Cambodian English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Perspectives on Continuing Professional Development of a Non-Governmental Organization in Cambodia

Abstract

Today's fast-changing world creates more challenges and demands for the work of teachers. This means that teachers must continuously develop themselves to respond to the changing needs and meet new standards of teaching practices. Guskey (2000, p. 4) advocates that "Every successful instructional improvement program, curriculum revision project, school restructuring design, or systemic reform initiative has at its center the provision of high-quality professional development." As can be observed, a greater emphasis has been placed on education reforms aimed at enhancing the quality of classroom teaching and professionally developing teachers who play a critical role in the teaching and learning process (Steyn, 2009). Steyn (2009, p. 257) further supports that "The effectiveness of reform initiatives depends on the quality of teachers and as a result, the professional development of teachers has become a major focal point of such initiatives." Thus, teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) plays an essential role in achieving such reform. What CPD does is to improve teachers' performance, and the improved performance of the teachers will also improve the students' learning outcome (Craft, 2000; Day & Sachs, 2004; Guskey & Huberman, 1995). In Cambodia, not many educational institutions, including private schools, public schools, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have significantly focused on teachers' CPD because CPD arrangement, regardless of its forms, will involve costs, efforts, and time. Therefore, Cambodia's education is confronted by a severe shortage of qualified teachers due to insufficient pedagogical training, unsystematic and irregular provision of CPD (Phin, 2014a), and the lack of teachers' commitment to making CPD happen within their working environment (Phin and Kubota, 2016). Studies by Phin (2014a; 2014b) and Phin and Kubota (2016) showed considerable concern about inadequate CPD provision for Cambodian teachers. It is evident that feasible and well-structured CPD programs for teachers are urgently needed. In Cambodia, the concept of CPD is perhaps not clearly understood by many teachers. Therefore, understanding teachers' perceptions of their CPD is vital so that the development of CPD programs can be effective. In the context of a developing country like Cambodia, research looking at such perception is still limited. This situation necessitated this study. 1.2. Research Questions • What is Cambodian EFL teachers' perception of CPD and the CPD provided by the NGO? • What is Cambodian EFL teachers' perception of how to develop CPD to be an effective teacher training program?

Exploring Efl Teachers' Perspectives on Continuing Professional Development of the Private Education Sector in Cambodia

“…According to the research findings and suggestions from Kao (2018), promoting a self-directed learning model, being the master of yourself, reflecting self-reflection, reading professional literature, and conducting action research is intrinsically and extrinsically encouraged EFL teachers to find some useful and applicable self-principles for their professional development, quality of life and teaching professionalism. At the same time, they are promoting self-directed learning for teachers reducing and prioritizing important CPD topics or activities for face-to-face learning (Sol, 2020).…”