Pulatsü G.& Mirici İ.H. (2022). English Instructors’ Perception Related to Professional Development: A Case Study in a Foundation University. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 10(1). 246- 268. Received : 10.10.2022 Revised version received: 08.12.2022 Accepted : 12.12.2022 ENGLISH INSTRUCTORS’ PERCEPTION RELATED TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY IN A FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY A Case Study Gulsen Pulatsü Ufuk University, Turkey gulsen.pulatsu@gmail.com İsmail Hakkı Mirici Hacettepe Universtiy, Turkey hakkimirici@gmail.com Biodata(s): Gülsen Pulatsü is a senior English instructor and the Head of Foreign Languages Department at Ufuk University in Ankara, Turkey. She is a Ph.D. candidate at Hacettepe University. Her research interests are Professional Development and Management in Education. İsmail Hakki Mirici is a full time Professor at Hacettepe University Faculty of Education, Department of English Language Teaching. His research interests are EFL Teacher Education, Curriculum Development and Foreign Language Education Policy in Europe. Copyright © 2014 by International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET). ISSN: 2148-225X. Material published and so copyrighted may not be published elsewhere without written permission of IOJET. mailto:gulsen.pulatsu@gmail.com mailto:hakkimirici@gmail.com http://orcid.org/xxxx International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 247 ENGLISH INSTRUCTORS’ PERCEPTION RELATED TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY IN A FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY Gülsen Pulatsü gulsen.pulatsu@ufuk.edu.tr İsmail Hakkı Mirici hakkimirici@gmail.com Abstract Over the past decades, the importance given to Teacher Professional Development (TPD) activities and opportunities have been undoubtedly increasing day by day all around the world. As every living thing in the world is evolving, a language itself, a living phenomenon, is assuredly evolving which means that educators face new challenges they have to come up with new solutions for and adapt. The study aims to investigate the English language teachers’ perceptions with regards to teacher professional development and its related options. For that purpose, in the study, the sequential method was adopted. The participants were composed of 20 full-time instructors (16 female, 4 male) working in a foundation university in Turkey as English instructors. The data were collected using via both a questionnaire developed by Eksi (2010) and a follow-up interview. For follow-up interview, the respondents were gathered of 5 full-time instructors determined by simple random sampling method. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25 and the data from the follow-up interview were coded and were analyzed by carrying out inductive content analysis. Keywords: Teacher professional development; self-directed learning; personalized professional development; self-assessment 1. Introduction Needs of users and educators of languages are in ongoing and rapid change, as a consequence, education systems, educational implementations and education policies need to have certain adaptations. As Karn (2007) states the other fields of education such as Maths and Physics do not have the ever-changing features; however, the language teaching process has been constantly evolving urging to be one step closer to the best. Many studies have been conducted regarding teachers’ perceptions related to professional development in the field of teaching (Chang, Jeon, & Ahn, 2014; Powell, Terrell, Furey, & Scott-Evans, 2003; Smith & Gillespie, 2007). Additionally, methodologies and approaches in teaching profession have been developed and directly affected classroom instructions positively. Given that emerging concerns about practices in teacher education have revealed the necessity of making radical changes related to mailto:gulsen.pulatsu@ufuk.edu.tr mailto:hakkimirici@gmail.com Pulatsü& Mirici 248 in-service education to find out the best way for the diverse needs of each individual. It is clearly seen in the related literature that Professional Development should continue while the educators are in-service to keep up with the current improvements in the field (Borko, 2004; Mann, 2005). On the contrary, teachers’ perceptions and beliefs in language teaching profession about TPD reflected that teacher have not been as much interested in TPD as they should be (Pipere, Veisson, & Salite, 2015). As a broad term, Professional Development (PD), is an essential way of keeping up with the new improvements in a profession. As Glatthorn (1995) indicated that “Teacher development is the professional growth a teacher achieves as a result of gaining increased experience and examining his or her teaching systematically” (p. 41). Two forms of Teacher Professional Development (TPD) including formal and informal experiences in teaching profession pave the way through the constant development process. Attending conferences and workshops, having mentoring sessions and meetings in the workplace exemplify formal experiences related to TPD. The other form of TPD is informal experiences such as reading literature, following the related media in the field (Ganser, 2000). In the past, professional development was often considered as a program that had a few workshops and short-term options, which sometimes was not related to teaching profession, and was limited to ‘staff development’ or ‘in-service training, which had short-term aims with no systematic plan providing no sustainable professional growth. Over the years, with the increasing importance of long-term professional development, the search for an ideal way of PD has begun. Ingvarson (1998) emphasized that the traditional approach of professional development including short-term courses or workshops is essential, yet it is no longer sufficient (Ingvarson, 1998). In-service professional development can be formed diversely based on the needs of the teaching professionals. One should never expect not to have a comprehensive needs-analysis on TPD conducted to teachers to be able to design an effective professional development model. The diagnostic data of the needs analysis defines the primary aims of each individual as an educator (Blazer 2005). Evidence shows that professional development formed after the process of a thorough needs-assessment has a huge impact on teachers’ perception and change in their behavior, thereby, affecting student learning outcome. There is a close relationship between teachers’ beliefs and their practice in the classroom, which refers to a never-ending cycle of sustainable TPD (Cobb, Wood and Yackel, 1990; Frankes et al., 1998). 