scholarly journals Blog-Mediated Reflection for Professional Development: Exploring Themes and Criticality of L2 Teachers' Reflective Practice

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-50
Author(s):  
Zia Tajeddin ◽  
Yasaman Aghababazadeh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
The Body ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Reflection Model ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Conditions De Travail ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Reflection On Action ◽  
User Friendly

Reflection is a key component of teacher quality assessment and a venue for professional development. Among many tools for teacher reflection, keeping blogs as a user-friendly, technology-enhanced tool has recently come to the forefront in teacher education. To contribute to the body of literature on the potentiality ofblogs for teacher professional development, this study sought to investigate the use of blogs by Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers to provide aperspective on the themes in their reflection-on-action and the degree of criticality of their reflection. To this end, 32 male and female in-service EFL teachers, teaching at different language institutes, voluntarily agreed to post their classroom experiences to a blog over a 3-month period. Content analysis of the reflection tags resulted in the identification of three main reflective categories, each including a number of themes: (a) teacher-oriented category (e.g., teachers’ sharing emotions, classroom management, teaching methods and techniques, use of first language [L1], and instructional ethics); (b) learner-oriented category (e.g., learners’ classroom participation, language skills, motivation, and emotions); and (c) contextoriented category (e.g., assessment system, textbooks, classroom facilities, and teachers’ working conditions). Moreover, the levels of reflection embedded into the tags were explored using a modified version of a reflection model proposed by Lee (2005). The findings revealed that teachers were more critical (71%) than descriptive (29%) in their reflections. These findings have implications for teachers’ reflection and their professional development. La réflexion est à la fois un élément essentiel de l’évaluation de la qualité chez les enseignantes et enseignants et un domaine de perfectionnement  professionnel. La tenue d’un blogue, activité conviviale facilitée par la technologie, s’est récemment imposée comme un nouvel outil de réflexion de premier ordre dans le domaine de la formation des enseignantes et enseignants. Visant à ajouter à la littérature existante sur le potentiel des blogues pour le perfectionnement professionnel du corps enseignant, la présente étude se proposait d’examiner le recours au blogue de professeurs iraniens d’anglais langue étrangère (EFL) afin de fournir un éclairage sur les thèmes de leur réflexion sur l’action et sur le degré de criticité de leur réflexion. Dans ce but, 32 professeurs et professeures d’anglais langue étrangère en cours d’emploi dans divers instituts linguistiques ont volontairement consenti à affi cher sur un blogue leurs expériences en classe pendant une période de 3 mois. L’analyse du contenu des balises de réflexion a permis d’identifier trois principals catégories de réflexion dont chacune portait sur un certain nombre de thèmes: (a) catégorie relative aux enseignants (par ex., partage d’émotions par l’enseignante ou l’enseignant, gestion de la classe, méthodes et techniques d’enseignement, utilisation de la première langue L1] et éthique pédagogique); (b) catégorie relative aux apprenants (par ex., participation des apprenants en classe, compétences linguistiques, motivation et émotions); et (c) catégorie relative au contexte (par ex., système d’évaluation, manuels scolaires, équipements de salle de classe et conditions de travail des enseignants). Les niveaux de réflexion intégrés dans ces balises ont de plus été explorés à l’aide d’une version modifiée d’un modèle de réflexion proposé par Lee (2005). L’étude a permis de constater que les réflexions des enseignants étaient davantage critiques (71 %) que descriptives (29 %). Ces conclusions ont des implications pour la réflexion des enseignants et pour leur perfectionnement professionnel.

scholarly journals INVESTIGATING EARLY-CAREER TEACHERS’ ADAPTATION CHALLENGES: A CASE OF INDONESIAN EFL TEACHERS

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 367
Author(s):  
Yogi Saputra Mahmud
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teaching Resources ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional

