Türkiye'deki kırsal devlet okullarında İngilizce öğretmenlerinin profesyonel olma yolunda yaşadıkları zorluklar

Many researchers in the field of teacher education state that the teaching profession is one of the most difficult professions. One of the main reasons for this is the difficulties that arise during the teaching experience. For this reason, the researchers state that there is a lack of qualified teachers and that it is very difficult to keep teachers in the profession. With the effect of globalization and social changes, the roles of teachers in education have changed significantly. Today, the need for English learning has increased, the question of whether well-qualified English teachers are employed at all levels of society should be considered. Therefore, this research aims to examine the situation of English teachers working in rural schools in Türkiye. The research investigated the difficulties faced by English teachers working in state schools located in rural districts of the Kars province. The research was designed with a case study design and qualitative data collection tools were used. 11 English teachers working full-time and appointed to MEB in rural secondary state schools in the Kars province participated in the study. The findings of the study revealed that rural English teachers experience many challenges. The main challenges faced by teachers are teaching-related, education system-related, student- related, teacher-related, school-related, parent-related, technology-related challenges, rurality challenges, and pandemic effects. The research findings also revealed that the difficulties experienced by the teachers in rural schools negatively affect the teacher professional development processes, and therefore they do not make any effort for their teacher professional development in rural schools.