2. Review of Literature 2.1. Adult Learning Theory for Teacher Professional Development Professional Development is an on-the-job and an ever-evolving process, which requires a learner-autonomous perspective. In educational settings, to support active and volunteer participation in both formal and informal professional development options, there has to be some considerations to be taken. Andragogy or Adult Learning Theory, the foundation of which was introduced by Malcolm Knowles in 1968, refers to the method and process by which adults learn. To provide an effective process, adult learning should be built on six key assumptions of ‘Adult Learning Theory’: self-directedness, experience, need to know, mental orientation, intrinsic motivation, and readiness to learn (Knowles, 2005). Zepeda (2011) indicated that Professional Development is one of an adult learning process providing support for administrator, teacher and student learning (Zepeda 2011). As indicated in ‘Adult Learning Theory’, teachers should be given flexibility to shape their own professional development based on their individual needs in the field. More specifically, the increasing success will follow when educators are allowed to choose which direction to go in their lifelong learning process (Trotter, 2006). International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 249 2.2. One-size-fits-all Approach A one-size-fits-all approach pushes teachers who have diverse needs related to instructional and content knowledge into one program with previously set goals by administrators or organizations (Blazer, 2005). A great number of higher education institutions use a one-size- fits-all approach as a professional development option; however unfortunately, this may not be satisfying for educators, in fact, could be inefficient for the institution whose teachers often have different levels of experience, skill and knowledge. The traditional whole group, one- size-fits-all approach, where the emphasis in the training not on the actual learning, have been being used for many years; yet it started to be universally recognized as insufficient, and quite simply outdated. 2.3. Personalized Professional Development Framework Professional development has been defined by many researchers, one of which was by Lieberman & Miller (1992) characterizing professional development as "knowledge, skills, abilities, and the necessary conditions for teachers learning on the job" (p. 1045). Customized Professional Development, a very popular notion nowadays in the related literature, refers to in-service training for staff development designed considering the entire institution’s needs based on the institution’s improvement plan. Customized in-service training options may also be personalized for a small segment of the institution or an individual use depending on the needs. The Personalized Professional Development Framework is one of the Customized Professional Development plans grounded on an individual’s professional needs consisting of suggested workshops, teaching resources, tutorials, and consultations (Rhode, Richter and Miller, 2017). In the implementation process, each member has to be assessed with an inventory to identify which items are to include in the personalized PD plan. In one on-one consultations, according to the results of the self-assessment inventory, individuals are led to strategize and plan their own PD plan considering the resources that the institution has to offer and the options outside the institution. As a result of the conducting the inventory, according to the level determined after the members have assessed themselves, the personalized framework makes some suggestions to attend related sessions or have a consultation on the area that requires to be improved. Depending on the availability of the individual, this program may be arranged with the options including in-person, online or recorded tutorials (Rhode, Richter and Miller, 2017). The key factor regarding the personalized professional development is to conduct a self-assessment inventory before planning TPD options that fit the members of the institution. The self-assessment tool can be either developed by the institution or the most common self- assessment tools such as EPOSTL (Newby et. al., 2007) can be used for evaluating the level of the starting point in the professional development plan. Each individual is to get a one-on-one consultation to discuss over the results of the self- assessment to take an action about the personalized professional development plan. Ross and Bruce (2007) emphasized that “providing a self-assessment tool is a constructive strategy for improving the effectiveness of in-service provided it is bundled with other professional growth strategies: peer coaching, observation by external change agents, and focused input on teaching strategies.” (Ross and Bruce, 2007). When all these factors are taken into consideration, personalized professional development based on the needs of the teachers is a must- have solution for unwilling participation in TPD activities, which have an undoubtedly huge impact on the professional growth of and on learners' educational outcomes 2.4. Self-directedness and Self-assessment in Teacher Professional Development Pulatsü& Mirici 250 Guglielmino (1977) defined self-directedness as an adult learner’s ability to plan independently, carry out, and assess the learning activities throughout the learning process (Guglielmino, 1977). There are two common characteristics of self- direction: self-teaching and personal autonomy (Knowles, Holton, and Swanson, 2005). Self-teaching and learner autonomy play very significant role in determining the individualized professional development needs of teachers. Beside the personalized development options including workshops, teaching resources, tutorials, and consultations, self-driven classroom-based action research including a systematic action plan with its cyclical structure give the individual an opportunity to have the data-driven and viable results, which makes it an ideal personalized professional development (Mertler, 2013). The findings of a classroom-based research conducted by the teacher help to customize the teacher’s professional development, which paves the way to get a much more purposeful approach to self-directed professional growth. The aim of this case study is to conduct a needs analysis of English language instructors working at a foundation university in Ankara related to TPD. The needs analysis includes some sub-categories: (1) the instructors’ perceptions about TPD, (2) TPD activities they choose to attend, (3) the hindrances about not being able to sustain their TPD, (4) the areas the educators specifically need to improve in their practices and the instructors’ preferences between two TPD approach: One-size-fits-all or Personalized TPD. The present study could be beneficial to the field for it notifies individuals working in educational settings such as supervisors, teacher educators, and educational administrators about their teachers’ perceptions and current needs with regards to TPD. Targeting the areas that need to be improved in the system effectively can allow any institution to better prepare to promote success in teacher education programs for reaching a high-quality level of sustainable professional development. Focusing on the perceptions and needs of English Language instructors’ perceptions and needs related to professional development in their field, the following research questions were specified: 1. What are English instructors’ perceptions related to professional development programs in teaching profession? 