Farklı değişkenler ve mesleki gelişim uygulamaları açısından MEB İngilizce dil öğretmenlerinin mesleki özekliği üzerine bir araştırma

This study examines professional autonomy and professional development practices of English Language Teachers for Ministry of Education (MoNE) considering different variables such as gender, age, experience, academic status, school level, school location. Moreover, it also analyzes the relationship between professional autonomy levels of teachers and professional development acts. It is a mixed method case study, conducted in İzmir with 188 English Language Teachers working for state schools within MoNE. These teachers work at primary or secondary school and different types of high schools. First, Teacher Professional Autonomy Questionnaire (TEPAQ) by Okay & Balçıkanlı (2021) is applied to gather quantitative data. It is aimed to understand how they perceive themselves about their autonomy levels and whether they are motivated to attend any professional development practice. Then, teachers are asked two open-ended questions about their perceptions about the factors they are affected to attend an activity and which activities contribute most to their development. By this, it is aimed to learn more in depth to understand their attitudes when it comes to their professional development acts. For open-ended questions, 127 teacher has given answers. The qualitative data is analyzed using SPSS 25.0. considering investigated variables. The quantitative data is analyzed according to the cycle which Creswell (2007: 148; 2013: 184) states. The data is tallied into codes according to the responses of the participants. After coding and reviewing it, these codes are combined into broaders categories and themes. The data is discussed according to these categories and codes. In the study, it is conluded that English Language Teachers have a high professional autonomy levels. It is found out that female teachers are internally driven more than male ones. It is concluded that the younger the teachers are, the more confident they become in terms of learning new things and having autonomous behaviours. Teacher experience and academic status does not make a remarkable difference. The distant school location and the school level being high school have been observed as challenges for time management. Moreover, teachers generally have a strong desire to engage in professional development activities, which means they are open to learning new things and to enhance their teaching practices. However, they prefer to join activities that are related to their own field, teaching skills, classroom management skills and technological knowledge. Teachers participating in the current study find working with colleagues useful for their teaching development. According to these findings, some implications and suggestions are done for professional development and professional autonomy of the teachers. Further research suggestions are remaked for a broader investigation. Keywords: English, TEFL, Teacher Professional Development, Teacher Professional Autonomy, Continuing Professional Development, Professional Development Practices