Ángela Andrea Romero Mendoza - Francisco José de Caldas

Running head: IMPACT OF THE QUALIFICATION PROGRAMS ON EFL PUBLIC TEACHERS’

PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT.

The Impact of Qualification Programs on EFL Teachers’ Professional and Personal

Development: Teachers’ Voices

Ángela Andrea Romero Mendoza

Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

School of Science and Education

Master in Applied Linguistics to the Teaching of English

Bogotá, Colombia

2017.

IMPACT OF THE QUALIFICATION PROGRAMS ON EFL PUBLIC TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL

AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT.

The Impact of Qualification Programs on EFL Teachers’ Professional and Personal

Development: Teachers’ Voices

Angela Andrea Romero Mendoza

Thesis Director:

Clelia Pineda Báez (PhD)

A thesis submitted as a requirement to obtain the degree of

M.A. in Applied Linguistics to the Teaching of English

Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

School of Science and Education

Master in Applied Linguistics to the Teaching of English

Bogotá, Colombia

2017



Note of Acceptance

Thesis Director:

________________________________

Clelia Pineda Baéz (PhD)

Juror:

________________________________

Juror:

________________________________



Acuerdo 19 de 1988 del Consejo Superior Universitario

Artículo 177: “La Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas no será responsable por las

ideas expuestas en esta tesis”.



Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude and love to the magnanimous energy that

makes everything possible in my life and makes me feel sure that God exists. My gratitude is

also to my wonderful mom, my beautiful son and his father, the man who was with me during

this arduous but meaningful and enriching journey. They suffered my absence and lack of time

which made me get stronger to give my best in every single aspect of my life.

My special acknowledgements to my dear director Dr. Clelia Pineda, such a wonderful

and lovely woman who guided me throughout this long process. I want to say thank you as well

to Dr. Harold Castañeda who was always supporting me in many different ways.

Last, but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who was

involved in this study: directors of the programs who opened their doors to my research; the

teachers- participants and my interviewees, all of them made this possible.

The Impact of Qualification Programs on the Professional and Personal Development of EFL Public

School Teachers. 6

Table of Contents

Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 11

Resumen ........................................................................................................................................ 12

Chapter 1 .................................................................................... ¡Error! Marcador no definido.3

Introduction … .............................................................................................................................. 13

Statement of the problem ........................................................... ¡Error! Marcador no definido.5

Research questions ....................................................................................................................... 18

Research objectives ...................................................................................................................... 18

Rationale ....................................................................................................................................... 19

Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework .............................................................................................. 21

Teachers’ Professional Development and Impact on Students’ Achievement…………………..21

Teachers Knowledge Base…………………………………………………...…………………..31

Teachers’ Welfare………………………………………………………………………………..40

Chapter 3: Research Design .......................................................................................................... 45

Type of study ................................................................................................................................ 45

Context .......................................................................................................................................... 46

Participants .................................................................................................................................... 47

Data collection Instruments .......................................................................................................... 48

Questionnaire ................................................................................................................................ 48

Semi-structured interviews ........................................................................................................... 52


School Teachers. 7

Validation of Instruments………………………………………………………………………..53

Researcher’s Role and Ethical Issues……………………………………………………………54

Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 56

Data analysis ................................................................................................................................. 56

Data management.......................................................................................................................... 56

Data analysis framework............................................................................................................... 57

Findings ........................................................................................................................................ 60

Demographic information. ............................................................................................................ 61

The qualification programs: Opportunities for growth…….…………………………………….63

Lack of collegiality in schools ...................................................................................................... 82

Technology and Pedagogy: areas that deserve attention………………………………………...89

The role of research in fostering reflection………………………………………………………93

Teachers’ welfare as an aspect that requires attention……………………………………….…..98

The need to create and strengthen social networks…………………….……………………….101

Improving teachers conditions for other personal dimensions. .. ¡Error! Marcador no definido.7

Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................................................... 111

Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 111

Limitations .................................................................................................................................. 119

Further research .......................................................................................................................... 120


School Teachers. 8

References .................................................................................................................................. 121

Table of Appendices

Appendix A: Categories for the questionnaire for teachers ........................................................ 133

Appendix B: Teachers’ Questionnaire ....................................................................................... 140

Appendix C: Teachers’ Interview .............................................................................................. 143

Appendix D: Consent Form for Directors and Coordinators of the Programs ........................... 145

List of Figures

Figure 1. Knowledge base dimensions......................................................................................... 33

Figure 2 .Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ……………………………………………………........ 42

Figure 3. Number of female and male interviewees …………………………………………… 61

Figure 4. Interviewees’ ages ………………………………………………………………….... 61

Figure 5. Degree obtained before entering the current program ……………………………….. 62

Figure 6. Localities of Bogotá where participants work ……………………………………….. 62

Figure 7. Participants’ view on the impact on the Content Knowledge dimension ……………. 68

Figure 8. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs in classroom management and

environment ………………………………………………………………………….………… 71


School Teachers. 9

Figure 9. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs in Content Presentation and

Organization and Methodologies with students from different ages …………………….…….. 72

Figure 10. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs in connection with student rapport,

feedback, assessment and evaluation ……………………………………………………..……. 74

Figure 11. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs in their repertoire of methodologies

to teach and strategies for interaction and collaborative work ……………………………..….. 77

Figure 12. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs to select, adapt and create materials …….79

Figure 13. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on reflecting and knowing about

local policies ……………………………………………………………………………...……. 81

Figure 14. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on curricular knowledge and

integration of EFL with other subjects ………………………………………………….……... 82

Figure 15. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on the role of the physical and

psychological characteristics of the learner, expertise of students’ cognitive processes and

processes involved in language learning and acquisition ………………………….…………... 85

Figure 16. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on the receptiveness to students’

context and adaptation of methodologies, strategies and material according to students’

characteristics and context ………………………………………………………………..……. 88

Figure 17. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on the aspects which compose the

TPACK model ……………………………………………………………………………...….. 90

Figure 18. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on reflect upon teaching practices,

expertise in examining the context, opportunities to innovate in the classes, and familiarity to

carry out research proposals …………………………..……………………………..…………. 94


School Teachers. 10

Figure 19. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on their basic needs (psychological

needs) and safety needs …………………………………………………………………..…….. 99

Figure 20. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on their social needs ………….101

Figure 21. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on their Esteem Needs …….....103

Figure 22. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on their self-actualization needs…...…. .106

List of Tables

Table 1. Categories, description and characteristics of Shulman's and Maslow’s models………50

List of Graphs

Graph 1. Visual Display of the emergent categories…………………………………….………60


School Teachers. 11

Abstract

The government of Colombia has implemented programs aimed at qualifying public

school teachers, as part of the policies to improve the quality of national education . This mixed

study analyzes areas of concern for EFL teachers in public schools in Bogotá who participated in

local government sponsored post-graduate programs and the impact of the qualification

programs on their professional and personal development. Sixty-nine teachers responded a

questionnaire of 41 questions and seven teachers participated in interviews based on the tenets of

Shulman’s Knowledge Base Teaching Model (1987, 2013) and Maslow’s Theory of Human

Needs (1943, 1954, 1971). These instruments aimed to explore their experience and perspectives

regarding the impact of the qualification programs. The findings indicate that the teachers

involved were driven by a genuine desire to energize and improve their daily practices and,

further, that the programs helped them to reflect and respond to the particularities of their

respective contexts and to gain confidence and recognition as researchers. The results highlight

the importance of professional development opportunities for teachers and the role of

collaborative work. Nevertheless, the findings raise questions about the continuity and

sustainability of such programs.

Key words: qualification programs, teachers’ personal development, professional development,

empowerment, knowledge base, welfare.


