Teachers’ and Supervisors’ Perspectives of the Ministry of Education National Teacher Professional Development Standards in Enhancing Jordanian EFL Teachers’ Professional Development

Abstract

The study aimed at investigating the teachers’ and supervisors’ perspectives

of the Ministry of Education national teacher professional development

standards in enhancing Jordanian EFL teachers’ professional development. The

first two questions of the study were related to the teachers’ and supervisors’

extent of agreement on which standards contribute to teachers’ professional

development from the teachers’ and supervisors’ perspectives. The third question

tried to answer whether there were any statistically significant differences at

(α=0.05) between teachers’ and supervisors’ responses due to qualification and

years of experience. To answer these questions, the researcher developed a

questionnaire of 54 items based on the Ministry of Education national teacher

professional development standards. The questionnaire was checked for

validity and reliability. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the

data related to the first two questions, and the 2- way analysis of variance was

used to answer the third question. The findings of the first and second questions

showed that the seven standards contribute to the EFL teachers’ professional

development from the teachers’ and supervisors’ points of view. The standards

that had the highest rank were the academic and pedagogical knowledge and

professional ethics from teachers’ points of view. However, the three highest

standards from the supervisors’ point of view were those related to education

in Jordan, academic and pedagogical knowledge and professional ethics. this

indicates that there was some consensus between the teachers’ and supervisors’

points of view in this respect. As for the third question, the findings showed

that there were no statistically significant differences at (α = 0.05) between

teachers’ and supervisors’ views due to qualification and years of experience.

These findings could be due to the similarities in the learning communities

teachers and supervisors experience during their teaching profession. Besides,

the standards under investigation have been drawn after careful consideration

for teachers’ needs and interests. Based on the findings of the study, it was

recommended that similar studies be conducted on the actual implementation

of the standards in the classroom by teachers. In addition, policy makers should

pay more attention to preparing a suitable teaching- learning environment that

enable teachers to develop professionally according to the standards under

study. Further more; training workshops conducted for promoting teachers’

professional development should give priority to the national professional

development standards under study.