Female English language teachers' perceptions and experiences of continuing professional development in Qatar
2018
The Qatari government views English language learning as crucial to the country’s
future success. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that English Language Teachers (ELTs)
employed in Qatar may not necessarily have the appropriate training, qualifications and
experience to enable them to teach successfully. Despite growing research interest in the
continuing professional development (CPD) experiences and needs of ELTs in Western
contexts, there remains a lack of research in Middle Eastern countries in general and Qatar in
particular. Furthermore, in-depth knowledge of female ELTs’ CPD experiences and needs are
almost non-existent. The aim of this study, therefore, is to address this gap by exploring female
ELTs' perceptions and experiences of CPD in Qatar in order to develop new practical and
theoretical insights into our understanding of this area.
The study is qualitative and located within the interpretive paradigm. Life history
interviews were undertaken with 16 female ELTs with at least 3 years of teaching experience in
Qatar schools. These data were analyzed using thematic analysis and profiling techniques and
drawing on an analytical framework based on three inter-related concepts of identity, culture
and CPD.
The study found that female ELTs in Qatar all had very different experiences of CPD
and unique developmental needs. These findings suggest that the current model of
professional development for ELTs in Qatar may need revising. The thesis proposes a
paradigm shift from a traditional ‘one size fits all’ CPD model towards a more dynamic and
interactive style of teacher development which facilitates both personal reflection and
professional discourse among teachers in order to build a shared understanding of ideas by
analyzing and comparing approaches and actively encouraging student involvement in the
learning process. It is argued that such a shift would prove a considerable step forward for
English language teaching in the country.
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