English abstract
The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between characteristics of learning organizations and professional development from the perceptions of teachers in the basic education schools. The study used a descriptive research method in data collection. For this purpose, two questionnaires were designed. The first questionnaire was for characteristics of learning organization which contained five dimensions: mental models, shared vision, personal mastery, team learning and systems thinking. The second questionnaire was for professional development which contained four dimensions: professional, cultural, management and social personal dimensions. After establishing validity and reliability of the questionnaires, the data were collected from a sample of (423) teachers which were chosen randomly. SPSS program was used to analyze the data.
The main findings of this study were:
- Mean scores for all dimensions of characteristics of learning organization were high. Similarly, mean scores for dimensions of professional development were high except for cultural dimension which was moderate. Female teachers showed higher perceptions than males in team learning and systems thinking of learning organization at a < 0.05). Similarly, teachers who specialized in humanities showed higher perceptions of all dimensions of characteristics of learning organization than teachers in other specializations.
Female teachers indicated higher perceptions than males in all dimensions of professional development at (a < 0.05). Teachers with working experience of less than five years indicated higher perceptions than teachers with experience of more than five years in the cultural dimension at(a < 0.05). In terms of specializations, teachers specialized in humanities showed higher perceptions than teachers of other majors in all dimensions of professional development at (a <0.05). There were high statistical significant correlations between all dimensions of characteristics of learning organization and professional development. Based on the findings of this study it was recommended to:
- Allocate an amount of the school budget to provide materialism awards for hard working teachers according to their activities, experiences, work and abilities to encourage and enhance them to give more and devote their time and effort to make their schools the best.
Increase teachers' performance in conducting scientific and educational research through spreading the culture of educational research and providing training courses in how to conduct research and get the benefit.
