Exploring EFL Teachers’ Perception of Professional Development Needs in Post-Covid Era: Does Gender Make any Difference?

Subject Areas :

Mona Ashrafian ¹ , Narges Alimohammadi ²

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Received: 2024-09-11 Accepted : 2024-11-14 Published : 2024-12-26

Keywords: COVID-19, Gender, Perception, Professional Development, Professional Development Needs.,

Abstract :

English language teaching (ELT) is an indisputable phenomenon in modern society which is influenced by many factors. Among various factors, professional development constitutes a main concept of English language teaching, and a look at the history of ELT research shows that this concept has attracted the attention of researchers in the field. This study aimed at exploring EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development needs in post-COVID era, taking the role of gender into account. To this end, a basic interpretive design was employed. A group of 20 (10 males and 10 females) Iranian EFL teachers who were selected through available sampling participated in the present study. The required data for the present study was collected through an open-ended questionnaire. To analyze the data, qualitative thematic analysis was done. Data analysis led to the extraction of the following themes for male and female EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development needs before COVID-19: Teaching methodology knowledge, Good relationship with students, Content knowledge, Psychological knowledge, Assessment knowledge, and Language knowledge. Moreover, the following themes were extracted for male and female EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development needs in post-COVID-19 era: Classroom management skills, Team teaching skills, Socio-affective skills, Communicative skills, Creative thinking skills, Reflective teaching skills, Motivational skills, and Technological skills. Further, it was revealed that EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development needs before COVID-19 and in post-COVID-19 era were different. Finally, the findings indicated that gender does not play a role in EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development needs. The results have some implications for EFL teacher educators, teachers, teacher education, curriculum developers, and researchers.

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