A comparative study on EFL teachers' perceptions of and activities in professional development: The cases of Turkey, Germany and Spain

In a rapidly changing world, professional development of teachers has become the focal point of the governments as the teachers are considered as the linchpin of educational settings in order to boost the students' achievements and the overall quality of education. Thus, EFL teachers are required to equip themselves with new theoretical and pedagogical knowledge in line with the advancements of the globalized world and students' increasing needs. This study aims to compare and investigate Turkish, German and Spanish EFL teachers' perceptions of and activities in professional development by interviewing. The participants of this qualitative study were 45 EFL teachers working in the capital cities of Turkey, Germany and Spain. The implementation of the study lasted approximately 5 months. The data was gathered through structured interview and analysed qualitatively. The findings of the study demonstrated that EFL teachers from three countries perceived professional development as an ongoing process. Besides, the most oft-mentioned Professional Development activities were seminars, training courses, conferences and workshops although there was a significant difference in the participation of EFL teachers from three countries. Namely, conference and workshops were stressed by only German and Spanish participants. The current study also revealed that the most frequent need areas stressed by the participants were integration of technology into class, classroom management and 21st century language teaching approaches. Furthermore, the findings of the study demonstrated that difficulty in taking official permission was the main restriction for Turkish participants unlike their colleagues from Germany and Spain. The study concluded with suggestions that EFL teachers in Turkey should be given autonomy and choice of selection regarding the professional development activities to attend like their colleagues in Germany and Spain, and also the content of the professional development activities should be reanalyzed and reorganized based on the professional needs of EFL teachers.