2. What are the (most) prevailing types of professional development /activities?) for instructors working in a higher education institution in Turkey? 3. What are the factors that hinders English instructors to participate in professional development activities? 4. What are the factors that give instructors motivation to participate in professional development programs? 5. What are the areas that English instructors mostly need to improve in teaching profession? 6. What kind of Teacher Professional Development Approach would be the best option for English instructors teaching in higher education institutions: “One-size-fits-all PD” or “Personalized/Customized PD”? 7. What are the English instructors’ perceptions of using any self-assessment tools during their PD process? 3. Methodology 3.1. Research Design This case study was conducted to investigate the perception of English language instructors working at a foundation university and their professional needs related to Professional International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 251 Development in teaching profession. This sequential mixed method study consists of two phases. Mertens (2005: 292) describes the sequential mixed method as “One type of data provides a basis for collection of another type of data”. 3.2. Setting and Participants The study was conducted in 2021-2022 academic year at a foundation university in Ankara, Turkey. The target population of the study was all the English language instructors working in the Foreign Languages Department. Table 1 summarizes the demographic information about the participants. Data were collected from 20 full-time instructors. The majority of the instructors were females (80%). The instructors graduated from the Departments of English Language Teaching constituted 70% of the population while the remaining 30% were the graduates of other departments such as Literature, Linguistics and Translating and Interpreting. 50% of the participants have six to ten years of teaching experience while 25 % have 1 to 5 years and 20 have 11 to 15 years; followed by 5% of the participants having 16 to 20 years of experience. Table 3.1. Demographic Information of the Participants Variables Frequency Percentage % Gender Female 16 80 Male 4 20 Graduation ELT 14 70 Others 6 30 Teaching Experience 1-5 5 25 6-10 10 50 11-15 4 20 16-20 1 5 3.3. Data Collection Tools In the current study, as a first step, the data were collected via a questionnaire designed by Ekşi (2010). The items were developed by the researcher through review of related literature and examining existing questionnaires (Arikan, 2002; Karaarslan, 2003; Gultekin, 2007) related to professional development. The questionnaire begins with the demographic inventory Pulatsü& Mirici 252 and continues collecting information about teachers’ perceptions of professional development programs, common professional development activities, factors hindering attending professional development programs, and need areas related to professional development. After collecting the data through the questionnaire, a follow-up interview was constructed, which has five questions to gain a deeper insight into the English Instructors’ viewpoints about PD and to complement the quantitative data. 3.4.Data Collection and Analysis While collecting the data, sequential mixed method was used. Using both quantitative and qualitative method further ensured the validity of the collected data and was effective to obtain complementary findings and to strengthen research findings by examining the same dimension with different types of data collection methods. 3.4.1. Phase One: Quantitative Analysis The survey consisted of four sub-scales, total of which has 52 items using a 5-point Likert- type scale. The first 5 questions of 39 items addressed English instructors’ perceptions about PD; 10 questions are related to the most prevailing types of PD activities; and l0 questions are about the factors hindering attending PD programs; and the last 27 questions were to identify the English Instructors’ need areas related to PD. In Phase 1, the quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire developed by Eksi (2010) examining the existing questionnaires (Arikan, 2002; Karaarslan, 2003; Gultekin, 2007) related to PD. Prior to the main analyses, the accuracy of data entry, the presence of missing data, and distribution of all variables were examined. In this case study, there were no missing item in the data set. After ensuring that the collected data met the assumption checks with an acceptable Cronbach alpha coefficients level of reliability All four sub-scales showed good reliability (Teacher Perception on TPD Cronbach’s  = .93; PD Activities Cronbach’s  = .71; PD Hindrances Cronbach’s  = .81; and PD Need Areas Cronbach’s  = .95). Tests of normality were run for Professional Development Needs Assessment Survey, which has sub- categories such as ‘Teacher Perception’, ‘PD Activities’, ‘PD Hinderances’ and ‘PD Need Areas’ Questionnaire’, to find out whether the universe of the collected data was a normally distributed sample population. The data were normally distributed except one subcategory PD ‘Need Areas’ (p= .03). However, the histograms of the test of normality for both subscales suggests that the data is approximately normal. The histogram presented in Appendix -E also shows the approximation to normality with the middle peaks and symmetry of the curves. According to Samuels, Marshall and Lahmar, (2012), “as long as the data is approximately normally distributed, with a peak in the middle and fairly symmetrical, the assumption of normality has been met” (p.2). All the statistical analyses were done through using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 25. 3.4.2. Phase 2: Qualitative Analysis In Phase 2, five interview questions were formed based on the survey results to complement the findings of the quantitative data. The data gathered via follow-up interview questions revealed the findings related to some significant aspects of professional included: (1) teachers’ perception regarding professional development; (2) teachers’ professional identity in relation to TPD (3) the motives and the hinderances in the TPD process (4) the best TPD option: One- size-fits-all or Personalized PD; (5) the use of self-assessment tools during the TPD process. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 253 Interview data were transcribed and analyzed through the thematic content analysis identifying common themes to find out common patterns across the data set. In this section, 7 instructors were randomly selected and invited to participate in the interview. The purpose of these interviews was to exemplify and provide external validation for the opinions related to the instructors’ opinions expressed in the surveys. As is common in qualitative research (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000; Creswell, 2003), an inductive content analysis of the data was carried out, and after reading the entire corpus and coding them, themes emerged from the data. At the end of conducting the sequential mixed-method research design, the data were analyzed to look more deeply at the concepts addressed in the present case study. 