Female English Teachers Perceptions and Experience of Continuing Professional Development in Qatar
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Framework
2.1. Continuing Professional Development
Professional development consists of all-natural learning experiences and those conscious and planned activities which are intended to be of direct or indirect benefit to the individual, group or school which contributes, through these, to the quality of education in 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 purpose of teaching; and by which they acquire and develop critically the knowledge, skills and emotional intelligence essential to good professional thinking, planning, and practice with children, young people and colleagues throughout each phase of their learning lives [24].
2.1.1. Reflective Practice
2.1.2. Professional Knowledge
3. Research Methodology
3.1. Participants
3.2. Data Collection
3.3. Data Analysis
4. Findings and Discussion
4.1. Passion and Commitment to the Profession
you know, back home we have a saying that we should never stop learning until we die. Professional development is a way of learning new things. (Deema) Each workshop, each development meeting, even if you get just one idea, it is a good thing. (Amal)
after becoming a teacher I constantly worked on improving myself, because my job requires continuous development so that I can give my students my best. I often research teaching methods and strategies online, and even used videos that I found on the Internet in my classroom. (Amal)
I don’t believe that I have any specific needs for further improvement. If I must, I will attend but I don’t perceive these training’s as special or useful. (Wasan)
I know I need help in grammar, writing, and speaking because with the students we just use simple words and I would like to enrich my English-speaking abilities. (Noha)
4.2. Time Constraints
Although I finish giving my lessons by 2PM, the work never ends and in most days I continue working until 10PM in preparation and related work. When they [management] demand I attend a CPD course it stresses me further and I feel it is a waste of time. I have other things to do. (Najla)
Time management is an issue...my classes are big which means I often have to spend all my time supporting the students rather than engaging in CPD opportunities (Huda)
4.3. Attitude towards CPD Providers
Not all strategies we are offered by outside trainers are beneficial in every setting, and some are just a waste of time, because students get bored, lose focus and get distracted. (Hessa)
Sometimes what the CPD instructors tell us is convincing and I use it. But many times, I feel it is not applicable to me and my students so I don’t waste my time in doing something that will not be beneficial for my students. (Nora)
Each time a new observer has a new comment about my teaching and they expect me to adopt their input automatically... As the teacher of this group I knew very well how much time they would need for this activity because I am more aware of my students’ capacities than this external observer. So sometimes I think they [external observers] might have experience but they do not know my students. (Areej)
4.4. Interest in Peer Education
You are never too old to learn. Even if you are experienced, you still have things to learn from other people. You know, maybe I am much experienced now, yet fresh graduates may bring more ideas for me. (Reham)
My colleagues and I treat each other in a very good way. We share our expertise and if they feel I am holding back they won’t let me enter their group again. (Najla)
When I first came to work in this school, I felt alienated because I did not know how the school operated and the nature of the programs implemented. In order to break the barriers, I was respectful and engaged the other teachers professionally and shared best practices and skills I learned through CPD. (Huda)
We have regular meetings wherein we share new ideas or educational strategies. (Manal)
I communicate with English teachers from around the world. I have a lot of friends. I searched for them on my own using social media. However, because of time limitations I don’t get to spend as much time as I would have liked to learn from online communities. Nevertheless, I try as much as I can just to improve my expertise. (Hessa)
4.5. Experience and Practical Knowledge
We took the first standard course and I did not get the idea why we are taking this. It was very theoretical. The second one was more practical. It included lessons from every teacher from every school. I enjoyed it a lot and got many ideas that I can use in my own teaching. (Dina)
Many development courses provided by the University are very useful. They focus on specific skills in language teaching, how to teach the vocab, how to teach listening, how to teach reading, how to manage your classroom. They gave us new methods which we can use. (Manal)
4.6. Reflective Practice
I feel that I keep on trying new things in the class. I even write down my reflections after the class, you know. I love to keep a diary. I write whatever happened in the class [and] if I anything really helped me. Once you have a look at the diary at the end of the year you feel like, yes, these things happened, and you are more conscious next time. You will not repeat something that was bad, and you will repeat something that was good. (Sumia)
Sometimes I discuss with my coordinator what I did in a certain class, showing that I think it will not work well with another class. We agree that some changes have to be made and I always write notes. Sometimes, you must change a little part because you know students differ. (Wasan)
4.7. Independent Learning Skills
I feel it is a big field, it is a wide area, and I am missing many things. Sometimes my school carries out a professional development course to share something new. When the trainer surprises me with something interesting, I think to myself, my goodness, how did he get this idea, where am I? (Areej)
in every career you must develop yourself. You must take courses… …everything is changing, and you need to keep up with this. (Dina)
Each time our life is changing. Each time there is a new lesson and a new development. (Huda)
My sister, who lives in the USA, keeps sending me links to websites that include online courses to help me improve my skills independent of my school or official CPD courses. (Noha)
You can meet others online and they can answer your questions and be very helpful. (Wasan)
4.8. Professional Ambition
I want to learn how to motivate the teachers I am supervising... I have excellent teachers but some of them need further training to better utilise their expertise. Maybe they are shy, maybe they worry about what I would say [as their supervisor] if they tried something different. I have to check lesson delivery of other teachers through observation sessions…I had requested my school to nominate me for a Training of Trainers course but unfortunately the administration made a mistake and I did not receive this training. (Laila)
If I attend a CPD training I try to carry it forward to my friends; I discuss it with them either formally or informally. It is important to document that you attended this training because you will be evaluated accordingly. And I prefer to convey what I learned in a professional setting to other teachers, so I share what I learned by conducting my own Professional Development session. (Wasan)
5. Conclusions
- What are female ELTs working in Qatar experiences of CPD?
- What are their on-going professional development needs that would allow them to teach English more successfully in the future?
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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No. | Pseudonym | Country of Origin | Experience | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Najla | Egypt | 4 | BD in literature and Translation Studies |
2 | Noha | Egypt | 8 | BD in education and Art, E. department |
3 | Rania | Egypt | 12 | BD in teaching E. L., Education |
4 | Laila | Egypt | 18 | BD in teaching E. L., Education |
5 | Amal | Egypt | 5 | Bachelor’s Degree in English literature |
6 | Manal | Egypt | 9 | Bachelor’s Degree in English literature |
7 | Reham | Egypt | 5 | Bachelor’s Degree in English literature |
8 | Areej | Egypt | 10 | Bachelor’s Degree in English literature |
9 | Wasan | Lebanon | 7 | Bachelor’s Degree in English literature |
10 | Huda | Lebanon | 5 | Bachelor’s Degree in English literature |
11 | Lubna | USA | 4 | Bachelor’s Degree in Medeia |
12 | Nora | Palestine | 5 | BD in teaching E. L., Education |
13 | Sumia | India | 15 | General Eng., Eng. Literature |
14 | Dina | Jordan | 4 | BD in teaching E. L., Education |
15 | Deema | Tunisia | 12 | BD in teaching E. L., Education |
16 | Hessa | Syria | 9 | BD in teaching E. L., Education |
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Qadhi, S.; Floyd, A. Female English Teachers Perceptions and Experience of Continuing Professional Development in Qatar. Educ. Sci. 2021, 11, 160. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11040160
Qadhi S, Floyd A. Female English Teachers Perceptions and Experience of Continuing Professional Development in Qatar. Education Sciences. 2021; 11(4):160. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11040160
Chicago/Turabian StyleQadhi, Saba, and Alan Floyd. 2021. "Female English Teachers Perceptions and Experience of Continuing Professional Development in Qatar" Education Sciences 11, no. 4: 160. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11040160
APA StyleQadhi, S., & Floyd, A. (2021). Female English Teachers Perceptions and Experience of Continuing Professional Development in Qatar. Education Sciences, 11(4), 160. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11040160