Professional Development Needs Analysis of School Administrators and Teachers in Turkey

Abstract

A two-stage path needs analysis model aimed at determining the professional development needs of school administrators and teachers working in Turkey and to what extent they needed these trainings was reported in this study. First, the nominal group technique was implemented. Second, according to the results, the professional development training needs were turned into targeted surveys for each participant group. The school administrators needed leadership; pre-school teachers needed picture analysis; primary school teachers needed creative drama; middle-school teachers needed integration with the digital world; high-school teachers needed first-aid; special education teachers needed techniques for changing problematic behaviors, and guidance/psychological counseling teachers needed solution-oriented therapy training. It was shown in the findings that the nominal group study results and the surveys differed for all groups. As a conclusion, a single need analysis approach was insufficient for identifying professional development needs and it is necessary to utilize one or more techniques together.