Teacher professional development has recently become a central focus in the Indonesian context, particularly after the implementation of the post-bachelor teacher professional education program or Pendidikan Profesi Guru (PPG) for both pre-service and in-service EFL teachers in 2013. However, studies reveal that the transition from teacher education programs to the initial teaching career at schools has been described as a challenging phase. Despite the growing attention of scholars in exploring beginning teachers’ challenges, studies focusing on the early-career Indonesian EFL teachers, particularly those who just completed the PPG program, are considered limited. Therefore, drawing on a qualitative case study with two beginning Indonesian secondary EFL teachers, this study aims to unravel the challenges during their first-year teaching experience at school after completing the PPG program. By thematically analysing the semi-structured interviews, this study indicated that the teachers experienced four significant challenges: 1) pedagogical (classroom management, lack of teaching resources, test-based learning atmosphere), 2) professional (complex self-identification), 3) social (maintaining rapport with senior teachers), and 4) personal (mood management).  Despite having been trained professionally through the PPG program, the result suggested that the beginning teachers still faced considerable challenges during their initial endeavour as an English teacher at school. Pedagogical implications are discussed in terms of the need for continuous professional development for the newly certified teachers during their initial career at schools.

scholarly journals Shaping the Way We Teach English: Potential Effects of a Teacher Professional Development Program on Jordanian EFL Teachers’ Instructional Practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Ruba Fahmi Bataineh ◽  
Lubna Ahmad Shawish ◽  
Mohammad Khalid Al-Alawneh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Instructional Practices ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Professional Development Program ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
The Way

<p> </p><p class="Default">This study examines the potential effect of <em>Shaping the Way We Teach English</em>, a teacher professional development program, on Jordanian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ instructional practices. The participants of the study are 20 Jordanian EFL teachers selected from 14 public schools in North Ghour Directorate of Education in the first semester of the academic year 2018/2019. Observations of the participants, along the seven domains of <em>classroom management, language, teaching strategies, learning strategies, assessment strategies, authentic materials, </em>and<em> reflection</em>, were conducted before and after the treatment to determine whether or not the treatment has an effect on the participants’ instructional practices. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the participants’ performance before and after the treatment. The findings revealed that the participants gained on all seven domains of the observation checklist, with statistically significant differences found (at α=0.05) in their instructional practices before and after the treatment, in favor of the latter.  The study concludes with pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research.</p><p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>

scholarly journals Professional development of English language teachers in Malang, Indonesia: Institutional and individual perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anik Nunuk Wulyani
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Ict Skills ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Individual

<p>Two important areas of professional development for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Indonesia identified in the 2003 Law on National Education System and 2005 Law on Teachers and Lecturers are disciplinary knowledge and ICT skills. The present thesis investigates institutional and individual aspects of EFL teacher professional development (TPD) in Indonesia in relation to the development of these two areas of expertise.  Three studies were carried out. The first study measured Indonesian EFL teachers’ target language (English) proficiency as a core component of their professional knowledge and how it is maintained and developed by the teachers. EFL teachers’ language proficiency in this study was operationalised as their lexical, reading and writing proficiency and measured using the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), IELTS-like reading comprehension test and IELTS-like academic writing test, respectively. The results showed that the teachers’ length of service correlated negatively with their knowledge of academic vocabulary, as well as reading and writing proficiency, indicating issues with the outcomes of the TPD in this area. To triangulate the test results, teacher perceptions data were also gathered using questionnaires and interviews. It was found that the EFL teachers tended to overestimate their own overall English language proficiency.  The second study used a longitudinal blogging activity with the EFL teachers as a form of personal professional development that targeted their English language and ICT skills while reflecting on topics related to their professional (teaching) activities. Qualitative analysis of the blog entries of three EFL teachers suggested that the individual teachers’ blogging, critical reading and reflective writing skills were very uneven. Interviews with nine teachers and 11 educational stakeholders were then conducted to understand their views on blogging as a form of professional development. The results revealed that the perceived obstacles and drawbacks outweighed the perceived benefits of blogging as a form of personal professional development.  The third study examined Indonesian national TPD policy documents, how these policies were translated into local professional development programmes in Malang district. It was found that the needs for EFL teachers to maintain their English proficiency and ICT skills were only partially addressed in TPD policy and implementation. In addition, the interviewed teachers and stakeholders perceived the definitions, goals, administration, evaluation, benefits, and challenges of TPD differently.  Taken as a whole, the present findings show that institutional implementation of TPD policies in Indonesia needs to better target individual EFL teachers’ English proficiency and ICT skills, and that opportunities for better professional development need to be sought at both personal and institutional levels. At the individual level, self-motivation to continue learning is crucial for English language teachers who want to keep up with change and innovation in English language teaching. At the institutional level, needs analyses and environmental analyses are essential in designing programs for maintaining and developing teacher professional competency.</p>

scholarly journals Teacher Professional Development: EFL Teachers’ Experiences in the Republic of Benin