School Teachers. 12

Resumen

El gobierno de Colombia ha venido implementando programas de cualificación docente

con el objetivo de mejorar las prácticas de los docentes que trabajan en el sector público. Los

programas de cualificación docente son parte de las políticas de gobierno para mejorar la calidad

de la educación en la nación. Este estudio mixto analiza las áreas de interés para los profesores

de inglés de los colegios públicos de Bogotá que participaron en programas de posgrado

patrocinados por la Secretaría de Educación Distrital y el impacto de dichos programas en su

desarrollo profesional y personal. Sesenta y nueve docentes respondieron un cuestionario de 41

preguntas y siete de ellos a una entrevista basados en los principios del Modelo de Conocimiento

Base para la Enseñanza de Shulman (1987, 2013) y la Teoría de las Necesidades Humanas de

Maslow (1943, 1954, 1971). Dichos instrumentos fueron usados con el fin de explorar las

experiencias y percepciones del impacto de estos programas en los docentes de inglés. Los

hallazgos indican que los docentes se guiaron o se impulsaron por un deseo de energizar y

mejorar su práctica y que los programas los ayudaron a reflexionar y responder a las

particularidades de sus contextos, además de ganar confianza y reconocimiento como

investigadores. Los resultados resaltan la importancia de las oportunidades de desarrollo

profesional para los docentes, el rol del trabajo colaborativo y emergen preguntas acerca de la

continuidad y sostenibilidad de los programas.

Palabras clave: programas de cualificación, desarrollo personal, desarrollo profesional,

empoderamiento, conocimiento base para la enseñanza, bienestar.


School Teachers. 13

Chapter 1

Introduction

Quality of education has long been an important concern for governments and their

policies. Thus, policymakers have aimed to achieve higher quality in education by training and

qualifying teachers; training at this level can have ripple effect through students’ learning and

achievement. In order to fulfill this aim, government investment and sponsorships of

qualification programs for teachers has become more common in countries where there is a

perceived need to improve their education and economy.

This trend has been visible in some nations which have improved their education and

economic systems, as demonstrated by marked advances in international exam

performance over the span of less than a decade. All of these countries have in common

the importance and efforts they have assigned to the qualification of teachers through the

provision of continuous teacher development programs to achieve a high quality

education (García, et al., 2014).

Nevertheless, teachers’ professional development is not the only factor to consider in

order to guarantee higher quality in schools. For example, another important consideration for

success is student achievement. Some researchers have noted that the combination of teacher

training and teacher’s welfare are decisive factors in impacting student education. More

specifically, Connor et al., (2005) found that teachers’ qualifications and high income were

strongly correlated with stronger student achievement.


School Teachers. 14

Both professional development and personal development are important considerations

for teachers, and given the power they have to affect education quality, it is important to

investigate and analyze teacher needs, desires and concerns about qualification programs in order

to guide policymakers, governmental programs and universities as to teachers’ motivations to

carry out master programs and what needs these programs must address.

This study aims to report on how EFL public school teachers perceive the impact of the

qualification program sponsored by the local government of Bogota, in terms of both their

professional and personal development. The first chapter includes the statement of the problem,

research questions and objectives, and the rationale for the study. The second chapter offers a

literature review which discusses the main constructs that support this work. Chapter three

provides an account of the research design for this study, including the study type, context, and

participants involved, alongside a description of the data collection instruments, methods and

procedures. Chapter four details the procedures for data management and analysis, and the

findings of this research. Finally, chapter five presents the conclusions of the study, its

limitations and suggestions for further research. The following sections will outline contextual

factors, the governmental program in which this study is framed, the issues observed, and

theoretical considerations that gave rise to this study.


School Teachers. 15

Statement of the Problem

Government policies and programs are important for countries, cities, political action

plans and education goals. They aim to guide people’s actions and address areas that need special

attention. In the case of Bogotá, while serving a 4-year term, the mayor is accountable for

implementing and leading policies. Recently, the local government allocated

$131,000,000.000.00 COP (SED, 2013, p. 72) – to fund education processes as part of the 2012-

2016 Bogota Development Plan. This budget sought to improve the education of students in the

city and to qualify teachers working in public schools.

The money allocated by the Secretaría de Educación Distrital (SED) for teacher

qualification aimed to address motivational issues and at the same time to challenge the

traditional teaching methods that prevail in the public schools of Bogotá. Further, the training

was designed to offer teachers sufficient opportunities to respond to the contexts and needs of

students in the public sector (SED, 2012c).

The project proposed by the SED was called: Project 894: Empowered Teachers with

Better Welfare and Better Training and focused on three components: Teacher welfare,

qualification, and empowerment (Plan Sectorial de Educación - SED, 2013, p. 61). The program

intended to empower teachers to foster their intellectual independence, to strengthen their role as

education professionals and to enable them to participate actively in administrative decisions

regarding education in the city. The aim of this project was to improve working conditions for

public school teachers by qualifying them, so that, they could transform their teaching practices

and, simultaneously, increase their chances to move up the professional ladder. The plan


School Teachers. 16

designed by policymakers targeted teachers with highest population concentration of students in

the city – 59.3% of the total of school-age population (SED, 2012b, p. 64).

The Empowered Teachers with Better Welfare and Better Training plan was designed to

offer more dignity to the teaching profession by stimulating their leadership and social

recognition. It focused on qualifying and acknowledging teachers’ work in their social circles.

Some researchers (García et al., 2014), have noted that the combination of teacher training and

welfare are decisive aspects if the goal is to impact students’ education. More specifically,

Connor et al., (2005) found that teachers’ qualifications and high income were important

components leading to stronger student achievement.

The plan included a financial incentive, in which the local government paid 70% of

tuition fees for teachers participating in postgraduate programs (including specializations,

master's and doctoral degrees) offered by sixteen accredited universities, in alliance with the

Secretaría de Educación Distrital (SED, 2013). The involvement of teachers in those programs

would help them to face modern educational challenges and to reflect upon the cultural and

social diversity in their classrooms. In addition, the program would encourage them to reflect and

discuss the influence of media and technology on students’ and teachers’ lives and to reaffirm

their sense of citizenship.

A total of 9,000 public school teachers from different academic areas has been qualified

during the 2012-2016 period (SED, 2012a). The latest official report of the project (SED, 2013)

indicated that there were 2,071 teachers carrying out postgraduate studies and that 326 out of the

teachers were further registered in both mother and foreign languages related programs (SED,

2013, p. 19). This high number of languages teachers is directly related to national policies


School Teachers. 17

which aim to create a bilingual nation and to enrich students’ opportunities to use a second

language, in this case English. Taking into account that the population selected for this study are

EFL teachers, it is important to mention that one of the main concerns of the languages teachers

of the country is to improve their language proficiency (González, 2003) and to learn more about

the content they teach, and as such respond positively to training that is content-specific

(Giraldo, 2013).

Giraldo (2013) carried out a study with EFL teachers and found that professional

development programs do have a positive impact on in-service teachers, their classroom

performance, and on students. According to this author, if the programs are embedded in “local

suggestions, teachers’ needs, knowledge, skills, and experiences, [...] there is a strong likelihood

of positive results” (p. 75).

The expected return of the great financial investment from the city government in the

training and qualification of public school teachers is an improved quality of education and a

simultaneous advance in the living conditions of the teachers themselves. . These topics deserve

special attention. Given these aims, in a study of such policies’ impacts, it is indispensable to

examine their effects on both students and teachers as previous researchers have inquired into in

other countries (Blank, R & de las Alas, N (2009); Blank, R. & de las Alas, N., & Smith, C.

(2008); Darling-Hammond, L. (2000a); Guskey, T. & Sparks, D. (2004); RAND Corporation.

(2013)).

This study intends to address the second of the groups identified above: it aims to report

on how public school English teachers in Bogota perceive the impact of the local government’s

training and qualification programs in terms of both their professional and personal dimensions.


School Teachers. 18

This project seeks to delve into the experiences of EFL public school teachers’ experience in the

programs sponsored by the Secretaría de Educación Distrital to qualify their practices. The

results of this study will provide data to examine the impact the policies about qualification and

training have on teachers’ professional and personal development. Thus, the questions that guide

this inquiry are:

Research questions

● What are the areas of concern for EFL public school teachers who participate in the

postgraduate programs sponsored by the Secretaría de Educación Distrital?

● How has the participation of EFL public school teachers in these programs influenced

their professional development, from their own perspective?

● How has the experience in the postgraduate programs impacted their personal

development from teachers’ perspectives?

Research objectives

Considering Teacher Qualification and Welfare, the aims of this project are:

General Objective:

● To examine teachers’ perceptions regarding the impact of the qualification programs on

their professional and personal development.

Specific Objectives:

● To identify the areas of concern that teachers are trying to confront as they participate in

the programs;


School Teachers. 19

● To specify the likely impact of these qualification programs on teachers’ professional

development;

● To examine teachers’ experience when participating in these qualification programs

from their voices regarding their personal development.

Rationale

Education has become the biggest challenge for the Colombian government. During the

last eight years, the country has been ranked in the lowest position of international standardized

tests: in the case of PISA tests (Program for International Student Assessment), for example,

Colombia obtained the lowest results, and ranked lowest of the 44 participating countries. As a

result, the government of Bogotá, which has the highest population of students registered in

public education (approximately 1,000,000 students according to SED, 2013), has implemented

strategies aimed at fundamentally improving the quality of education.

During the last decade, countries like the United States, Singapore, Finland, Canada and

South Korea have experienced changes both in their educational policies and in their results in

international exams. These countries exemplify the importance assigned to the training and

qualification of teachers and to the goal of providing them with continuous teacher development

programs to reach higher levels of professional qualification (García et al., 2014). Considering

the direct connection between teacher qualification levels and quality in education, this study

seeks to document the impact of Colombian government policies on these two aspects. The

project could provide key data for all the participating universities developing programs in


School Teachers. 20

alliance with the Secretaría de Educación Distrital, regarding teachers and public education

needs in the city.

The project also provides valuable data from teachers themselves. Although the impact of

a qualification program must be examined in the transformation of pedagogical practices in the

classroom and in the changes in student achievement and success, it is also important to give

teachers a voice and highlight, from their perspective, how the qualification has transformed

their professional and personal lives. The project opens up spaces for examining the impact of

the high local government investment and for identifying areas for improvement.


School Teachers. 21

Chapter 2

Theoretical Framework

This chapter presents a synthesis of the main constructs guiding this project. Namely,

they are the professional development of public school teachers and its impact on students’

achievement, teachers’ content knowledge according to Shulman’s theory, and teachers’ personal

needs and welfare. It is important to mention that many of these same topics s oriented the city

project that is used as a framework for this study, more concretely: Project 894: Empowered

Teachers with Better Welfare and Better Training (SED, 2013). This program seeks to train and

qualify teachers as well as to provide them with the necessary conditions to improve teachers’

practices, and to positively impact the quality of education in Bogotá. In order to address the

objectives of this study, it is important to define the aforementioned constructs.

Teachers’ Professional Development and Impact on Students’ Achievement.

In education, professional development can be promoted through a variety of courses,

including seminars, workshops, trainings, and specialized studies among others, intended to help

directors, teachers, and other educators improve their professional knowledge, competency, skill,

and effectiveness. To analyze the issue of professional development, it is crucial to discuss the

term ‘training’ and what it implies.

Freeman (1989) defines training as the learning of discrete teaching items. In a training

program, the collaborator (or tutor) is in charge of teaching these discrete stratagems to teachers

so that they improve teaching skills such as presenting vocabulary, responding to student


School Teachers. 22

answers, and others. In contrast, Freeman states that development is concerned with helping

teachers to develop constant awareness of their experiences as professionals. Taking into account

this author’s ideas, training is focus on content and development is focus on how to implement

the content in teachers’ practices

The terms teacher education, teacher preparation or pre-service training have been

applied to the formal academic training that teachers have in their undergraduate programs

(Johnson, 2002). The term teacher training, or more specifically in-service training, has been

used to define the academic actions taken by the teachers in pursuit of professional development.

González (2003, p. 154) states that “the meaning of in-service training stage implies that the pre-

service phase may not have been sufficient and that teachers themselves require some support

and assistance while helping their students in the learning process”.

This author’s definition of professional development stands in direct opposition to

Freeman’s (1989, p. 40), who proposes that professional development is: “A strategy of

influence and indirect intervention that works on complex, integrated aspects of teaching; these

aspects are idiosyncratic and individual. The purpose of development is for the teacher to

generate change through increasing or shifting awareness”. From the latter perspective,

professional development programs are opportunities for teachers to improve their practices and

generate positive changes in student achievement.

The British Council (Borg, 2015) offers a succinct definition for teachers’ professional

development and how it differentiates from training. They claim that moving from ‘training’ to

‘development’ implies professional growth, which is not simply a process of trainers telling

instructors what to do. Rather, professional development is a more dynamic process in which


School Teachers. 23

instructors are expected to take some responsibility for their own learning. As was stated above,

professional development implies to pass from the theory to practice and be aware if this practice

is carrying out positively or negatively in the classrooms in order to generate an action plan.

Taking into account the definitions above, it is important to reflect on the effectiveness

and quality of the professional development strategies received by teachers. In a study carried

out by Darling-Hammond et al. (2009) in U.S.A, most of the teachers who participated in

professional development courses reported that they were not useful because most development

happens in a workshop-style model, which research has shown that has little or no impact on

student’s learning and on teacher’s practice. Other studies (OECD, 2009), have measured the

impact of professional development for teachers in countries around the world and they have

given insight into what teachers consider effective forms of development. Teachers from 16

countries reported that “individual and collaborative research”, “informal dialogue to improve

teaching”, and “qualification programs”, have a moderate or large impact on their development

as a teacher. The development of activities that were reported to be relatively less effective were:

attendance at “education conferences and seminars” and taking part in “observation visits to

other schools” (OECD, 2009, p. 79).

The negative view many teachers have towards professional development has been

studied and limitations of this view have been identified through research. . Mora et al. (2013,

p.11) stated that some teachers do not believe professional development is meaningful because

the programs are created for policy makers “who see teachers as isolated entities and ignores the

fact that they are part of a “micro-cosmos” called school, which is immersed in a more complex

“cosmos,” named society”. According to these authors, policy makers or people with higher


School Teachers. 24

authority in an educational setting such as ministries of education, school districts, or individual

schools provide their teachers with opportunities to participate in activities in which teachers

receive prescriptive guidance on what to do and what not to do, without a necessary

consideration of the context, and of teacher and student needs.

In contrast to these traditional perspectives, professional development is now typically

conceptualized in the literature as dynamic, ongoing, continuous, and set in teachers’ daily lives

(Birman et al., 2000; Boyle et al., 2005; Desimone, 2009; Guskey, 2000; Hofman & Dijkstra,

2010; Sato, Wei & Darling-Hammond, 2008). Here professional development is cast as

“embedded in the classroom context and constructed through experience and practice, in

sustained, iterative cycles of goal setting, planning, practicing, and reflecting” (Caena, 2011,

p.11), which also should provide opportunities to inquire systematically about teaching practices,

their impact on students and about other issues of teachers’ work.

Regarding Colombian educational settings and characteristics, Giraldo (2013, p.11)

proposes professional development programs in which program developers take into account the

suggestions given by scholars in the field, “provided that these programs consider teachers’

needs, knowledge, skills, and experiences, there is a strong likelihood of positive results”.

