The Effect of the Shift in Professional Development Models on a Saudi Arabian University Context

Adil Abdul Rehman

doi:10.53935/2641-533x.v1i2.80

Abstract

This article discusses the shift in professional development models from inspectional to collegial systems and the effect of this trend in a Saudi Arabian university context. Members of the professional development unit responsible for the supervision of over 200 teachers in a Saudi Arabian university were interviewed. After qualitative analysis, three themes emerged: (1) Teacher Resistance (2) Willingness to listen to teachers (3) Standardization. The themes are discussed with the focus on how they help us determine which models of supervision influence the participant supervisors the most.

Highlights

The aim of this article is to critically analyze the changing nature of professional development models and the supervisor/supervisee working relationship. „Supervisor‟ here is used for people in managerial positions within institutions whose job is to ensure that teaching is up to standard
It is no secret that the working relation between teachers and supervisors has always been an uneasy one and literature on teacher education and supervision is teeming with references to its troublesome nature (Aubusson, Steele, Dinham, & Brady, 2007; Bailey, 2006; Borich, 1994; Gebhard & Oprandy, 1999; Kilbourn, Keating, Murray, & Ross, 2005) It has been labeled a „private cold war‟ by Blumberg (1980)
Terms like "mutual trust," "collegiality," and "teacher autonomy" are seductive nomenclature....Contradiction becomes apparent when we preach collegiality, collaboration, and teacher autonomy, while imposing clinical supervision upon teachers. (1991, p. 47) Thornbury (1996) writes about his suspicion that many teachers who claim to be proponents of the Communicative Approach are only paying lip-service to it and do not follow the tenets of CA in practical classroom situations

Summary

Introduction

The aim of this article is to critically analyze the changing nature of professional development models and the supervisor/supervisee working relationship. „Supervisor‟ here is used for people in managerial positions within institutions whose job is to ensure that teaching is up to standard. 2), “Continuing, career-long professional development is necessary for all teachers in order to keep pace with change and to review and renew their own knowledge, skills and visions for good teaching”. Defining professional development, he states “[It] consists of all natural learning experiences and those conscious and planned activities which are intended to be of direct or indirect benefit to the individual, group or school and which contribute, through these, to the quality of education in the classroom” (Day, 1999) We need to look at the object that is causing the tension in the supervisor/supervisee relation: activities and procedures aimed at professionalization and professional development

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Conclusion