Investigating the feasibility of school/university collaboration for teacher development of secondary school teachers of English in Adana

Abstract

Teacher development is a much discussed topic in the current English language teaching professional literature. It is a concept that describes career long professional development which can be achieved in various ways. This study aimed to identify the attitudes of secondary school teachers of English in Adana towards the existing options for teacher development and to investigate the feasibility of a school/university collaboration as a source for a new teacher development possibility. This study considered the following research questions:

What are the attitudes of secondary school teachers of English (SeSTE) in Adana towards teacher development? In what ways do secondary school teachers of English in Adana develop themselves? What kinds of professional development sources do secondary school teachers of English in Adana prefer? Do secondary school teachers of English in Adana support a school/university collaboration as a possibility for teacher development? What characteristics of a school/university collaboration are the most appropriate for teacher development of secondary school teachers of English in Adana? The sample of this study consisted of 106 secondary school teachers of English and 12 administrators in Adana. Forty Private school teachers, 30 Anatolian school teachers, and 36 State school teachers were administered questionnaires. Twelve administrators (4 for each school type) were asked interview questions parallel to the questionnaire. Data gathered through questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages. Interview data were analyzed qualitatively through recurring themes. Results indicated that secondary school teachers of English in Adana have positive attitude towards teacher development but the existing options as sources for teacher development are inadequate. General findings pointed to a school/university collaboration as one preferred option for teacher development of secondary school teachers of English in Adana and according to the results, guidelines for teacher development built on school/university collaboration were proposed and presented in the study