ERIC Number: EJ1348787
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1513–5934
EISSN: EISSN-2651-1479
Leveraging Untapped Potential: Continuing Professional Development as a Tool for Creating Positive Culture at Schools of Foreign Languages in Turkey
Ozer, Omer; Popp, Cecile
rEFLections, v29 n1 p130-147 Jan-Apr 2022
This article reports on a series of carefully curated professional development (PD) activities with the secondary purpose of building and maintaining a positive school culture. The study took place in a school of foreign languages (SFL) at a state university in Turkey. Twenty-five Turkish and international teachers participated. The researchers collected data over a period of six months using a mixed-methods approach: a two-stage survey and semi-structured interviews. Three main themes emerged from the analysis; (1) the basic tenets of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), (2) factors that foster positive school culture, and (3) factors that undermine positive school culture. The results suggest that carefully curated PD has a positive impact on school culture; a combination of formal and informal PD offerings formed desired habits of mind among instructors. Moreover, instructors indicated a preference for peer-led PD. Thus, we suggest that other SFLs in Turkey likewise harness the untapped potential of the CPD Unit.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, College Faculty, Faculty Development, Continuing Education, Language Teachers, Second Language Programs, School Culture, Cultural Enrichment
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi School of Liberal Arts. 126 Pracha Uthit Road, Bang Mod, Thung Khru, Bangkok, Thailand 10140. Tel: +66-2470-8756; Fax: +66-2428-3375; Web site: https://so05.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/reflections/index
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Turkey; Canada; Czech Republic; New Zealand; Poland; Ukraine; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A