A study made by Fundación Compartir (García et al., 2014) in Colombia reveals that high

quality professional development programs for teachers have an impact not only on education

but also on national economic development. The authors based their conclusions on previous

international studies (Barro, 1991; Mankiw, Romer and Weil, 1992; Gennaioli et. al, 2013;

RAND Corporation, 2013; Greenwald, Hedges and Laine, 1996).


School Teachers. 25

These studies are grounded in evidences from four countries (Singapore, Finland, Canada

and South Korea), which have demonstrated a significant changes in both educational and

economic performance, thanks to the adjustments that they did in their education models. In

these countries, governments took into account six main dimensions in order to guarantee quality

in education: high quality undergraduate programs, high quality recruitment process, in-service

teachers’ professional development programs, promote teaching as a profession with high status,

very good remuneration for teachers, and continuous evaluation (García et al., 2014).

The previous study was carried out as a basis for Colombian policymakers in order to

develop programs based on teachers’ needs both as professionals and as human beings. This

perspective, which sees teachers as a whole in which their personality and needs are vital

considerations in order to respond to student needs and learning is shared by some EFL

Colombian researchers (González, 2007; Álvarez, 2009; Bonilla, L. & Galvis L.A., 2011;

Caicedo, 2008; Giraldo, 2013; Calvo, G., Rendón, D.,& Rojas, L.; 2004; Usma, 2009).

According to Giraldo (2013, p.2), the professional development of English language

teachers in Colombia has progressed from

a transmission-oriented approach to one in which their realities are catered to. Scholars

in the field of professional development and teacher education agree that these programs

should respond to teachers’ needs, be based upon their close realities, and account for

teachers as learners of their teaching.

Furthermore, instead of top-down approaches in which experts “impose” models and

recipes on teachers, authors urge context-sensitive models (González, 2007) that reflect teachers’

decision-making and experience.


School Teachers. 26

Thus, the field of English language teaching has come to understand professional

development not as the idea of an accumulation of skills but as a highly critical and iterative

process. Authors such as Villegas-Reimers (2003), Díaz-Maggioli (2004), and Wilde (2010)

agree that these programs must engage teachers in reflective and collaborative work; they must

also include teachers’ skills, knowledge, and experience. Giraldo (2013, p.2) further claims that

“professional development programs should provide teachers with opportunities to develop their

professional practice and receive feedback on it”. In this framework, teachers are conceived of as

learners.

Within this understanding of professional development, there is an expectation that not

only teachers’ professional and personal lives will be impacted, but that students’ achievement

and furthermore, on the education and development of the country will show subsequent

improvements. As such, professional development plays a key role for both teachers themselves

and their qualification programs, inasmuch as it covers a wide range of crucial factors

concerning the teaching practice of in-service teachers as well as student learning and

achievement processes.

Regarding the experience of countries such as Singapore, Finland, Canada and South

Korea, which have improved their education and economic systems and have demonstrated

positive results in less than a decade, it is noteworthy that all of these countries have in common

the importance they have assigned to the qualification of teachers and to providing them with

continuously teachers’ development programs in order to have a high quality education (García

et al., 2014).


School Teachers. 27

According to Yoon and colleagues (2007, p.11) professional development affects student

achievement through three steps:

First, professional development enhances teacher knowledge and skills. Second, better

knowledge and skills improve classroom teaching. Third, improved teaching raises

student achievement. If one link is weak or missing, better student learning cannot be

expected. If a teacher fails to apply new ideas from professional development to

classroom instruction, for example, students will not benefit from the teacher’s

professional development.

The authors mentioned above agree on the importance of teacher preparation and

qualification programs. Connor et al. (2005) affirm that there is accumulating research evidence

that teachers’ credentials, experience, and years of education may make a difference in children’s

success; although more evidence is needed to show the direct impact teachers have on students

levels of achievement and success. Prior to this publication, Kennedy (1998) carried out one of

the first reviews of research on the relationship of quality of teacher preparation to subsequent

student achievement. At that time, she identified a relatively small number of research studies

that drew a direct link between the level of teacher preparation in their teaching field and

achievement of students.

Darling-Hammond (1999) analyzed a large-scale research across the U.S. and her results

showed that in-field teacher preparation correlated positively with student achievement. The

author’s findings resulted in extensive policy and research debate in the United States. Blank and

de las Alas (2009) claim that the debate still continues in the USA, because of the importance of


School Teachers. 28

formal teacher preparation and qualifications, including teacher certification in order to fulfill the

government education programs that this country currently has for the sector of public education.

Darling-Hammond carried out further studies, which contributed to a body of research on

which aspects determine academic success for students and influenced the establishment of

qualification programs as a government policy in USA. The author found that there were many

factors that connect to children’s achievement and among them, teacher capacity to teach

effectively was among the most significant variable (Darling-Hammond & Youngs, 2002;

Darling-Hammond, 2000a).

Recent policies in the United States have identified teacher qualifications as an important

component leading to stronger student achievement. There is evidence that better trained and

more experienced teachers tend to get students of greater ability and with fewer discipline

problems (Clotfelter et al., 2005, Feng, 2005).

Taking into account that quality teachers are seen as the ones who have more credentials

or preparation, some authors have sought to define quality teaching, which is composed by

different factors and not only for teachers’ qualification. Berliner (2005) states that quality

teachers are seen simply as good teachers and are considered to be those who exhibit desirable

traits and uphold the standards and norms of the profession. Beyond this interpretation, however,

quality teachers are also considered those who bring about student learning.

In fact, some studies have identified teacher qualifications as an important component

leading to stronger student achievement, although the research regarding the correlation between

teacher qualifications and student outcomes, historically, has been somewhat equivocal and any

effects have been small (Coleman, et al., 1966; Darling-Hammond & Youngs, 2002; DOE,


School Teachers. 29

2002). Nevertheless, many studies relate teacher qualifications directly to children’s outcomes

and treat classroom practice like a black box. As Cohen, Raudenbush, and Ball (2003) affirm,

providing resources such as highly qualified teachers is important, but will not necessarily assure

effective use of these resources.

According to the latter studies, there are many others factors in the classroom which

should be taken into account in considering student achievement, Some studies (Cohen & Hill,

2000; Fishman, Marx, Best, & Tal, 2003; Garet et al., 2001; Guskey & Sparks, 2004; Kennedy,

1998; Loucks-Horsley & Matsumoto, 1999), assume that professional development’s effects on

student achievement are mediated by teacher knowledge and practice in the classroom and that

professional development takes place in the context of high standards, challenging curricula,

system-wide accountability, and high-stakes assessments.

Although teachers’ qualification is a key factor in students’ achievement, it is important

to have other changes in the educational setting in order to guarantee student success. Colombia,

and in particular Bogotá, has endeavored to create an educational policy that helps to improve

students’ results in standardized international tests and takes into consideration the fundamental

role that teachers play in those results.

With regards to the creation of policies, some researchers consider that scholars and

policymakers now face the challenge of identifying observable characteristics of teachers that

signal quality teaching. With the growing demand for evidence-based policymaking, student

achievement is considered an accurate measure of teacher effectiveness and has become a basis

for value-added teacher assessment systems and a demand for teachers’ qualification programs


School Teachers. 30

(González, 2007; Braun, 2005; McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz, Louis, & Hamilton, 2004;

Sanders, 2000; Sanders & Rivers, 1996).

Cochran & Smith (2001) outlined three relationships between teacher qualifications and

long-term student learning outcomes: teacher preparation in subject matter and in pedagogy,

years of teaching experience, and their ongoing professional development. For the authors, these

combined factors ensure students’ outcomes and learning is interpreted as the gains made by

students on achievement tests.

