English abstract
This study is about the professional development practices of EFL school teachers in Batinah North. It focuses on the level of their participation in those practices and their views about the value of these practices with regard to positive impact in classroom performance and self-reported increases in knowledge and skills. It also investigated the impact of gender, school type and work experience on teachers' involvement in such practices. The study also investigated the problems that face EFL school teachers while pursuing professional growth and sought their suggestions for better and more effective professional practices. Two hundred and ten EFL school teachers participated in the study which constitutes 31% of the population of the study. The subjects completed a questionnaire which has four parts. The first part elicited demographic information. The second part includes 47 professional development practices that are classified under two categories: institutional directed practices and self-directed practices. The third part includes 41 problems in 4 categories: general problems, supervisor-related problems, training-related problems and personal problems. There were two open-ended questions for teachers' suggestions and solutions that may promote teachers qualifications and improve learning outcomes. The main findings of the study were: 1. Teachers get involved in institutional and self-directed professional practices with moderate frequency. 2. The Most frequent practices are workshops and professional practices that are practiced daily as a work routine such as preparing materials, tasks and activities, observing colleagues, applying alternative ways and creative ideas in teaching,
keeping teaching portfolios and experimenting with new practices in teaching. 3. The least frequent practices are participating in commercial on-line ELT programs,
publishing their own articles and joining reading groups. 4. There are no significant differences in teachers' participation in professional practices due to gender and type of school. There is a significant difference in terms of years of experience in favor of teachers with (6-10) years of teaching experience. 5. Teachers viewed their professional practices as moderately effective. Based on their views, the most effective practices are: preparing materials, applying creative ideas and being involved in formal/planned professional discussions with experienced teachers. 6. Based on teachers' views, the least effective practices are: publishing articles,
moving to a new job in their careers and conducting action research. 7. Teachers agreed with the following problems: extra school administrative duties, time constraints, social responsibilities, financial constrains, lack of ELT resources
and lack of chances to attend training programs. 8. Teachers suggested enhancing collaborative professional development practices, enhancing collaboration with international universities and increasing the number of trainers and training centers in Batinah North governorate. 9. The results indicated that professional practices used in the questionnaire employed in data collection should be grouped into possible frequencies. Some recommendations and suggestions for further research were listed in the light of the findings of the present study.
