CASE STUDY: PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN TWO LEBANESE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE BEQAA

Abstract

The teachers are the foundation of any education system as they impact the quality of teaching and learning. They need to be knowledgeable of all changes happening at the level of knowledge and instructional practices to provide students with quality education. One way to support teachers in keeping them up-to-date is by providing them with coherent, effective professional development. Lebanese public-school teachers undergo professional development training each year. This study aimed at identifying and understanding the perceptions of the Lebanese public-school teachers in the two selected Lebanese public schools in the Beqaa on the effectiveness of the professional development programs designed and delivered by the government. A qualitative instrumental case study design was applied in which 27 semi-structural interviews were conducted with Lebanese public- school teachers in the Beqaa. The findings showed that the teachers do not document the professional development (PD) experience as a successful one, and they relate these programs to neither schools' nor students' achievement. Moreover, situating the study results in the literature showed that the present PD do not match effective professional development criteria in terms of content, context, collective participation, coherence, time and duration, follow-up procedures, and role of leadership. The discussion implied that the teachers live a situation of professional isolation caused by the lack of collaboration on both school and government levels and lack of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning System.