Other studies (Connor, Morrison, Katch, 2004a; Connor, Morrison, & Petrella, 2004b;

Taylor, Pearson, Clark, & Walpole, 2000; Wharton-McDonald, Pressley, & Hampston, 1998),

acknowledge that professional development is extremely important on students’ achievement,

but posit that other teacher characteristics should also be taken into account. Teachers who

spend more time in academic activities tend to have students who demonstrate greater gains, for

example in reading skills. Broadly speaking, converging evidence then points to at least three

important dimensions of teaching that influence student literacy acquisition directly or indirectly:

(1) the classroom environment teachers create, (2) teacher warmth and responsiveness to their

students, and (3) the amount and type of instruction they provide (Morrison et al., 2005).

Accordingly, one might interpret that teacher training can have a significant, positive

impact on student achievement under generally favorable conditions, but considering the

previous experiences and research in other countries, especially in the U.S.A, that such benefits

depend both on the context and quality of the program and on a series of teachers’ characteristics

and experience.


School Teachers. 31

When studies have directly examined teachers’ knowledge of both subject matter and

how to teach, they have found that knowing how to teach also has strong effects on student

achievement. In fact, such studies show that knowledge of teaching and pedagogical strategies is

as important as knowledge of the content (Begle, 1979; Monk, 1994; Wenglinsky, 2000 as cited

in Gulamhussein, 2013).

Research also shows (Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003) that beyond verbal skills,

subject matter knowledge and academic ability, teachers’ professional knowledge and experience

are also key determinants in student learning. Many other characteristics also matter for good

teaching such as enthusiasm, flexibility, perseverance, and concern for children, among others.

Further, specific teaching practices such as knowing how to instruct, manage and assess diverse

students, strong verbal ability, and knowledge of effective methods for teaching that subject

matter make a difference for learning (Good & Brophy, 1995).

All the factors mentioned in the previous paragraph are central topics that Shulman

(1987, 2013) takes into account in his proposed model of Teacher Knowledge Base and which is

one of the main constructs of this study.

Teachers Knowledge Base

For a long time, the formulation of a knowledge base was seen as the command and

knowledge of basic skills such as direct instruction, time on task, and classroom management

among others. In order to teach effectively, the teachers’ competency in their subject matter area

and the use of pedagogical skills were also important aspects for this interpretation of teachers’

knowledge base.


School Teachers. 32

Nevertheless, the elements which constitute a knowledge base have long been debated by

scholars. Pineda (2002) remarks that it is important to clarify such a definition, because policy

makers tend to consider teacher performance in a classroom rather than teacher knowledge of the

content and the way teachers make this knowledge easily accessible to their students. Shulman

(1987, 2013) argues that the resulting standards or mandates lack any reference to the

dimensions of teaching concerned with content. Similarly, even within the research community,

the importance of content has been eclipsed by other factors. According to this author, this

limited conception of knowledge base leads to the production of research and qualifications

programs which treat teaching more or less generically, or at least as if the content of instruction

were relatively unimportant.

The model of Teacher Knowledge Base that Shulman proposed in 1987 highlights the

importance of the teachers’ knowledge of the content of the subject itself, as well the

pedagogical domain, strategies and knowledge of the teachers to manage their classes and to

understand their students’ needs. This theory distinguishes six dimensions or domains to explain

what really knowledge base is.

Figure 1 shows the dimensions proposed by Shulman (1987, 2013) in his model of

Teacher Knowledge Base:


School Teachers. 33

Figure 1. Knowledge base dimensions (Taken from Pineda, 2002, p. 10).

According to Shulman (1987, 2013) these six dimensions combined offer a definition of

knowledge base. He proposes that a connection between each of the dimensions is key in order

to have a complete and broad definition of teachers’ knowledge base.

The Content Knowledge Dimension (CK) is the knowledge and domain that teachers

have of the subject matter they are teaching. General Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) includes the

principles, strategies, and set of practices that are usually related to methodology, classroom

management, motivation, and decision-making.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) emerges when the aforementioned dimensions

are combined and teachers can connect what they know (content) with the pedagogical principles

into an understanding of how particular topics, problems, or issues are organized, represented,


School Teachers. 34

and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of learners, and then presented as instructions

which make the content comprehensive for learners. “That special amalgam of content and

pedagogy that is uniquely the province of teachers, their own special form of professional

understanding” (Shulman, 1987, p.8)

Curricular Knowledge is what should be taught to a particular group of students. It

requires an understanding of student learning potential, national syllabuses, school planning

documents, and year group plans. In addition, any examination or testing syllabuses must be

taken into account alongside any local or contextual requirements.

Pineda (2002, p.11) defines Knowledge of the Learner through the, “besides the physical

and psychological characteristics of the learners, educators should include knowledge about

students’ cognitive processes. This is knowledge about how children, adolescents and adults

learn”. The Knowledge of Educational Goals and their Philosophical Bases dimension suggests

that teachers must go beyond the context of their classrooms and examine the expectation of the

society in which they and their students are embedded in order to respond to the challenges of

this context.

During the beginning of twentieth century and with the widespread of the use of

technology in education, another important area was considered as complementary to Shulman’s

dimensions of knowledge base; namely, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

(TPACK). This category was added by Koehler & Mishra (2009), and is defined as:

the basis of effective teaching with technology, requiring an understanding of the

representation of concepts using technologies; pedagogical techniques that use

technologies in constructive ways to teach content; knowledge of students’ prior


School Teachers. 35

knowledge; and knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing

knowledge or to strengthen the old one (p.1029).

TPACK has been developed over time and through a series of publications, with the most

complete descriptions of the framework found in Mishra and Koehler (2006, 2009). In their

model, there are three main components of teachers' knowledge: content, pedagogy, and

technology. Equally important to the model are the interactions between and among these bodies

of knowledge, represented as PCK (pedagogical content knowledge), TCK (technological

content knowledge), TPK (technological pedagogical knowledge), and TPACK (technology,

pedagogy, and content knowledge). In other words, TPACK offers guidance on how teachers can

use technology in teaching content while remaining up to date and avoiding their practices

entering obsolescence.

With regards to Shulman’s claim to the policy makers, all of these dimensions are a

determinant factor when implementing teacher qualification programs and evaluations.

Furthermore, Pineda (2002) affirms that these categories are also important for teachers when

they seek out knowledge acquisition and training to improve the quality of their practice and

seek continued professional growth.

In the EFL field there is limited research about knowledge base of FL teachers (Bernhardt

& Hammadou, 1987; Hammadou, 1993; Velez- Rendón, 2002). There are some studies about

the impact of reflective practices on pre-service second language teachers focus on teacher

knowledge base development (Antonek, McCormick, & Donato, 1997; Kwo, 1996; Mok, 1994)

and other studies posit that the most relevant concern is teachers’ years of experience and the


School Teachers. 36

connection of this experience to knowledge base (Dadlez, 1998; Reeves & Kazelskis, 1985;

Smith & Sanche, 1992; Turley, 2002; Watzke, 2003).

In some studies, there is evidence that aspects included in Shulman’s dimensions are

positively correlated with student outcomes (NICHD-ECCRN, 2002a, b; Pianta, Paro, Payne,

Cox, & Bradley, 2002). For example, research has demonstrated relations between student

outcomes and classroom variables such as teachers’ praise, quantity and pacing of instruction,

and teachers’ expectations (Brophy & Good, 1986; Fraser, 1987; Stockard & Mayberry, 1992).

Further, teachers’ abilities to manage and control student learning and behaviour in the

classroom is also a predictor student achievement (Brophy & Good, 1986).

Moreover, other studies deal with teacher reflections regarding their students, their

responsiveness to student questions and interests, and the emotional climate of the classroom, all

of which have been related to student achievement (Connor, Morrison, & Katch, 2004a; Connor,

Morrison, & Petrella, 2004b; Green et al., 1992; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998; Torgesen et al.,

1999).

Regarding all the factors which comprise Shulman’s dimensions and the evidence that

many such factors are strongly related to the impact in student achievement, it is extremely

important to consider this framework when policy makers establish programs and evaluations.