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
Juvenale Patinvoh Agbayahoun
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Teachers Experiences ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Republic Of Benin ◽  
The Republic

<p>Using a survey, this study examines EFL teachers’ views on professional development, the models of teacher development they are familiar with, and their experiences in the area. The study also inquires into the teachers’ knowledge and opinions about inquiry-based teaching. The results indicate that though the EFL teachers often have the opportunity to participate in teacher development activities, these activities do not enable them to develop the skill of reflection and action on practice as they are patterned on top-down models of teacher development and happen in a one-shot workshop-style. Other teacher development activities such as action-research, reading research findings in the field, peer observation, mentoring, or teacher networking are unfamiliar to them. While the participant EFL teachers acknowledged that the top-down teacher development activities give them exposure to informative input, they also reported that such activities, paradoxically, have little impact on their teaching and students’ learning. Most of them acknowledged having very little knowledge of teacher development activities that involve self-intiative and autonomy, and they expressed interest in learning about and trying action-research in their classrooms.</p>

scholarly journals Self-directed Teacher Professional Development in Saudi Arabia: EFL Teachers’ Perceptions

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1359
Author(s):  
Hamad I. Alshaikhi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional

This study explores Saudi EFL teachers’ perspectives, attitudes and experiences with regards to their teacher professional development (TPD) with special emphasis on workplace learning and self-directed initiatives. Using semi-structured interviews and reflective essays, the study managed to highlight a thriving workplace learning context in which teachers are involved in many forms of self-directed learning, including experiences stemming from the dailiness of the everyday realities of their schools. Data showed that Saudi EFL teachers are committed professionals who are well aware of a variety of TPD resources and opportunities; some of them are institutionalised while the majority are self-directed by teachers themselves beyond any institutional requirement. The study revealed that many participants had high preferences for self-directed learning over institutional provisions for its embeddedness in their context, the nature of their specialisation, and for the changing nature of their profession. Networking, collaboration, reflection and collegiality are some of the main features of self-directed learning as reflected in teachers’ current practices.

scholarly journals Professional development of English language teachers in Malang, Indonesia: Institutional and individual perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anik Nunuk Wulyani
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Ict Skills ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Individual

<p>Two important areas of professional development for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Indonesia identified in the 2003 Law on National Education System and 2005 Law on Teachers and Lecturers are disciplinary knowledge and ICT skills. The present thesis investigates institutional and individual aspects of EFL teacher professional development (TPD) in Indonesia in relation to the development of these two areas of expertise.  Three studies were carried out. The first study measured Indonesian EFL teachers’ target language (English) proficiency as a core component of their professional knowledge and how it is maintained and developed by the teachers. EFL teachers’ language proficiency in this study was operationalised as their lexical, reading and writing proficiency and measured using the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), IELTS-like reading comprehension test and IELTS-like academic writing test, respectively. The results showed that the teachers’ length of service correlated negatively with their knowledge of academic vocabulary, as well as reading and writing proficiency, indicating issues with the outcomes of the TPD in this area. To triangulate the test results, teacher perceptions data were also gathered using questionnaires and interviews. It was found that the EFL teachers tended to overestimate their own overall English language proficiency.  The second study used a longitudinal blogging activity with the EFL teachers as a form of personal professional development that targeted their English language and ICT skills while reflecting on topics related to their professional (teaching) activities. Qualitative analysis of the blog entries of three EFL teachers suggested that the individual teachers’ blogging, critical reading and reflective writing skills were very uneven. Interviews with nine teachers and 11 educational stakeholders were then conducted to understand their views on blogging as a form of professional development. The results revealed that the perceived obstacles and drawbacks outweighed the perceived benefits of blogging as a form of personal professional development.  The third study examined Indonesian national TPD policy documents, how these policies were translated into local professional development programmes in Malang district. It was found that the needs for EFL teachers to maintain their English proficiency and ICT skills were only partially addressed in TPD policy and implementation. In addition, the interviewed teachers and stakeholders perceived the definitions, goals, administration, evaluation, benefits, and challenges of TPD differently.  Taken as a whole, the present findings show that institutional implementation of TPD policies in Indonesia needs to better target individual EFL teachers’ English proficiency and ICT skills, and that opportunities for better professional development need to be sought at both personal and institutional levels. At the individual level, self-motivation to continue learning is crucial for English language teachers who want to keep up with change and innovation in English language teaching. At the institutional level, needs analyses and environmental analyses are essential in designing programs for maintaining and developing teacher professional competency.</p>

