Teachers’ Professional Development Needs and the Systems That Meet Them

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify professional development needs of primary and secondary school teachers and to present their views on the systems that meet those needs. The research model utilized in the study was the mixed model type. Findings related to identification of teachers’ professional development needs were collected through quantitative methods whereas findings related to systems that meet those needs were collected qualitatively. The study utilized survey model since it identified teachers’ professional development needs and investigated the systems that meet those needs. The part of the study related to identification of teachers’ professional development needs was quantitative and the section that investigated the systems that met professional development needs was qualitative. Data regarding the quantitative part of the study was collected with a data collection tool composed of 34 items prepared by the researcher and the data regarding the qualitative part of the study was collected, a 5-item data collection tool prepared by the researcher. Working group was composed of a total of 207 teachers selected via “simple random sampling” from the universe. Results showed that teachers needed development in the following areas mostly: “extracurricular and classroom activities”, “instructional programs and evaluation”, “teacher-student relationships” and “organization of instructional environments”. Teacher stated that they met their professional development needs in the following order from the most to least: through own individual studies, social learning among colleagues, in-service training, school administration and educational inspection.