Stages of Teacher's Professionalism: How Are English Language Teachers Engaged?

Abstract

Abstract-Teaching as a legitimate profession where teachers could practise their teaching and decide on their professionalism has been under debate over the last two decades. This study reflectively discusses the changing of building and developing teacher's professionalism in Saudi Arabia. It draws on my teaching journey as an English language teacher and the established theoretical framework. In order to gain in depth understanding of this issue, the study utilized small scale study to investigate teacher professionalism issues that disempower Saudi teachers from being legitimate in their profession to bring clear illustration about teachers' beliefs and practices of their professionalism. Three Saudi teachers reported that top down policy decisions regarding their professionalism, their supervisors as well as head teachers practices and cultures of teachers' education impacted negatively on their professionalism. They discussed in depth how the context of their teaching impacted on their professionalism. Specifically, the study aimed to explore whether teachers are able to practise their identity and agency as legitimate in their professionalism. Interviews were used to collect data then were transcribed, coded and thematically analyzed. One of its findings is teachers' visualizing their professionalism and they recognize themselves as legitimate teachers. The other findings were discussed and recommendations developed to help Saudi English Language teachers and Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia, as well as researchers in the future.

Progress in English Language Teaching Through Continuous Professional Development—Teachers’ Self-Awareness, Perception, and Feedback

“…Needless to mention that English has now become a vital part of our daily life, and to keep up with the world around us, teachers especially need to keep themselves updated with the latest trends, skills, and information, which is essential for their professional growth. Language teachers have witnessed immense changes in education with the introduction of new processes and techniques (Bailey, 1992;Turhan and Arikan, 2009;Yurtsever, 2013), and these changes include knowledge, ideas, perspectives, opinion, and teaching practices (Bailey, 1992;Alsalahi, 2015). CPD programs arranged by educational institutions not only help the teachers develop but also benefit the employer.…”

Investigating the Effectiveness of Professional Development Presentations in Language Institute: Needs More or Enough

“…There were several topics linked to teaching and learning that addressed most of the problems of teachers, in contrast to Al-Seghayer"s (2011) one-time teacher training seminars and workshops. Furthermore, the findings reveal teachers" keen interest and participation in interaction during or after presentations addressing their concerns and also refuting the findings of studies (Al-Seghayer, 2011;Alfahadi, 2012;Alnefaie, 2016;Alsalahi, 2015;Assalahi, 2016) that claim Saudi teachers" voices aren"t heard or realized as true partners in the educational process. Furthermore, the feedback received after the presentations confirms that their concerns are taken seriously, and the new knowledge and skills they get and develop as a result of these TPDs enable them to be active contributors and actual drafters and designers of curriculum, which are otherwise considered passive technicians and merely curriculum implementer (Kumaravadivelu, 2003).…”

“…The models and methods evolved over a period from traditional methods that were rare and ineffective focusing on "one size fits all" (Al-Hazmi, 2003) and one-shot training events and workshops (Al-Seghayer, 2011) to modern TPDs that consider an array of activities for teachers. Additionally, a few studies claimed to reject Saudi teachers" voices, and not realize teachers as real partners in the educational process (Al-Seghayer, 2011;Alfahadi, 2012;Alnefaie, 2016;Alsalahi, 2015;Assalahi, 2016); and consider teachers" role merely as of curriculum implementer and inactive technicians (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). Conversely, Sharma (2022) conveyed that some of the best practices used by EFL teachers include structuring tasks and activities based on learners' interests and proficiency levels, setting goals, innovative teaching practices, motivational techniques, feedback and evaluation, and a learner-centered classroom environment, as well as the use of cutting-edge technology in the language learning process.…”

The Great Teacher: The Indonesian Adolescent Student Voice

“…This consensus has always been an interesting topic in educational policy developments, due to greatly determining the quality of education (Alsalahi, 2015;Gunawan et al, 2020). Also, the meaning of professionalism contains complexity, both as work tools and concepts, which are related to social politics and power (Vu, 2016;Amirova, 2020).…”

“…The consensus on teacher professionalism has been debated for more than two decades (Alsalahi, 2015), as it is often considered to be controversial and difficult to understand (Vu, 2016). Reviewing this consensus is found to be very important, in order to understanding the core problems of education (Atkins and Tummons, 2017).…”