An investigation into the Professional Development of English Teachers in Syrian Secondary Schools.

Despite continued interest and research into teacher professional development (TPD), as an important topic within English language teaching, the researcher identified some areas where there is much still to reveal. These include: teachers' customary engagement with different TPD activities aside from when a researcher imposes some TPD activity on them for a study (normal TPD practices); whether teachers are aware of the notion of TPD, and, if so, what they think it is; what TPD activities they would ideally like to follow: and what they and other stakeholders in a particular context see as the effects of TPD on teaching (beliefs about TPD). I interviewed twenty secondary school teachers of English in provincial Syria, of varying backgrounds (e.g. years of experience, training, rural or urban teaching location) and eighteen other stakeholders with a range of relevant roles in the same context (e.g. head teachers, trainers, ministry officials). The data was analysed thematically and showed that individually the teachers exhibited beliefs that lack fully formed knowledge of the concept of TPD, though between them most of the key features were mentioned. Teachers reported engaging in a number of TPD activities not prompted from the outside (e.g. reflective) and evidenced a broad view of TPD by wanting to pursue many different types of it, not just the same types as what they already did. Obstacles to TPD included many things that would exist even without the war, such as rural location. There was evidence that teaching experience, prior TPD in the form of training courses, and contextual factors affect TPD. Teachers and other stakeholders exhibited points of both agreement and disagreement concerning the impact of TPD on teachers and teaching, though the vast majority of both stakeholders and teachers reported a positive impact, including on teacher affect as well as teacher beliefs and practices with respect to teaching. Implications are suggested both for teachers and other stakeholders.