Artificial Intelligence and teachers' sustainability :Preschool teachers' perceptions of conditions and level of support for Professional Development in Early Childhood Special Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36473/ujhss.v62i4.2272Keywords:
Professional Development Programs, Early Childhood, Special Education, Saudi TeachersAbstract
The purpose of this research is to explore Saudi early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers' attitudes towards professional development programs in ECSE. For this reason, survey data was obtained from 30 Saudi ECSE teachers who worked in Saudi Arabian early childhood stages, and then an interview was conducted with five of them to find out their training needs and the challenges they face. The researchers used the qualitative technique, which included a pre-survey and interviews. An online questionnaire was provided to the participants in order to examine their impressions of the professional development programs and assess their judgments of the success of these programs. The findings indicated teachers' positive impressions of these programs, as they regard them as useful tools that can help them get their teaching license. Therefore, participants perceived professional development programs to be valuable and capable of assisting and improving their teaching skills. These findings imply that prioritizing professional development programs for early childhood teachers in Saudi Arabia may result in greater proficiency as well as the capacity to overcome the requisite teaching license. The research ends with recommendations for further research on how to improve professional development programs to better fulfill the necessities of teachers.
Downloads
References
Ahadi, A., Bower, M., Lai, J., Singh, A., & Garrett, M. (2021). Evaluation of teacher professional learning workshops on the use of technology - a systematic review, Professional Development in Education, 47, 1-17 https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2021.2011773
Al-Bargi, A. (2021). ELT online teachers' professional development during the covid-19 pandemic outbreak: Perceptions, implications and adaptations. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 11(10), 1161–1170. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1110.03
Alghamdi, A. H., & Li, L. (2011). Teachers' continuing professional development programmes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED5268 50.pdf/.
Al-khresheh, M., Mohamed, A., & Asif, M. (2022). Teachers' Perspectives towards Online Professional Development Programs during the Period of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Saudi EFL Context. FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 16(2). http://doi.org/10.51709/19951272/Summer2022/1
Alshaikhi, H. I. (2020). Self-directed teacher professional development in Saudi Arabia: EFL teachers’ perceptions. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 10(11), 1359. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1011.03
Alshumaimeri, Y. A., &Almohaisen, F. M. (2017). Saudi EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development activities. Journal of Education & Social Policy, 7(1), 185-193.
Asiri, A. A. (2020). Teachers’ concern and professional development needs in adopting inclusive education in Saudi Arabia, based on their gender for Vision 2030. Journal of Education and Learning, 9(6), 9. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v9n6p9
Braun, V., Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Čepić, P. Pejić Papak, L. Marijan (2020) Preschool teachers' perceptions of existing educational conditions and opportunities for participation in professional development programs, edulearn20 Proceedings, pp. 4059-4067.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2015). Want to close the achievement gap? Close the teaching gap. American Educator, 38(4), 14-18. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1049111.pdf
Evers, A., Van der Heijden, B., & Kreijns, K. (2016). Organizational and task factors influencing teachers’ professional development at work. European Journal of Training and Development, 40, 36-55.
Frantz, R., Douglas, S., Meadan, H., Sands, M., Bhana, N., & D’Agostino, S. (2022). Exploring the Professional Development Needs of Early Childhood Paraeducators and Supervising Teachers. Topics in ECSE, 42(1), 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/0271121420921237
Fishman, B., Konstantopoulos, S., Kubitskey, B. W., Vath, R., Park , G., Johnson, H., & Edelson, D. C. (2013). Comparing the Impact of Online and Face-to-Face Professional Development in the Context of Curriculum Implementation. Journal of Teacher Education, 64(5), 426–438. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487113494413
Henry, A.E., & Pianta, R.C. (2011). Effective teacher-child interactions in children’s literacy: Evidence for scalable, aligned approaches to professional development. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research 3, 308–321.
Jones, M. (2009). Transformational learners: Transformational teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 34(2), 15-27. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2009v34n2.2.
Karlberg , M & Bezzina, C. (2022) The professional development needs of beginning and experienced teachers in four municipalities in Sweden, Professional Development in Education, 48:4, 624-641, DOI: 10.1080/19415257.2020.1712451
Lewis, A. C. (2002). School reform and professional development. Phi Delta Kappan, 83(7), 488-489.
Manduca, C. A. (2017). Surveying the landscape of professional development research: Suggestions for new perspectives in design and research. Journal of Geoscience Education, 65(4), 416-422. doi:10.5408/17-281.1
Parsons, S. A., Hutchison, A. C., Hall, L. A., Parsons, A. W., Ives, S. T., & Leggett, A. B. (2019). US teachers' perceptions of online professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 82(1), 33-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.03.006
Patton, K., Parker, M., & Tannehill, D. (2015). Helping teachers help themselves. NASSP Bulletin, 99(1), 26–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636515576040
Saldaña, J. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. The coding manual for qualitative researchers, 1-440.
Schachter, R.E., Gerde, H.K. & Hatton-Bowers, H. (2019). Guidelines for Selecting Professional Development for Early Childhood Teachers. Early Childhood Educ J 47, 395–408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00942-8
Sywelem, M. M. G., & Witte, J. E. (2013). Continuing professional development: Perceptions of elementary school teachers in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Modern Education Review, 3(12), 881-898.
Yoon, K., Duncan, T., Lee, S., Scarloss, B., & Shapley, K. (2007). Reviewing the evidence on how teacher professional development affects student achievement (Issues & Answers Report REL2007-No. 033). Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest.