English Language teacher professional development in Saudi Arabia : teachers' perceptions

• Main Author: Alshaikhi, H.
• Other Authors: Meier, G.
• Published: University of Exeter 2018
• Subjects: 370
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.761815

This study focuses its attention on language teachers’ professional development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It sets out to explore Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ perspectives, attitudes and experiences with regards to their teacher professional development (TPD). It focuses primarily on how teachers perceive the concept of TPD, how they develop professionally to meet the demands of their profession, how they evaluate institutional training provisions, their engagement with self-direct forms of TPD, factors affecting their engagement with TPD opportunities, and how they think TPD could be enhanced in the Saudi context. The study was mainly guided by the following overarching question: What are Saudi EFL teachers’ perceptions, attitudes, and experiences with regards to their TPD? A qualitative approach to data collection was used to achieve the intended goals of the study. Data was collected from 25 practicing Saudi EFL teachers (males and females) via semi-structured interviews, semi-structured reflective essays, and WhatsApp correspondence. The data was thematically analysed. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) model provided a general framework and a sense of direction throughout the process of data analysis. The study highlighted how Saudi EFL teachers understand the concept of TPD. Participants provided a range of definitions for TPD with ‘growth,’ ‘development,’ and ‘adaptation to change’ emerging as key themes underpinning their definitions. Their conceptualisations were mostly functional, context-specific, and focused more on the content of learning and the type of expected effect rather than on the activity itself. Results showed that teachers have a high preference for self-directed TPD for its context specificity and relevance to their immediate needs. Although the study’s participants considered institutional training as one of the main channels of their development that aligns their practices to their employers’ agendas, data showed that they were highly critical of the way it was managed and delivered to them. Data showed that TPD is not a straightforward process. Rather, it is a complex undertaking that is subject to a range of facilitating and inhibiting factors. A number of recommendations were provided by participants on how they think TPD should be managed, how teachers’ missions could be facilitated, and how their motivation could be enhanced.