The dimensions are also important considerations for the training and qualification programs that

teachers carry out, because the impact of these programs on teacher practice will affect not only

teachers but also students. Research shows that such evidence-based approaches are vital, as

teachers change their underlying beliefs about how to teach something only after they see


School Teachers. 37

success with students; indeed, when teachers do not see success, they tend to abandon the

practice and revert to their comfort zone (Guskey, 2000).

Taking these considerations into account, qualification programs for teachers should

focus on both content and pedagogical knowledge, which should be contextualized according to

the specific needs of the location and community where the programs are developed. Further,

Gulamhussein (2013) discusses 9 different experimental research studies of teacher professional

development with a focus on teachers’ knowledge base, and the findings show that programs of

greater duration were positively associated with teacher change and improvements in student

learning. She affirms: “several studies, for instance, have shown that professional development

that addresses discipline-specific concepts and skills has been shown to both improve teacher

practice, as well as student learning.” (p. 14).

As well as the length of the program, the theme and emphasis of the program also has an

impact on teacher practices. As a finding of her research, Kennedy (1998, p.18) concludes:

“programs whose content focused mainly on teachers’ behaviors demonstrated smaller

influences on student learning than did programs whose content focused on teachers’ knowledge

of the subject, on the curriculum, or on how students learn the subject”.

In the local context, González (2003) asserts that in Colombia, the role of many

universities in the education of teachers is limited to the offer of graduate programs. The dual

aims of these programs are the professionalization of teachers and their training as researchers.

According to this author, this focus does not adequately address the needs of all Colombian

English teachers.


School Teachers. 38

Narrowing the proposal of EFL post-degree programs in Colombia, in, the Secretaría de

Educación Distrital (SED) formed a partnership with sixteen metropolitan universities to offer

qualification programs for in-service teachers. These universities should offer high quality

programs - Programas de Formación Permanente de Docentes - PFPD (SED, 2013, p. 8- 15) -

designed to specifically address the pedagogical concerns and necessities of public schools.

This strategy aims to tackle all the relevant aspects that are essential to attain high

educational quality. One of the main concerns expressed by the languages teachers selected for

this study is their foreign language proficiency (González, 2003) and a desire to learn more about

the content they teach, as demonstrated by the positive responses they gave for training that is

content-specific (Giraldo, 2013).

These aspects are important for EFL public school teachers in the Colombian context.

They are directly linked to the efforts currently made by the Ministry of National Education

(MEN) through the National Bilingual Program as the expected result is that “theory and practice

in professional development programs have a reciprocal relationship, which can have a positive

impact on teachers and their practice.” (Giraldo, 2013, p. 75).

González (2007) explain the process the government carried out to assess and qualify

English teachers. She states that the Ministry of National Education conducted an assessment

project to diagnose the English language proficiency of students and EFL public school teachers

in Bogotá and Cundinamarca in 2003 and 2004. These showed a very low level of language

proficiency for high school students, placing the majority at CEFR A1 level (Cely, 2007 as cited

in González, 2007).


School Teachers. 39

González (2007, p. 163) affirms that the results “motivated the government to diagnose

the proficiency of English teachers on a wider scale […]”. Hernández (2007, p. 33) indicates that

“a correlation between students and teachers’ performance was found. For this reason, the

government decided to promote the improvement of teachers’ pedagogical competences”. As a

result, and in connection with the National Bilingual Program (MEN, 2004), many EFL teachers,

especially those in public schools, are looking for programs which provide them with the

opportunity not only to improve their content and pedagogical knowledge, but also their

language proficiency.

In line with the theories presented above, public teachers and government officials are

making an effort to create, generate, and participate in qualifications programs that help both

teachers and students, while taking into account a professional development model focused on

teachers’ knowledge base. In addition, EFL public school teachers in Colombia face a challenge

insofar that the government expects positive results in connection with the existing national

bilingual policies.

Although, professional development and domain of knowledge base dimensions have a

demonstrated connection with students’ achievement; some researchers have found that another

important concern for teachers is their personal well-being, regardless of qualification programs.

Evens et al. (2015) states that a safe and comfortable workplace as well as contact with

colleagues and status is beneficial for teachers’ PCK development, which eventually will have an

impact on students’ performance and results. As such, it is noteworthy that the public program

in which this study is framed deals with teachers’ personal development and welfare, which is an

important area of concern of teachers and it, is the other construct of this study.


School Teachers. 40

Teachers’ Welfare.

Another important factor dealt with by Project 894: Empowered Teachers with Better

Welfare and Better Training (SED, 2013) is that of teacher welfare. The city government has

considered strategies such as improving teachers’ working conditions, accelerating teachers’

retirement process, offering different health, recreation and welfare programs, and offering

incentives to outstanding performing teachers that include prizes, money benefits and community

recognition (SED, 2013).

Experiences around the world have shown that payment and working conditions are key

elements in the empowerment of teachers and in assuring educational quality (García et al.,

2014). Darling-Hammond & Sykes (2003) found that the money factor is undoubtedly of great

importance, and draw evidence from states and localities that have implemented successful

policies directed at improving salaries, benefits and working conditions.

Another key teacher concern with regards to their professional development is the

financial cost associated with the programs and the resources available to fund them. González

(2003, p. 162) affirms that a drawback for teachers to join in-service qualification programs is

“the high cost of graduate tuition fees”. To mitigate this issue, Project 894: Empowered

Teachers with Better Welfare and Better Training establishes that the city government will

finance 70% of tuition costs, while teachers pay for the remaining 30% (SED, 2013, p. 11).

Financial considerations represent one of the incentives through which the project aimed

to improve teacher welfare and create social networks, which is a considerable issue for teachers.

González (2003, p. 167) mentions that “there is special emphasis on teachers’ experience and the


School Teachers. 41

contact with many well-prepared teacher educators in EFL settings willing to help colleague

teachers”.

With regards to teacher welfare and sharing experiences, González, Montoya and Sierra

(2002, p. 32) affirm that “for EFL teachers, professional development programs represent a way

to fulfill their highest needs and to transcend their daily routines of teaching. They look for

alternatives that promote group work and involve the community of teachers to achieve the goals

proposed.”

This last aspect highlighted by Gonzales and colleagues (2002) is connected to human

needs as a fundamental factor when thinking about teacher welfare. Maslow (1943) defined a

theory in which all humans are framed under some “human needs” which can be arranged

according to their importance in a hierarchy often represented as a pyramid. Needs located at the

bottom of the pyramid must be satisfied before higher needs. The basic needs refer to those areas

in which life is assured. Higher needs refer to psychological issues that are required for our

welfare.

Figure 2 represents Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, in which he classified them from the

basic to the more complex ones:


School Teachers. 42

Figure 2. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (taken from González, Montoya & Sierra 2002, p. 31)

In connection to the welfare factor that Project 894: Empowered Teachers with Better

Welfare and Better Training is trying to fulfill, aspects like money, social networking, social

recognition and teachers’ empowerment are also reflected in Maslow’s theory of human needs.

According to Maslow, at the physiological level humans require survival elements like

air, water, and food. The safety needs include the demand for consistency, rules, and security of

a home or family. In the belonging level, which is also called love level or belongingness, a

central concern is the desire of belonging to groups and feeling accepted.

The esteem needs refer to the desire to be recognized by others as skillful or competent

and feeling good about it. The top of the pyramid includes the self-actualization or self-

realization needs which refer to the desire to realize one’s full human potential and become who

one really wants to be. According to Maslow, only some individuals achieve this level and

become leaders in their groups. They are inspired, in most cases, by the feeling of helping others

and looking to improve their own welfare.


