How Can a Teacher Become the Better Version of Oneself?

Abstract

In order to improve
 professionally, teachers need to question themselves throughout their teaching
 because one can get feedback from oneself as well instead of listening to
 others’ comments, suggestions or questions. On the other hand, getting feedback
 from colleagues and learners is invaluable for professional improvement. This
 study was conducted as a self-study by a novice teacher. It was aimed at
 exploring the teaching practice of the teacher by focusing on the motivation
 issue specifically. Two critical friends actively participated in the study
 whereas the students of the teacher were passively involved in this self-study,
 too. The data were collected through weekly diaries, Teacher Sense of Efficacy
 Scale, Student Trust in Teacher Survey and written reflections of critical
 friends. Content analysis was utilized to analyses qualitative data and
 quantitative data were analyzed through SPSS, descriptive statistics were
 computed to reveal quantitative results. The findings showed that teacher
 self-efficacy is crucial to sustaining a productive teaching environment and a
 healthy teacher-student relationship. In addition, it was found out that
 teachers have various roles and responsibilities, which may sometimes overlap,
 both in and outside the classroom. Regarding the self-study methodology and
 critical friendship, it was concluded that conducting a self-study is extremely
 helpful for professional development of a teacher because evaluation and
 criticism allow teachers to question themselves in a critical manner and
 investigate what has been done and what could have been done for the betterment
 of their teaching and professional being.