Teachers’ reflections on the practicality of English in-service courses in Iran
As professional development is essential for teacher quality, many countries have made investments in designing teacher education programs. The study explores the efficacy of in-service courses in Iran from the perspective of English language teachers. Interviews were conducted to examine teachers...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2017
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12845/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12845/1/17378-59958-1-PB.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848813112166187008 |
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| author | Baniasad-Azad, Somayeh Tavakoli, Mansoor Ketabi, Saeed |
| author_facet | Baniasad-Azad, Somayeh Tavakoli, Mansoor Ketabi, Saeed |
| author_sort | Baniasad-Azad, Somayeh |
| building | UKM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | As professional development is essential for teacher quality, many countries have made investments in
designing teacher education programs. The study explores the efficacy of in-service courses in Iran from the
perspective of English language teachers. Interviews were conducted to examine teachers’ beliefs about the
efficacy of in-service courses, their involvement in program development, the application of program material
by teachers, and their preferences about teacher education programs. The findings showed that program
designers adopted a traditional transmissive model to transfer pre-determined knowledge to the teachers
without involving teachers in the decision making process. Teachers, in turn, did not apply the program
materials in their teaching practices because they believed program materials were idealistic, impractical,
generalized, and decontextualized. Moreover, what teachers considered beneficial for their development was
different from what was presented to them in the in-service courses. The reason for such inconsistencies is a
lack of communication and effective feedback channel between teachers and planners. The findings suggest that
as teachers are the final decision makers based on the realities of their teaching situation, involving them in
planning and program development process can decrease the existing gap and make program materials more
realistic and consequently applicable. Implications for language planning and teacher education programs are
discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T00:13:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:generic.eprints.org:12845 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T00:13:00Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | oai:generic.eprints.org:128452019-05-02T13:04:01Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12845/ Teachers’ reflections on the practicality of English in-service courses in Iran Baniasad-Azad, Somayeh Tavakoli, Mansoor Ketabi, Saeed As professional development is essential for teacher quality, many countries have made investments in designing teacher education programs. The study explores the efficacy of in-service courses in Iran from the perspective of English language teachers. Interviews were conducted to examine teachers’ beliefs about the efficacy of in-service courses, their involvement in program development, the application of program material by teachers, and their preferences about teacher education programs. The findings showed that program designers adopted a traditional transmissive model to transfer pre-determined knowledge to the teachers without involving teachers in the decision making process. Teachers, in turn, did not apply the program materials in their teaching practices because they believed program materials were idealistic, impractical, generalized, and decontextualized. Moreover, what teachers considered beneficial for their development was different from what was presented to them in the in-service courses. The reason for such inconsistencies is a lack of communication and effective feedback channel between teachers and planners. The findings suggest that as teachers are the final decision makers based on the realities of their teaching situation, involving them in planning and program development process can decrease the existing gap and make program materials more realistic and consequently applicable. Implications for language planning and teacher education programs are discussed. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2017 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12845/1/17378-59958-1-PB.pdf Baniasad-Azad, Somayeh and Tavakoli, Mansoor and Ketabi, Saeed (2017) Teachers’ reflections on the practicality of English in-service courses in Iran. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 23 (3). pp. 97-106. ISSN 0128-5157 http://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1027 |
| spellingShingle | Baniasad-Azad, Somayeh Tavakoli, Mansoor Ketabi, Saeed Teachers’ reflections on the practicality of English in-service courses in Iran |
| title | Teachers’ reflections on the practicality of English in-service courses in Iran |
| title_full | Teachers’ reflections on the practicality of English in-service courses in Iran |
| title_fullStr | Teachers’ reflections on the practicality of English in-service courses in Iran |
| title_full_unstemmed | Teachers’ reflections on the practicality of English in-service courses in Iran |
| title_short | Teachers’ reflections on the practicality of English in-service courses in Iran |
| title_sort | teachers’ reflections on the practicality of english in-service courses in iran |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12845/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12845/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/12845/1/17378-59958-1-PB.pdf |