that teacher education should be base on which life-long learning takes place.
- Mahmoudi and Özkan (2015) conducted a study about perceptions of experienced andnovice teachers about professional development activities. One of the aims of their studyis to find out whether there are differences between the perceptions of novice andexperienced language teachers in professonal development programs and activities. Thefindings of this study reveal that there are differences in the perceptions of novice andexperienced language teachers about professional development programs and activities.
- On the other hand, Alibakhshi and Dahvari (2015) explored EFL Teachers‟ perceptions ofcontinuing professional development and aim to find out professional developmentactivities of 20 EFL teachers. They have found that EFL teachers regard continuing professional development as crucial to their development as teachers.
- Yurtsever (2013)‟s study focused on English teachers‟ beliefs and preferences about fourprofessional development models, which are training, mentoring, peer-coaching, and self-directed. The study revealed that the most preferred model is self-directed professionalAlso, Karaaslan (2003) conducted a study about self-initiated professional developmentmodel and investigated teachers‟ perceptions about this model. 110 ELT teachers atBaskent University were administered a questionnaire which tried to investigate teachers‟perceptions of self-initiated professional development, professional development activitiesand factors hindering professional development of teachers. The findings revealed thatalmost all teachers agreed with the ideas about professional development, and most ofthem regard professional development activities as important. Lastly, it was revealed that factors hindering professional development of teachers were important.
- A survey research which is a quantitative research method was employed. As Dörnyei(2010) states, underlying philosophy behind surveys is that opinions, attitudes andintended behaviors of a large community can be described and analyzed on the basis ofpredetermined questions. For all of the research questions of this study, quantitativeresearch method was applied on the ground that it eliminates and minimizes subjectivityof judment as Kealey and Protheroe (1996) suggest, and it allows to investigate researchquestions firmly and arrive at more objective conclusions as Matveev (2002) indicates. Research Questions
- The data collection instrument is a questionnaire adapted from „„Karaaslan (2003)” by theresearcher and it consists of three parts and 35 items. For the first part of thequestionnaire, a 5-point Likert scale was used, which include 1 (strongly disagree), 2(disagree), 3 (undecided), 4 (agree), and 5 (strongly agree). Likewise, for the second andlast part of the questionnaire, a 5-point Likert scale was used which include 1 (notimportant at all), 2 (of little importance), 3 (somewhat important), 4 (important), and 5(very important). The respondents‟ answers provided quantitative data. After thepreparation of the questionnaire, a pilot study was conducted to provide inter-rater reliability.
- Overall, the fndings revealed that most of the teachers agreed on the aspects of self-initiated professional development, which corroborates the findings of Karaaslan (2003) toa certain extent. For instance, in both studies most of the teachers expressed theimportance of professional development activities. Besides, the factors that hinder professional development of teachers were found to be as crucial in both studies.
- It can be also concluded that the findings of the present study are in good agreement withthe findings of the study by Mahmoudi and Özkan (2015) to a certain extent in that thereare differences in the perceptions of novice and experienced language teachers about professional development programs and activities.
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