چکیده:
Among the prevailing channels for L2 teachers to develop professionally, in-service teacher education programs (INSTEPs), or "continuing professional development" (Johnson, 2004, p. 652), are echoed in the literature. The present study probed Iranian L2 teachers’ perceptions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the current INSTEPs held by the Ministry of Education. More specifically, the researchers examined various aspects of English teacher development, including the teachers’ appraisal of the current teacher evaluation scheme and the alternatives adopted by the teachers in order to update their pedagogic content and support knowledge. Data were collected through a questionnaire developed for the purposes of this study and administered to a representative sample of Iranian L2 teachers (n = 1234) who participated in some formal teacher development events in Iran. The results indicated that self-reliance was practiced by the teachers and they highlighted the pressing need for improving their own general English proficiency. Further, the teachers voiced their dissatisfaction with the existing teacher evaluation system and worked for some alternatives. The findings may promise implications for planning and practice of the
current Iranian INSTEPs and provide clues for further research directions.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Student of TEFL, Kharazmi University Received on February 11, 2014 Accepted on September 25, 2014 Abstract Among the prevailing channels for L2 teachers to developprofessionally, in-service teacher education programs (INSTEPs), or"continuing professional development" (Johnson, 2004, p.
More specifically, the researchers examined various aspects of English teacher development, including the teachers’ appraisal of the current teacher evaluation scheme and the alternatives adopted by the teachers in order to update their pedagogic content and support knowledge.
INSTEPs are usually held by language teaching professional associations, university faculties, and ministries of education, and they take various forms, "ranging from award-bearing year-long courses in universities to the relatively informal meetings of teacher groups on a self-help basis" (Widdowson, 1990, p.
These programs provide excellent opportunities for teachers to share their experiences, to keep themselves up to date, to broaden their teaching knowledge (Singh & Richards, 2009), to search various possible solutions for their practical problems, and, even, to become familiar with potential research areas.
Therefore, the main objective of this study was to explore the professional development of the Iranian L2 teachers, specifically the INSTEP planned for high school English teachers (HiSETs) in the Iranian context, and the resources they draw upon to upgrade their pedagogic content and support knowledge.
Such an intra-community bond, which introduced an excellent chance for novices to socialize into new teaching community (Breen, Hird, Milton, Oliver, &Thwaite, 2001), was most probably formed because of the distance between theory and practice which was reflected in Farrell’s (2006) observation.