Professional Growth

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to present a model of professional development of teachers with a qualitative approach. Methodology: In this study, in order to identify the teacher professional development model, a qualitative interview was determined. The statistical population of the study in the qualitative part was all experts and experts in educational management and planning with 10 people and in the quantitative part included all teachers and principals working in primary schools in Shiraz. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. To collect the data in the second stage, a closed questionnaire with a Likert scale of five was used. Findings: The results showed that the results of semi-structured interviews during several stages of coding and also inspired by the research background, led to the identification of the initial code. In the second step, the identified concepts were categorized into the following categories. These fourteen categories are; 1. Management of learning and teaching 2. Creating a conducive learning environment 3. Assessment and curriculum 4. Outline vision 5. Continuous school improvement 6. Effective communication and collaboration 7. Relationship with society and stakeholders 8. Operations management 9. Resource management 10. Guidance and leadership of individuals and teams 11. Professional ethics 12. Islamic ethical principles and norms 13. Develop your career 14. Finally, the fourteen professional standards of school principals were divided into several key areas or categories: educational leadership, strategic leadership, ethical leadership, management and organizational leadership, communication management, and professional development. Conclusion: The results showed that the results of semi-structured interviews during several stages of coding and also inspired by the research background, led to the identification of the initial code.

As an inseparable part of teachers’ education career, practicum supervision can function as a double-edged sword that can generate pedagogical improvement or even make the worse worst in the class depending on the time and manner of its implementation. Given its significance and crucial role in EFL contexts, supervision has captured the attention of some scholars in this line of research. However, few studies (if any) have focused on EFL teachers’ beliefs about instructional supervision and its role in pedagogical development considering their experience level. To fill this lacuna, the current study examined the perceptions of 100 Iranian EFL teachers with different experience levels toward various supervisory practices and their contribution to teacher pedagogical growth using an Instructional Supervision Questionnaire (Kayaoglu, 2012). Furthermore, a semi-structured interview was carried out with 10 EFL teachers taken from the same sample. The results of analyses indicated that both novice and experienced teachers had a negative view concerning the existing supervision system in Iran. Additionally, no significant difference was found between the novice and experienced EFL teachers’ beliefs about classroom supervision (p > .05). The qualitative findings also revealed that both novice and experienced EFL teachers considered supervision as bureaucracy, fault-seeking, confidence-minimizing, and with little to no instructional worth. They also had similar beliefs as per the characteristics of an effective supervisory act. Moreover, supervision was perceived useful only when teachers were novice instructors, but ineffective as they became experienced.