Teachers’ Professional Development Needs and Barriers: Turkey Case

Abstract

This study, drawing on the Turkey data from TALIS 2018, examines the teachers’ need for professional development and their perceived barriers to professional development. It provides insights into the differences in teachers’ perceptions according to gender, seniority, and school level variables. Concerning professional development, female teachers reported higher needs for student behaviors and classroom management while male teachers noted significantly higher needs for pedagogical competencies in teaching the subject field and knowledge of the curriculum. The results show that all teachers have higher level need for teaching in multicultural and multilingual setting. However, new teachers have indicated significantly higher needs than veteran teachers. Lack of employer support and irrelevant professional development activities are noted as two higher level barriers preventing teachers attain professional development. The barriers to professional development, except one, are denoted significantly higher by novice teachers. The lack of time due to family responsibilities is indicated significantly higher by veteran teachers. It is observed that school level causes significant differences in teachers' professional development needs for subject matter and pedagogy and their perceived barriers. Relying on the results, the research provides implications for professional development providers to maximize the effectiveness of professional development of teachers.