Abstract:

In a constantly changing world, it is inevitable for people to change. Changing people means changing ideas and practices. Changes in technology and industry in recent years can be assumed to be due to the introduction of new ideas and the adoption of an innovative progressive approach. While all this is going on, it is inevitable for a person to seek innovation in his work. For this reason, the concept of professional development, which includes continuous development and change, is of great importance for teachers. The training received while preparing for the teaching profession is insufficient after starting the professional life. This situation brings with it new needs in professional life. But needs are as different as individuals. Each teacher may have different expectations from professional development work because the skills or knowledge they need may also differ. For these reasons, the aim of this study is to determine how teachers perceive the concept of 'professional development', their thoughts on current professional development practices, and the positive and negative experiences they have gained from the professional development activities they participate in. The study group of the research, in which the qualitative research method was used, consists of 35 teachers from two provinces (Kocaeli and Rezekne) of two different countries (Turkey and Latvia). Teachers, who are experts in different fields, work in primary, secondary and high schools affiliated to official institutions. The data of the research were collected with the help of a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher by taking the opinions of the field experts. The obtained data were analyzed by by using the content analysis method by the researcher. The research results were analyzed under three headings. The first title consists of teachers' general thoughts about professional development concept. According to this most of the teachers stated that professional development is necessary for them. Another topic includes teachers' opinions about current professional development practices. The teachers stated that the institutions are insufficient in determining teachers’ professional development needs. For this reason, the professional development activities they participated in did not serve the purpose and so they generally were dissatisfied. Finally, comments were received from the teachers about the professional development activities they participated in until now. In the interviews, the teachers do not think that the professional development activities organized contribute much to the education programs, the learning-teaching process or the students and their schools.

Keywords:

Professional development of teachers, professional development activities, teacher perspective on professional development.