School Teachers. 43

González, Montoya and Sierra (2002, p. 32) state, “teachers’ desiring to participate in

professional development programs may be considered as a way to satisfy their self-actualization

needs”. The aforementioned authors assert that when teachers get involved in activities that

promote the expansion of their academic and personal horizons is usually presented as the main

motivation to seek professional development opportunities. Furthermore, the needs of EFL

teachers are placed in three domains: the teacher as worker, the teacher as instructor, and the

teacher as learner.

Under the first domain are placed all teachers’ needs regarding working conditions and

rights. The curricular domain deals with the teachers’ desire to improve their knowledge over the

subject matter as well as the methodologies to better teach their classes. Professional

development, the third domain, includes teacher needs to acquire and develop skills to become

independent learners, access research skills, and work on humanistic approaches to more holistic

education. (González, Montoya & Sierra 2002)

Educational programs of countries that are leading in the latest standardized international

tests employ strategies such as professional development programs and teacher welfare. . As the

experience of these countries has shown, aspects such as investment in education, preservice and

in-service training, salary, social recognition, among others, are essential for changes in

education (García et al., 2014).

As shown in this document and various literature reviews (Broad & Evans, 2006;

Timperley, Wilson, Barrar & Fung 2008, Borg, 2015), the characteristics of teacher qualification

and professional development programs should be contextualized since contexts will always

vary. The British Council (Borg, 2015) states that there are no universal templates for success.


School Teachers. 44

There is an emerging consensus that professional development ‘works’ better when it covers the

needs of teachers, their involvement in decisions about content and process, teacher

collaboration, support from the school leadership, exploration and reflection with attention to

both practices and beliefs, internal and/or external support for teachers, a valuing of teachers’

experience and knowledge, as well as importance of being immersed in research projects in

which teachers are seen as knowledge generators.

However, as international research increasingly argues, “an education system is only as

good as its teachers” (UNESCO, 2014, 9). Teachers are increasingly recognized as the single most

influential factor on student learning. In order to achieve his/her professional and personal

development, it is important that programs and policies consider not only the academic aspect,

but also the teacher as a whole and as a professional who should satisfy different personal needs.


School Teachers. 45

Chapter 3

Research Design

In this chapter, the type of study used to research the impact of qualification programs on

teacher professional and personal development is described, along with context, participants, and

instruments used to gather data. This chapter is divided into the following six sections:

Methodology, context, participants, description of data collection instruments and their

corresponding validation, ethical issues, and the researcher's role.

Type of study

This research study aims to have a comprehensive view of the phenomenon and therefore

is defined as a mixed study. The aim of this research is to examine teachers’ perceptions

regarding the impact of the qualification programs on their professional and personal

development, and to interpret their views of the programs and their impact. The scope of the

study is exploratory – descriptive since the exploratory – descriptive design is used to explore a

given phenomenon or case to develop a deeper comprehension of the unknown (Duff, 2008).

This qualitative and quantitative study integrates both methods in order to complement

the data gathered from the instruments and to have a clearer understanding of the research

questions that guide this study. Huey Chen (as cited in Johnson et al., 2007, p. 121) defines a

mixed research study as a “systematic integration of quantitative and qualitative methods in a

single study for purposes of obtaining a fuller picture and deeper understanding of a phenomenon

of interest (including its context)”.


School Teachers. 46

Mixed methods can be integrated in such a way that qualitative and quantitative methods

retain their original structures and procedures (pure form mixed methods). Alternatively, these

two methods can be adapted, altered, or synthesized to fit the research and cost situations of the

study (modified form mixed methods). In this case, the mixed method is used to both

complement and triangulate the data collected; that is, to show if the data in the questionnaire

shares similarities to the information gathered from the interviews.

The choice of using an exploratory – descriptive design is because it is appropriate when

a researcher wants to generalize results to different groups (Morse, 1991), or to explore a

phenomenon in depth and then measure its prevalence. In this design, the researcher first

qualitatively explores the research topic with a few participants, as it was done in this study with

the sample of students of the master program. The qualitative findings then guide the

development of items and scales for a quantitative survey instrument.

In the second data collection phase, the researcher implements and validates this

instrument quantitatively. In this design, the qualitative and quantitative methods are connected

through the development of the instrument items (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007). In this model,

the initial qualitative phase produces specific categories or relationships. These categories or

relationships are then used to direct the research questions and data collection used in the second,

quantitative phase (Morse, 1991).

Context

This research study was conducted in Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia, framed under

the policy of Plan Sectorial de Educación 2013, under former mayor Gustavo Petro’s

administration. This plan is divided into different projects, which seek to improve student


School Teachers. 47

education and public school teacher qualification, training and welfare. The study focuses on one

of the projects of the Secretaría de Educacion Distrital (SED) titled Project 894: Empowered

Teachers with Better Welfare and Better Training that, in turn, focuses on three main

components: Teacher Welfare, Qualifications and Empowerment (Plan Sectorial de Educación -

SED, 2013).

The promotion of public school teachers is boosted by economic incentives by which

teachers would register in university programs to conduct postgraduate studies. The government

finances 70% of tuition costs, while teachers pay for the remaining 30%. This component is

traced by a training route called Programas de Formación Permanente de Docentes - PFPD. These

programs are offered by sixteen universities in Bogotá, in alliance with the Secretaría de

Educación Distrital (SED, 2013), thus offering high quality programs designed to assess and

discuss the pedagogical concerns and needs of public school teachers. This research study was

conducted in seven of the universities under the aforementioned alliance cooperation program

and which offers master’s programs in language teaching.

Participants

The participants were selected through purposeful sampling. Patton (2002) claims that the

value of purposeful sampling lies in selecting information-rich cases for studying in depth.

Information-rich cases are those from which one can learn a great deal about issues of central

importance to the purpose of the research. With this idea in mind, critical case sampling was

used, which consists of ‘logical generalizations’ (Patton, 2002, p. 236). By using the logic of


School Teachers. 48

critical case sampling, the researcher synthesizes the viability of the phenomenon of interest,

especially in educational programs.

Sixty nine EFL public school teachers participated in this study while completing foreign

language master’s degree programs sponsored by the Secretaría de Educación Distrital in seven

universities of Bogotá. The participants were selected while taking into account the number of

EFL public school teachers in each semester of the programs.

Accordingly, the semester which had registered the highest number of EFL public school

teachers was selected. In one of the seven universities, all EFL public school teachers of the

program participated since there were not too many teachers matriculated. One volunteer public

school teacher per university was interviewed.

Data Collection Instruments

A questionnaire (See Appendix B, Teachers’ Questionnaire) was used to examine the

impact of professional and personal development of those EFL public school teachers

participating in the master’s degree programs sponsored by the Secretaría de Educación Distrital.

Six semi-structured interviews (See Appendix C, Teachers’ Interview) were also conducted with

the six participant teachers who were available and willing to answer. This last instrument’s aim

is not only to expand, compare and explain the data from the questionnaire, but also to identify

the areas of concern for those EFL public school teachers who were carrying out foreign

language master’s degree programs.

Questionnaire: According to Key (1997, p.1), “A questionnaire is a means of eliciting

the feelings, beliefs, experiences, perceptions, or attitudes of some sample of individuals”. The


School Teachers. 49

purpose of implementing such an instrument was because “each respondent receives the same set

of questions phrased in exactly the same way. Questionnaires may, therefore, yield data more

comparable than information obtained through an interview” (Key, 1997, p.2).

One questionnaire was used as the first instrument to collect data. It was composed of six

demographic questions and 41 statements in which participants rated their degree of agreement

and disagreement based on a 4-point Likert scale in which scores range from 1 to 4, where 1

meant total disagreement and 4 total agreement. The statements were grouped into 8 dimensions;

the first five correspond to Shulman’s model (1987), and the other one is about Technological

PACK (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). The seventh dimension was added by the researcher in order

to examine teacher reflection upon researching and their own practices, and the last one

corresponds to Maslow’s model of Humans Needs (1943, 1954, 1971).