scholarly journals EFL teachers’ online teacher professional development experiences amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Practices and perceptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Arief Eko Priyo Atmojo
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Online Teacher ◽  
Online Teacher Professional Development

This research investigates the EFL teachers’ practices and perceptions of online teacher professional development (OTPD) experiences to improve their competencies for teaching online language learning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 42 EFL teachers voluntarily became the participants through invitation. All participants were requested to give responses on a questionnaire. Eight participants were then invited for an individual semi-structured interview. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the questionnaire data, whilst qualitative coding was used to analyse the interview data. The results reveal many important findings regarding EFL teachers’ practices and perceptions of experiencing OTPD amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are beneficial to help OTPD designers and providers, policy makers, and school leaders provide OTPD which best fits EFL teachers’ needs, preferences, and teaching contexts.

scholarly journals EXPLORING PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Raisa Fadilla
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Teacher Preparation Program ◽  
Preparation Program ◽  
Subject Field ◽  
Teacher Professional

Considering the role of teachers which is uneasy, it is necessary to develop an effective means of supporting and retaining teachers to provide good quality learning environment for students and a supportive work environment for teachers. Based on the urgency of professional development for teachers, pre-service teachers’ perception towards teacher professional development (TPD) becomes prominent to explore. The survey reflects the pre-service teachers’ perception with regard to professional development.  The perception covers the most needed topics in TPD and the most needed learning activities which may give high impacts to their knowledge for teaching. This study involves pre-service teachers from English Department Batch 2016 who were taking internship program as English teachers in public or private schools in Banjarmasin.Regarding the pre-service teachers’ perception related to the needed topics, classroom management and knowledge of instructional practices in their subject field are the greatest area of development need followed by knowledge of their main subject and also ICT skills. On the concern of pre-service teachers’ perception related to most needed learning activities of TPD, courses or workshops is recognized as the most beneficial learning activities to improve teachers’ competences.The results of this study are expected to provide the basic thought for the implication for teacher preparation program in the future. Furthermore, the targeted implementation of the findings will give insights on the most needed professional development topics and most preferred learning activities which can be considered by the related institution when conducting teacher preparation program.

scholarly journals An investigation of EFL Teachers’ Professional Development in Algeria: Practices and Perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 94-101
Author(s):  
Ziani Melouka ◽  
Lahma Saadia
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Training Programmes

In English Language Teaching, the complexity of competencies and skills required for maximum achievement calls for a highly structured training programme which caters for a Continuing Professional Development(CPD)  of EFL teachers. Hence, it has become more important than ever to involve teachers in the decision making and designing of their CPD programmes. The present paper, then investigates how effective is continuing teacher training to teacher professional development in Algeria. In an attempt to answer this question, an investigation was carried out on a sample of 56 secondary school teachers of English in RELIZANE, Algeria. Using observation and interviews, teachers and teacher trainers were examined on their different standpoints to CPD. The research findings revealed that the participants expressed the same need for a continuing professional development regardless their expertise. But, their perceptions regarding their role in their CPD reflected their dependence on the institutional training programmes. Indeed, it was found that teachers rarely reflected on their education or kept track of their development as teachers.

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