4. Findings The findings of the triangulation between methods are presented based on the research questions of the current study. The aim of this case study was to identify the perceptions and the professional development needs of English language instructors working at a foundation university. To analyze the research questions, both ‘Professional Development Needs Assessment Questionnaire and the Follow-up Interview was used, each of which is focusing on the similar aspects related to teacher professional development. 4.1. English Instructors’ Perceptions related to Professional Development The study primarily investigated the English instructors’ perception about PD in teaching profession, which was firstly explored in the first research question of the study. Using the first sub-scale ‘Teacher Perception on TPD’ including 6 statements with five-point Likert scale, the mean scores and the standard deviations for each item were calculated. Table 4.1. English Instructors’ Perceptions related to Professional Development Programs Items Mean SD 1. Attending professional development programs make me feel more confident while teaching. 3.55 1.15 2. Professional development programs improve teaching competence. 3.50 1.05 3. Professional development programs help me improve my teaching skills. 3.65 1.09 4. Professional development programs make me to reconsider my teaching methods. 3.50 0.83 5. Professional development programs are relevant to my needs and interests. 3.35* 0.88 6. Professional development programs give me practical information that I can use in my classroom. 3.70* 0.86 * The highest and the lowest mean scores As shown in Table 4.1, Out of these calculations, item 6 “Professional development programs give me practical information that I can use in my classroom.” had the highest score (M = 3.70, SD=86), while the item 5 received the lowest score ((M=3.35, SD= .88). As it is Pulatsü& Mirici 254 clearly observed in Table 4.1 that the mean scores are fairly close; that is, each item is similarly important for the instructors’ professional development, which affects their perception about PD programs. 4.2. The Most Prevailing Professional Development Activities Table 4.2 displayed descriptive statistics of the most prevailing professional development activities for the English instructors derived from second sub-scale of the questionnaire including 10 questions out of 54-item survey. The results offered the quantifiable evidence related to the second research question. The mean scores of each activity were calculated to find out the activities with the highest and lowest mean scores. Table 4.2. The Most Prevailing Types of PD activities Items Mean SD 1.Reading ELT articles, magazines or books 3.65 0.99 2. Participating in courses, workshops or seminars 3.35 0.93 3. Conducting classroom research 2.65 0.88 4. Asking colleagues for help 3.70 0.92 5. Sharing experiences with colleagues 4.25* 0.72 6. Observing other teachers 2.65 0.67 7. Reflecting on my own teaching 3.95 0.83 8. Joining a teacher association 2.55 1.39 9. Joining a special interest group 2.55 1.39 10. Joining an online ELT discussion group 2.40* 1.05 * The highest and the lowest mean scores A quick look at the mean scores and the standard deviation for each activity illustrates that the most prevailing PD activity type is “sharing experiences with colleagues” (M=4.25 SD=0.72), followed by “reflecting on my own teaching” with a mean score of 3.95. The PD activity which has the lowest mean score was “joining an online ELT discussion group” (M = 2.40, SD=1.05). 4.3. Factors Hindering Attending Professional Development Programs To explore the findings related to the third research question, which was designed to elicit the teachers’ perceptions about the reasons behind why they do not involve in PD activities most often, the instructors were expected to give answers to the question: ‘What are the factors that hinders English instructors to participate in professional development activities?’ International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 255 Table 4.3. Factors Demotivating English Instructors to Participate in PD Activities Items Mean SD 1. Heavy workload 3.85 1.04 2.Lack of self-motivation 2.95* 1.57 3. Lack of institutional support 2.95* 1.23 4. Intense pacing 3.15 1.14 5. Inconvenient date/time 4.15* 0.81 6. Inconvenient location 3.75 0.85 7. Cost 3.60 1.19 8. Unqualified trainers 3.65 1.35 9. Unrealistic content 4.15* 1.23 10. Not being informed about upcoming 3.25 1.07 * The highest and the lowest mean scores As indicated in Table 4.3, two items having the same highest mean score (M =4.15) were related to “inconvenient date/time” (SD=0.81). and “unrealistic content” (SD=1.23). Similarly, two items having the same lowest mean score (M=2.95) were identified as ‘lack of self-motivation’(SD=1.57) and ‘lack of institutional support’ (SD=1.23). 4.4.Professional Development Need Areas The next section of the questionnaire targeted the teachers’ perception about PD need areas. Table 4.4 shows the teachers’ responses to the question: ‘What are the areas that English instructors mostly need to improve in teaching profession?’ Table 4.4. English Instructors’ PD Need Areas Items Mean SD 1. Lesson planning 2.35 0.99 2. Classroom management 2.35 1.27 3. Identifying learner characteristics 2.70 1.26 4. Syllabus design 3.25 1.12 5. Increasing student motivation 3.05 1.05 6. Test development 3.95* 0.76 7. Assessment and evaluation 3.95* 0.69 8. Giving constructive feedback 3.20 1.44 9. Use of technology in ELT 2.80 1.54 10. Using games in ELT 2.40 1.47 11. Story telling 2.65 1.35 12. Using drama in ELT 2.85 1.42 13. New theories and practices of ELT 3.70 0.92 Pulatsü& Mirici 256 14. ESP (English for Specific Purposes) 3.60 1.14 15. Teaching integrated skills 2.75 1.55 16. Conducting classroom research 3.00 1.17 17. Preparing supplementary materials 2.45 1.32 18. Preparing students for exams (e.g. YDS, YOKDIL, TOEFL, IELTS) 2.70 1.42 19. CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) 2.65 1.42 20. Time management in classroom 2.20* 1.32 21. Training other teachers 3.50 1.05 22. Teaching 'Reading’ 2.25 1.12 23. Teaching ‘Writing’ 2.35 1.14 24. Teaching ‘Listening’ 2.40 1.05 25. Teaching ‘Speaking’ 2.90 1.12 26. Teaching ‘Grammar’ 2.40 1.19 27. Teaching ‘Vocabulary’ 2.70 1.17 * The highest and the lowest mean scores It is clearly seen that two need areas were detected with the same highest mean value (M=3.95), which were ‘Test Development’ (SD=0.76) and ‘Assessment and Evaluation’ (SD=0.69). The area the English instructors responded as the least needed was the item ‘Time management in classroom’ (M = 2.20, SD=1.32). 4.5.Follow-up interview question 1: ‘What is your perception regarding Teacher Professional Development?’ To reach an understanding of teachers’ perceptions with regards to TPD, English instructors are asked to evaluate how much attention is paid to continuous professional development. Table 3 provides an overview of the results. The most prevailing themes were found as ‘a must’, ‘constant development’ and ‘openness to new ideas. Table 4.5. English instructors’ perception with regards to TPD 4.6.Follow-up interview question 2: ‘Please describe your professional identity in relation to Teacher Professional Development?’ P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 Q1 Improvement in the field A must, Never- ending process, Openness to new ideas A must, Constant development, Openness to new ideas Openness to new ideas, The need of in-service training Constant development Awareness of new methods Ongoing and inseparable part of teaching Constant development Key factor about teacher efficacy International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 257 The findings of this study put forward evidence of English instructor’s personal identity in relation to TPD. There were many similar themes that emerged from the findings with regards to the second interview question as it is shown in Table 4.6. The most common theme with regards to English instructors’ personal identity in relation to TPD was identified as ‘constant learner’. Table 4.6. English instructors’ personal identity considering TPD 4.7.Follow-up interview question 3: What motivates you and hinders you from being actively engaged in your professional development process? Related to the motives for active participation in TPD process, the findings from the qualitative data revealed in Table 4.7 that English instructors were mostly motivated by ‘learners’ positive outcome; furthermore, ‘self-motivation (intrinsic) was one of the themes that was uttered by the interviewees. On the other hand, different from these intrinsic motivators, most participants indicated that ‘unqualified trainers’, ‘workload’ and ‘’timing’ were the most prevalent answers related to the hindrances to engage in professionalization activities. Table 4.7. English instructor’ motives and hindrances in TPD process *‘M’ stands for Motives and ‘H’ Stands for Hindrances P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 Q2 Self- directed and motivated to learn A constant learner A constant learner A constant learner A collaborative learner A collaborative learner A strong believer to be an interculturally competent teacher P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 Q3 M: learners’ outcome H: inaccessible trainings (place, time, price) Unqualified trainers M: intrinsic and self- driven H: timing and schedule problems M: Being a helper and facilitator H: demotivated teachers M: further educations options H: workload, unqualified trainers, length of workshops M: positive outcome H: workload, unqualified trainers, length of workshops M: self- motivation, love of teaching H: heavy workload, unsupportive institution environment, unqualified trainers M: positive outcomes H: workload, time limitations Pulatsü& Mirici 258 4.8.Follow-up interview question 4: What kind of Teacher Professional Development Model/Approach would be the best option for English instructors teaching in higher education institutions? (‘One-size-fits-all PD’ or ‘Personalized/Customized PD’) Please describe it as fully as you can. The findings reflected that Personalized PD was clearly seen as a focal point that each interviewee chose as the best option stressing the voluntary nature of participating in teacher professional development activities. Each participant emphasized the importance of implementing the PD according to their needs. Table 4.8. English instructors’ choices of TPD approaches 4.9.Follow-up interview question 5: Do you consider using any self-assessment tools during your PD process? (EPOSTL, Cambridge Assessment: Cambridge English Teaching Framework (CETF) Competency Statements) As it was evidently observed in Table 4.9 that most of the participants did not use any self- assessment tools such as CETF and EPOSTL; some used self-monitoring as a way of self- assessment, and two participants used CETF in the past, which was not currently used. Table 4.9. The use of self-assessment tool during the PD process *‘CETF’ stands for Cambridge English Teaching Framework P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 Q4 Personalized PD process according to teachers’ needs Personalized PD according to teachers’ needs Personalized PD according to teachers’ needs Personalized PD according to teachers’ needs Personalized PD according to teachers’ needs Personalized PD according to teachers’ needs Personalized PD according to teachers’ needs P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 Q5 Cambridge CETF Not used any self- assessment tool, Eager to learn about them and use them Not used any self- assessment tool, Eager to learn about them and use them Used self- monitoring as a self- assessment, Unwilling to learn Used self- monitoring as a self- assessment, Unwilling to learn Not used any self- assessment tool, Eager to learn about them and use them Cambridge CETF, Not so eager/thinks it is challenging International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 259 5. Discussion Merging data analysis with the light of the mixed-method design, the current study presents both the quantitative and the qualitative findings grouped for each research question in the ‘Discussion’ section to discuss in view of side-by-side comparison. The first research question “What are English instructors’ perceptions related to professional development programs in teaching profession?” was supported with the follow-up interview question to provide an external validation related to the instructors’ perceptions about professional development programs. The findings of both data analysis related to the first research question indicates that the answers regarding the first question of the Follow-up Interview supported the findings of the questionnaire with the given answers such as ‘a must’, ‘openness to new ideas’, ‘constant development’ and ‘inseparable part of teaching’. The results show that the English instructors’ perceptions regarding TPD are evidently positive supported with the mean scores ranging from 3.35 to 3.70, which is consistent with the study of Eksi (2010) and Gultekin (2007). The quantitative data results show that the highest mean value is detected as item 6 “Professional development programs give me practical information that I can use in my classroom.” (M = 3.70, SD=86). The result of the current study supports the study of Elmore (2002) in which it was addressed that professional development increases the efficacy of English language teachers powered by its structure of the ongoing individual and collective improvement that is what’s expected to set the limits higher for a better student learning outcome (Elmore, 2002). Furthermore, consistent with the present study, Fullan (2001) mentioned that having an urge to explore more about what’s out there with regards to professional development leads educators to learn and use proven best practices in teaching (Fullan, 2001). The qualitative findings further align with the quantitative data analysis in a way that the participants have a clear vision about how important to engage in professional development is by defining their belief about TPD as ‘a must’, ‘constant development’ and ‘openness to new ideas’. The findings are consistent with the studies of Karaaslan (2003) and Knapp (2003), in which it is emphasized that the educators are willing to try to keep themselves up to date with changes