The aim of this study is to examine the process of accreditation and the widespreadly preferred accreditation institutions in the preparatory programs of universities in Turkey. Accreditation process in English language teaching requires the involvement of all employees in the process from the upper management level to the lower level. It develops and evaluates language teaching in a multifaceted way as physical facilities, education, academic staff and management. Conducting an action research in a preparatory program which is planning to begin an accreditation process is suggested for further research following this review.
With respect to the use of digital technologies in education, the COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for rethinking educational policies. With the shift to emergency remote teaching, schools experienced a paradigm shift in delivering education. School leaders and teachers found themselves in the necessity of quick adaptation to various new modes, from using the digital/online platforms to responding to the needs and expectations of their students. The experience led to contingency plans in the process and shed some light onto the future-oriented plans and scenarios in education, which accelerated the use of digital technologies in education. In parallel with those, professional development courses and support provided for teachers have grown in number, variety, and extent. In this regard, the current study aims to examine primary school teachers’ approaches to digital teaching & learning, their sources of concern and their expectations from effective professional development courses based on their remote/digital teaching experiences. Focus group, a qualitative research method, was used in the study with a sample of primary school teachers. The findings were revealed under four themes: Transition to digital teaching & learning; obstacles of the digital environment as a teacher/learner; opportunities of the digital environment as a teacher/learner; expectations from PD opportunities.
This study aims to analyze how the middle management at university handle with the order versus freedom dilemma -bureaucratic discipline, professional expertise; coordination, communication; managerial planning and individual initiative by giving a university case. A survey was applied on two different sample groups. 607 middle managers and academicians working in six different faculties and two schools in a HEI in 2014-2015 educational year compose the population of the study. Data for the study were gathered with the "Order vs. Freedom Dilemma Scale" and with semi-structured interview form "Opinions on the Order vs. Freedom Dilemma" both developed by the researcher. The findings of the study show that the choice of middle managers on order vs freedom dilemma is mostly for order. The choice of sub-dimensions related to order and/or freedom is important and each of those sub-dimensions need continuous development. Furthermore, it is suggested that individual orientations, professional norms, ideals and professional discipline all together with the institutional structure can be improved correspondingly and become more effective in practice. Besides, supporting the staff to reach each other in a better and closer communication space is also suggested by starting an interactive, effective and sustainable communication mechanism on middle and lower levels.
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