The Role of Graduate Education in Professional Development of Teachers: Is Graduation Enough?

Abstract

This research aims to determine the role of graduate education in supporting the professional development of teachers. The qualitative research method was employed, and the basic qualitative research design was utilized. The study group of the research consisted of 25 teachers who had graduate level and were working in a province center in the Central Black Sea Region of Turkey. In-depth interviews were held with teachers through a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. The data were analyzed with content analysis using the MaxQda software package. The results of the study revealed that the teachers pursued graduate education mostly to achieve personal and professional development and to build an academic career. They stated that graduate education provided them with the skills of scientific thinking and research, communication, teaching and evaluation, and establishing theory-practice relationships, as well as knowledge of the profession and the field. They also added that they gained positive attitudes towards their profession, students, education, and life in general. A considerable part of the teachers stated that with graduate education, they realized the importance of professional development, their approach to evaluating events changed, and that their self-confidence, satisfaction, and performance increased. Almost all of the teachers claimed that positive changes occurred in their approach to students after they had received graduate education. A significant portion of the teachers said that the graduate education they received contributed directly to learning and applying new methods and techniques and led to some tangible changes in their measurement and evaluation practices. On the other hand, teachers also touched on important problem areas, such as the lack of a career system that encouraged graduate education and failure to put what had already been learned into practice for various reasons. Findings showed that it was not enough to have graduate education alone and that some measures regarding both the structure of graduate education programs and the working environment of teachers needed to be taken. Based on the results of the research, we recommend that a career system that will increase the professional development motivation of teachers should be created and that the degrees to be obtained in the fields of education and educational sciences should be prioritized in this system.