EXPLORING IRANIAN EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE ONLINE IN-SERVICE TRAINING
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46827/ejse.v6i1.3197Keywords:
quality of education, Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions, online in-service trainingAbstract
It is widely acknowledged that in order to improve the quality of education in schools, there is a need to place pedagogy and its training implications at the center of teacher education reform. This study investigated the EFL teachers’ perception of the online in-service training. In doing so, an adapted 30-item questionnaire, having been piloted, was administered to 32 Iranian high school English teachers out of a total population of 40 teachers selected based on convenience sampling in Fouman and Somesara high schools in Guilan, Iran. Next, to add depth and detail to the participants’ responses to the questionnaire, a five-item interview was conducted with volunteer participants. The results of analyses revealed that there was not any statistically significant mean difference in the perceptions of male and female teachers about online in-service training (INSET). However, statistically significant differences were found among the teachers in terms of their university degrees and teaching experiences. The teachers were reported to view online programs as an essential tool needed for teachers’ professional development. The findings can be utilized pedagogically by teachers as an encouraging factor to attend the online INSET courses and, most importantly, by education administration to hold such courses more effectively.
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