Who Provides Professional Development? A Study of Professional Development in Qatar
This paper argues that understanding what is offered as professional development frames what matters in English language teaching in a national education system. Analyzing these offerings articulates the values and perceptions of the work environment in which teachers live profession...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Urmia University
2016-10-01
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| Series: | Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.urmia.ac.ir/sites/www.urmia.ac.ir/files/1%20%28ARTICLE%29.pdf |
| Summary: | This paper argues that understanding what is offered as professional development frames what matters
in English language teaching in a national education system. Analyzing these offerings articulates the
values and perceptions of the work environment in which teachers live professionally. The
Learning4Teaching (L4T) project is a multi-country series of national studies that examine public-sector
English language teachers’ experiences of professional development. The studies document 1) the
learning opportunities provided in the national context, 2) how teachers view participating in these
opportunities, and 3) what they believe they take from them. Drawing on data from the first phase of
the study (#1 above), this paper examines the provision of professional development to ELT teachers in
the ‘independent’ (public school) sector in Qatar between 2012 and 2015. Of the 150 events offered
during this period, 50% concerned teaching methodology. The university/training center sector
provided the bulk of professional development (79% of events). The professional development
offerings presented teachers with a view of English language teaching as: highly focused on
methodological expectations and skills; driven by a set of policy priorities around managing the learning
environment, assessment, and standards; in which methodological knowledge and skills are seen as the
currency of a teaching identity. |
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| ISSN: | 2322-1291 2322-1291 |