and improvements in English Language Teaching. All the participants defined professional development as the process of learning new information and skills to be able to teach effectively. Participant 2 (P2), 36-year-old English instructor, asserted the following: “…It is not a choice but a definite requirement for every teacher… Teaching is a dynamic process by its nature… Therefore, teachers need to be up-to-date even though they have completed their education and acquired a certain degree of proficiency to be educators.” As Borko (2004) states engaging in TPD activities has a huge impact on teacher competency to develop new skills and to generate practice ideas, which is significant for critical professional thinking, planning, and eventually practice these stages with the learners and share these experiences with colleagues (Borko, 2004). The findings considering the most prevailing type of TPD activities report that “sharing experiences with colleagues” (M=4.25) is the most common activity for English instructors followed by “reflecting on my own teaching (M=3.95), which is exactly the same with the findings in the study of Eksi (2010). Pulatsü& Mirici 260 These results could be interpreted as English instructors are open to the idea of developing both individually and collaboratively in the field. To develop professionally, some fundamental elements of TPD should be followed and worked upon such as research, reflection and practice. Giving some freedom to actively participate in decision making process for their own TPD make educators feel supported, trusted, and valued as teaching professionals (Gabriel, Day, & Allington, 2011). Choosing the type of TPD activity autonomously would lead the PD process more meaningful and valuable in higher education institutions. However, autonomously chosen activities should not be unidirectional. In parallel with this matter, Richards and Farrell (2005) stresses that even though self-observation and self-reflection can be used to have a broad understanding about many aspects in teaching, many issues cannot be addressed such as subject-matter knowledge, pedagogical expertise, and understanding of curriculum and materials (Richards and Farrell, 2005). Therefore, personal and individual reflection is one way of professional development, in which should certainly be taken some supplementary actions to be versatile and multi-directional in teaching profession. Many previous studies find out that teachers’ perceptions and beliefs related to TPD are widely regarded as one of the most powerful components to have an impact on teachers’ cognition and practice (Smith, C., & Gillespie, M., 2007). In the current study, the findings reports that the factors hindering professional development of the English instructors are identified as “inconvenient date/time” (M =4.15) followed by “unrealistic content” (M =4.15) of TPD programs. Similarly, the results from the study of Eksi (2010) shows that the same factors are reported as the reasons of hindrance perceived by English instructors. With the consistency of these results, it may be thought these factors might be more salient than the others for the English instructors working in higher education institutions. Inconvenient date or time and unrealistic content perceived as drawbacks to teachers’ active participation in professional development programs may create resistance about the steps that may be planned to be taken as an organizational change in relation to TPD. Identifying and analyzing the needs of each educator is a must-have planning before implementing any TPD program into the institution considering the organizational needs conjointly. On the other hand, the study conducted by Karaarslan (2003) reveals that the most prevalent factors that hinder TPD are reported as excessive workload, lack of self-motivation, and lack of institutional support. In this study, on the contrary, “lack of self-motivation” has one of the lowest mean values followed by ‘lack of institutional support’ with the same mean score (M=2.95). Regarding the factor, ‘workload’ as one of the most common factors in the study of Karaaslan (2003), it can be observed the consistency with the findings of the qualitative data analysis of this study, for the most common themes extracted from the interviews are ‘unqualified trainers’, ‘workload’ and ‘’timing’. The findings of both the quantitative and the qualitative data analysis somewhat supports each other, in which ‘inconvenient time and date’ and ‘timing’ are similarly identified as the most common factors; and as it is clearly demonstrated in the quantitative data analysis in Table 4.3 ‘unqualified trainers’ has a high mean score (M= 3.65) justifying the results of the qualitative data analysis. Teachers’ motivation to learn is a main element for an efficient professional development in teaching (Shulman and Shulman 2009). The findings from the qualitative data related to the English instructors’ motivation for active engagement in TPD process shows that ‘learners’ positive outcome’ and ‘self-motivation are the themes extracted from the interviews. Some excerpts from the participants’ answers of the interviews are as follows: International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 261 P1, 33-year-old English instructor, asserted the following: “Increasing my knowledge in teaching and seeing the student outcomes after applying new techniques motivate me. I am also always enthusiastic to share what I know and learn with my colleagues as well as learning from them.” Similarly, P5, 31-year-old English instructor emphasized the following: “Learning new things, online tools, and games and observing the positive outcomes after applying them on my classes” Consistent with the findings of the current study, Demir (2011) emphasized that teachers’ both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation have a huge impact on students’ achievement; moreover, the most important predictor of student engagement was teachers’ intrinsic motivation (Demir, 2011). On that account, it can be explicitly inferred that teachers believe that there is a strong relationship between teachers’ intrinsic motivation and learners’ positive outcome. The present study aims to investigate the need areas to improve in English language teaching. Knapp (2003) stated that TPD is the key to improve teaching, that is, educators should be provided opportunities to polish their professional knowledge and teaching skills (Knapp, 2003). According to the findings of the quantitative data analysis related to the current study, the needs areas the English instructors point out the most are ‘Test Development’ and ‘Assessment and Evaluation’ with the same highest mean value (M=3.95). Evidently, some items have also high mean scores such as ‘New theories and practices of ELT’ (M= 3.70) and ESP (English for Specific Purposes) (M=3.60). Equipped with prior experiences and personal beliefs, the English instructors may tend to be more open and aware of the need areas that have to be improved following the current trends and innovations related to the field. Occasionally, these areas may be shaped because of the organizational needs that the educators may want to take