The influence of an In- Service Training Program on English Language Teachers’ Professional Development in Palestinian Upper Primary Public Schools

Abstract

The current study was conducted with the aim of investigating the influence of an in- service training program on English language teachers’ professional development in Palestinian upper primary public schools. Thus, the current study attempted to answer the following main questions: 1- What is the influence of an in-service training program conducted by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education on English language teachers’ professional development in Palestinian upper primary public schools?  2- To what extent does the in-service training program satisfy English language teachers’ professional development needs in Palestinian upper primary public schools? In order for the current study to achieve its goals, a questionnaire and interview were used as instruments for the data collection. Descriptive statistics of the data was calculated using SPSS as well as thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The results of this study revealed that the in-service training program has positive influence on English language teachers’ professional development in the aspects of planning, students’ engagement, teaching strategies and assessment. On the other hand, the findings of this study revealed that the program satisfies the participants’ professional development need areas related to planning effectively, giving constructive feedback to learners and managing their classrooms appropriately. While conducting action research still needs more focus and effort to enable teachers practice it to improve teaching and learning process.