PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES AND EFL TEACHERS’ NEEDS, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES IN ACTIVATING LEARNERS’ ACQUISITION OF 21ST CENTURY SKILLS

Abstract

Teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) must improve their knowledge and practices continuously. To do so, they need to be involved in professional development programs (PDPs) which help them to keep abreast with new trends in teaching and learning. This mixed method study seeks to find out EFL teachers’ training needs that should be incorporated in PDPs. It also seeks to determine the extent to which these training needs are met in the PDPs undertaken at English Language Centre (TUELC), Taif University. Furthermore, the study aims to discover the EFL teachers’ attitudes towards PDPs and how current PDPs at TUELC influence EFL teachers’ teaching practices in activating learners’ 21st century skills. Finally, it seeks to examine the relationship between EFL teachers’ activation of 21st century skills and their students’ acquisition of these skills. These aims were fulfilled by utilizing a sequential explanatory research design which uses questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings of this study revealed that EFL teachers needed training in all eight dimensions of training needs with two levels of need, moderate and high. The findings also indicated that some of the training needs of EFL teachers have been met to a large extent. These needs were Teaching Skills, Educational Technology, Management Skills, and Educational Psychology. On the other hand, Research Skills, Assessment Literacy, Content Knowledge, and Material Development have been met to a minimal extent. Moreover, the findings revealed that EFL teachers had positive attitudes towards PDPs with a high mean score of 4.05. The findings also showed that EFL teachers have activated all dimensions of their learners’ 21st with different levels of activation. The two dimensions that received the highest level of activation were the collaboration and communication skills. Finally, the findings also showed that EFL teachers’ activation of 21st century skills had no significant direct relationship with students’ acquisition of these skills, however, there was a significant correlation between teachers and students in the Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity & Innovation, and Global Connections categories. Since PDP was found to be positively received by teachers as it influenced and improved their classroom practices, PDPs should be a significant component of a teacher’s professional life and an evaluation model for PDPs has been suggested at the end of this study.