actions for. In some cases, the school culture and ethos create strong ties between the individual and the organization. This professional identity leads an individual to take a step forward at a time considering not only self-development but also organizational development concerning the areas that need to be improved. With the highest mean value, the items ‘Test Development’ and ‘Assessment and Evaluation’ are presented as two of the areas that need to be improved by the instructors. When given strategical and multi-dimensional thought, one possible cause for that may be asserted that the knowledge about developing, assessing and evaluating examinations is needed for both individual and institutional purposes since the lack of knowledge may increase the risk factor in the educational process. Larsky (2005) emphasized that professional identity of educators is how they perceive and define their professional roles (Lasky, 2005). When compared to the quantitative data analysis, the findings of the qualitative data analysis regarding the second question of the follow-up interview (‘Please describe your professional identity in relation to Teacher Professional Development?’) demonstrates that the common theme in terms of professional identity is coded as ‘a constant learner’ consistent with the findings of the quantitative data analysis. P4, 39-year-old English instructor declared as follows: Pulatsü& Mirici 262 “…New generation has different interests and needs when they learn a foreign language, so new approaches and methods should be integrated in teaching process. I try to become accustomed to the most recent developments in the field…” The educational settings having inflexible organizational environments, with ever-evolving pedagogies, naturally demand various strategies with regards to effective professional development to pinpoint the need areas, in parallel with the contemporary trends in teaching profession. As the current study supports, there should be a constant need in sustaining TPD, to explore new innovations, to learn best practices, to share experiences with colleagues and reflect individually or collaboratively on classroom practices, learners’ educational needs, different professional development opportunities and so forth. As it was reported in the findings part of this study, the only theme displayed after the coding process was ‘Personalized PD according to teachers’ needs. Educators have some serious concerns about on-size-fits-all approach, in which professional development options do not differentiate for level of expertise of educators, specific needs of organizations and individual, or different needs according to the level of expertise of educators (Lieberman, 2000). In the Follow-up Interviews, each interviewee underlined the importance of creating a PD program according to the instructors’ needs. P3, 30-year-old English instructor answered question 5 as follows: “Personalized PD would be better in higher education. First, teaching experience may differ in such institutions. This may lead to different teaching strategies and perception of teaching in general. For this reason, it would be wise to tailor PD according to teachers’ needs. Second, everyone may have different skills or interests in different areas of teaching (testing, curriculum etc.). In order to benefit from these interests, we can have specific PD programs for these groups.” One of the professional development delivery models, one-size-fits-all focuses on ‘training’ side in a designed program with a set of activities, but not on ‘learning’ that each individual can be inclined into in different ways. Besides, participation of the PD programs organized by institutions are generally compulsory - given little or no choice- to educators who do not need to attend because of their breadth of knowledge considering the subject matter chosen as a PD option for all. This approach is still used in many higher education institutions because of the limited resources such as program cost, lack of qualified teachers and time. As Curtis (2001) emphasizes as well, educators may eagerly take steps to improve professionally when they are responsible for which way to go; therefore, the willingness is the starting point to successfully proceed in the ongoing process of professional development. The findings of the qualitative data analysis distinctly displays that most of the interviewees did not have experience in using any self-assessment tools such as Cambridge English Teaching Framework (CETF) and The European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL); nevertheless, some used self-monitoring as a way of self-assessment, and two participants used CETF in the past, which was not currently used. P6, 35-year-old English instructor asserted as follows: International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 263 “I have not heard any of them before. I think I can use any tools that can meet my needs.” P7, 29-year-old English instructor stressed as follows: “I used Cambridge English Teaching Framework as a guide since it allows to arrange and actualize Continuing Proficient Advancement (CPD), which may be a challenge among the English language educating area, where numerous instructors don't have the opportunity to proceed to create their aptitudes after picking up their initial proficient capability.” When the answers analyzed deeply, it is obviously recognized that the notion of self- assessment before any PD process hasn’t quite settled yet; in fact, some of the interviewees uttered that they didn’t even know they existed. The personalized framework was one of the customized professional development plans mainly grounded the individual needs regarding the diverse structure of an organization creating a differentiated roads for each individual including conferences, workshops, PD resources and one-on-one consultations. The self- assessment should be taken into consideration as a crucial component of implementing the process. As a first step, no matter what the level of expertise is, educators may conduct an inventory (CETF, EPOSTL or a custom-made self-assessment tool) to identify the need areas for each educator. Based on the findings of the self-assessment process of each educator, the recommendations may be given to draw a road map for a better PD experience. 