In-Service Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding the Effectiveness of a School-Based Professional Development Program

Recent efforts to improve educational quality in many countries have had an important focus on improving teacher quality. With this aim, in Turkey, the Generic Teacher Competencies were identified in 2006. One of the aims of identifying teacher competencies was to provide a basis for a new perspective about professional development of in-service teachers. Within this perspective, a new in-service teacher professional development model, which is called a School-Based Professional Development model (SBPD) was developed. The pilot practice of SBPD model which aims to bring the life-long learning principle into the in-service teachers’ professional development was implemented in six big cities with the participation of 311 schools and 9200 teachers. The aim of this study is to examine in-service teachers’ perceptions about their experiences regarding SBPD. The data was gathered from 160 teachers in 4 cities where the pilot practice of SBPD program was implemented. At the beginning of the academic year the teachers self-evaluated themselves, identified their weaknesses and learning needs in particular competency areas and prepared a professional development plan. A first meeting was held between the school principal and the teacher to discuss the details of the plan. After a 3-4 months period a second meeting was held to monitor and evaluate the progress of the teacher. A final meeting was carried out to discuss and review the teachers’ experiences and evidences of activities regarding the SBPD program. A report form was written and signed by the school principal and the teacher. In this study, these forms were used as the data source to examine the perceptions of teachers regarding their experiences with the SBPD model. The results of this study indicated that most of the teachers participated in SBPD program believed that SBPD had positive effects on their collogues, students and the school.