6. Conclusions Along with the ever-evolving paradigms in conventional educational sciences in terms of teacher professional education, educators must be aware of the changes and innovative approaches in English language teaching over time and they have to keep up with these changes after all. This is important in order to be able to deal with the challenges the teachers face in language classrooms. In addition, the education teachers have at their departments which prepare them for their profession may not be enough for the rising expectations. Therefore, they should continue their learning while they are working. They should follow new innovations, share ideas and experiences with their colleagues, and reflect on their performance through professional development programs. Considering the significance of English as a global language, analyzing professional development programs and English instructors’ perceptions about TPD has been a hot topic for conducting further research over the years. Furthermore, English Language Teaching (ELT) is the subject to experience unavoidably rapid changes, which requires educators to have more than one responsibility including being a learner, researcher, collaborator, trainer, self-assessor to increase the quality of education and to have a stronger professional identity. This study could be the starting point to have a better understanding about teachers’ perception related to TPD, which may be a valuable source to the field as it familiarizes department supervisors, teacher trainers, and educational administrators about their own teachers’ perceptions. With the best implementation of a customized professional development program including diverse personalized options for each individual, a sustainable and effective professional learning opportunities can easily be initiated to promote the success of the teaching and learning process, and to pave the way of developing a strong professional identity. Pulatsü& Mirici 264 7. Pedagogical Implications The results provided valuable insights into the English instructors’ perceptions related to PD and how to implement a TPD program that meets the needs of both individual and organization by checking the readiness level of the instructors regarding their attitudes and beliefs about any organizational change. As mentioned previously in the discussion part of the current study, teachers’ freedom and autonomy in a workplace mostly affect teachers’ motivation to learn (Gorozidis and Papaioannou, 2014). Besides, teachers’ beliefs may precisely affect how teachers make use of their pedagogical knowledge in their teaching and have a huge impact on their attitude towards professional development in the field (Roehrig and Kruse 2005). The findings of this study may prove valuable to administrators and teacher educators pursuing how to provide motivation to teachers to actively participate in their professional learning process. The most significant implication is that mandatory trainings or on-demand PD activities should be avoided since this cannot only drive educators away from getting any improvement in the field but also increase their resistance to any PD activities in general. Combining ‘Adult Learning Theory’ with self-initiated, self-directed, self-paced PD training options should be taken into consideration by administrators and teacher educators. The study of Rhode and Krishnamurthi (2016) reports that the piloting of self-paced training has been successful to some extent; however, it is implied that the institutions should be fully ready to the process (Rhode and Krishnamurthi 2016). To reach high-quality PD, the best approach can be created by balancing self-directed or personalized professional development opportunities - customized with the guidance of organization- with traditional professional development activities such as peer observations, peer-couching, workshops, and conferences. Participation may definitely be increased by giving importance of the need areas of the academic staff implementing a viable strategy of individualization based on prior experience and knowledge of the educators; by that way, TPD program would bring high-quality into the organization, and take the education one step further. Currently, there is still too much dependency on in-house, not funded traditional ways of sustaining educators’ professional development in many higher education institutions. To raise the bar in education, including institutions into the implementation process of the new customized PD program thoroughly, in which the individual needs are taken into account, is crucial to witness how institutions’ support to their instructors may improve them professionally in the field. High-quality professional development incorporates the principles of adult learning theory into the vision formed by the shared decisions made by the whole department created to better improve the institution regarding individual priorities without ignoring the organizational needs. To find out what is needed in terms of PD for the sake of both educators and the department, an inventory may be created for educators to assess themselves open-heartedly to decide how to organize a customized PD program to personalize it for individual purposes choosing from the offerings such as doing readings, attending workshops or conferences and so forth. Institutions may decide to use EPOSTL as a self-assessment tool for instructors, as well. Self-assessment is more than a simple assessment technique or a diagnostic tool, and it may be purposefully used for doing needs analysis; however, reliability concern is the major factor to be considered while doing the strategic planning of the PD program to offer since this self- International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 246-268. 265 reported data may be biased. How well can an individual do a self-assessment? Do the instructors all have learner autonomy to follow the steps through the whole process of professional development or does the process need some guidance and channeling on the way of their self-improvement? The results of self-assessment can be used to create personalized frameworks of TPD offerings and to find to-the-point resources to support educators in their PD process. Nevertheless, the self-assessment tool can then be followed one-on-one consultation to draw a borderline of the personalized PD road for each instructor merging the institutional needs into this customized PD plan. In a lengthier instrument, it would be viable to include additional measures related to institutional considerations such as the administrational perception in terms of PD process, the administrative beliefs with regards to the needs of educators considering the related context, and the most effective PD approach for the department. Looking at the different perspective would add alternative dimensions for new implementations of TPD program innovated with a shared vision for a meaningful change. Shifts in attitudes may contribute to a sustainable PD program that can long last by evolving every once in a while to lead educators in quality teaching and learning practices. 8. Limitations Although the findings from this study offer quantifiable evidence and a broad perspective on the English instructors’ perceptions related to professional development, this study recognizes several limitations and weaknesses as a result of small numbers of respondents because of the nature of being a case study conducted in one institution only. The findings, however, speak to the importance of implementing a new system, which gives both the instructors and the organizations a chance to reflect about the need areas to find a way to create a customized PD program. In the implementation process, all three facets related to the complex nature of professional development including the instructors’ perception, organizational beliefs and the common need areas should be taken into considerations; however, this study only focuses on one perspective, the instructors’ perception about TPD. 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