To create the questions for the questionnaire, it was necessary to define each one of the

dimensions proposed by Shulman and Maslow, as well as generate characteristics for each one of

them in order to establish questions for the different aspects that each definition addresses.

To have a validation process, table 1 was shared with the teachers of the master program

with the purpose of adding or skipping characteristics of each dimension to boost the questions

in the final version of this instrument (Appendix B).

The following table shows the process when creating the questions:


School Teachers. 50

Categories Description

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE (CK):

Knowledge and domain that teachers have of

the subject matter they are teaching.

● Knowledge (proficiency) of the target language.

● Knowledge of the structure of the target language (i.e. syntax,

semantics, morphology, phonology, grammar, vocabulary)

● Knowledge of the components of the communicative

competence of the target language

GENERAL PEDAGOGICAL

KNOWLEDGE (PK):

Principles, strategies, and set of practices that

are usually related to methodology, classroom

management, motivation, and decision-making.

● Creation of a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere in the classroom

● Classroom Management

● Presentation of work in a way that interests and motivates

● Providing feedback

● Building rapport with students

● Classroom management for learners of varied age groups

PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT

KNOWLEDGE (PCK):

“Identifies the distinctive bodies of knowledge

for teaching. It represents the blending of

content and pedagogy into an understanding of

how particular topics, problems or issues are

organized, represented, and adapted to the

diverse interests and abilities of learners, and

presented for instruction”. (Shulman, 1987:4).

“The means to represent and communicate the

subject, in order to make it comprehensive for

other people”. (Pineda,2002)

● Repertoire of different forms to formulate the content.

● Content represented in different ways.

● Organization of the content (i.e. from the easiest to the most

difficult)

● Strategies to foster the development of each skill.

● Selection, adaptation or creation of material to teach a specific

topic.

● Activities to promote interaction

● Activities to encourage collaboration and group work.

● Evaluation and assessment alternatives

CURRICULAR KNOWLEDGE:

Knowledge of what should be taught to a

particular group of students. It requires

understanding of student learning potential,

national syllabuses, school planning documents

and year group plans. In addition, any

examination or testing syllabuses must be

taken into account and any local or contextual

● Study of the country’s policies related to foreign language

teaching and learning.

● Knowledge of local policies that affect foreign language teaching

and learning.

● Knowledge of curricular knowledge

● Examination of the integration of foreign language content with


School Teachers. 51

requirements should be considered. other subjects and vice versa.

KNOWLEDGE OF THE LEARNER:

“Besides the physical and psychological

characteristics of the learners, educators should

include knowledge about students’ cognitive

processes. This is knowledge about how

children, adolescents and adults learn”.

(Pineda,2002)

● Awareness of the role of physical and psychological

characteristics of the learner.

● Understanding of the cognitive processes of the learners.

● Familiarity with the neurolinguistic processes involved in

language acquisition and language learning.

● Sensitive to student context.

● Adaptation of methodologies, strategies and material according to

student age, proficiency, and context.

TECHNOLOGICAL PEDAGOGICAL

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE (TPACK):

“TPACK is the basis of effective teaching with

technology, requiring an understanding of the

representation of concepts using technologies;

pedagogical techniques that use technologies in

constructive ways to teach content; knowledge

of students’ prior knowledge; and knowledge

of how technologies can be used to build on

existing knowledge or to strengthen the old

one”

(Koehler & Mishra, 2009).

● Understanding of the manner in which technology and the FL

content that you teach influence one another.

● Mastering technological tools to address content or specific

topics in the classroom.

● Knowledge and management of technological devices and

programs to teach how to use the devices, and to reach the goal of

the class.

● Training about technological material design.

KNOWLEDGE OF TEACHING

PRACTICES AND RESEARCH:

Capacity to reflect upon his/her own teaching

practices.

Knowledge about how to carry out an

educational research.

● Reflect upon your own teaching practices.

● Capacity and ability to examine your own context.

● Develop opportunities to innovate in your class

● Become familiar with research methods to study your research

proposals.

HUMAN NEEDS:

Model in which Maslow (1943, 1954, 1971)

attempted to capture the different levels of

human motivation. It represents the idea that

human beings are propelled into action by

different motivating factors at different times –

● Basic / Psychological Needs:

Includes the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as:

the need for water, air, food. Also, the need to be active, to rest,

to sleep.

● Safety and Security Needs:


School Teachers. 52

biological drives, psychological needs, higher

goals.

Includes needs for safety and security. Examples of these needs

are: a desire for steady employment, health care, safe

neighborhoods, and shelter from the environment.

● Love and belonging needs (Social Needs):

These include needs for belonging, love, and affection.

Relationships, such as: friendships, romantic attachments, and

families help fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance,

as doe’s involvement in social circles, community, or religious

groups.

● Esteem needs:

Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs: The lower version is

the need for the respect of others, the need for status, fame, glory,

recognition, attention, reputation, appreciation, dignity, and even

dominance. The higher form involves the need for self-respect,

including such feelings as confidence, competence, achievement,

mastery, independence, and freedom.

● Self-actualizing Needs:

This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-

actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal

growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested

fulfilling their potential.

Table 1. Categories, description and characteristics of Shulman's and Maslow’s models

As a result of the table above, 43 questions were made. After the expert validation, 2

questions were removed, resulting in a 41 question questionnaire. (See Appendix B).

Semi-structured interviews: In order to have a more profound analysis of teachers’

views and triangulate the data gathered from the interviews, six semi structured interviews were

implemented. Interviews were used in this project for several reasons. First of all, in an

interview, people’s views, attitudes, and experiences can be understood in depth (Wallace,

1998).

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/maslows-needs-hierarchy_6.htm

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/tp/self-actualized-characteristic.htm



School Teachers. 53

In this case, the interviews would help to build an understanding of areas of concern that

the teachers wanted to tackle within the master’s degree programs. Emerson (2007) claims that

interviews can be semi- structured, since both open-ended and guided questions are used. In

some points, unstructured questions will be used to allow free-flowing conversational process

about the research, while trying to maintain a small amount of control as to guide the focus.

One interview was applied to one of the teachers in each of the EFL master’s degree

programs where the questionnaires were applied. One of the seven interviews was not included

because it was in Spanish and the foreign language of the program was, in this case, Spanish.

However, the participant teacher was not teaching Spanish as a foreign language, so most of the

questions did not apply to the teacher’s teaching practice.

The interviews were divided into four parts: personal background composed of 14

questions; professional knowledge composed of 22 questions organized in the same first seven

dimensions of the questionnaire; the other part is about welfare, composed of 5 questions; and

the final one is about general perceptions composed of 7 questions. The interview’s approximate

answering time was one hour. The complete interview protocol has been included in Appendix

C.

Validation of Instruments

Firstly, the questionnaire was created based on Shulman’s study model of professional

development (1987) and Maslow’s model of Human Needs (1943, 1954, 1971). The

questionnaire was piloted with 8 classmates from the master’s degree program of Applied

Linguistics to TEFL at Universidad Distrital, all of them foreign languages teachers. Secondly,


School Teachers. 54

expert review was also applied to check for the validity of the instrument. The questionnaire was

sent to a professional of applied linguistics and bilingual education from a very prestigious

university in Colombia, who has extensive experience and research.

Considering the suggestions and questions formulated by the expert, appropriate

adjustments were made. Based upon the final version of the questionnaire, the interview was

conducted and piloted with one of the colleagues from the same master’s degree program at

Universidad Distrital, who works as a public-school teacher and was part of Project 864. After

the pilot, two more questions were added to the first section about demographic information.

Researcher’s Role and Ethical Issues

For this study, the role of the researcher was that of an observer as well as participant.

This role was very important as it allowed the researcher to have more accessibility to

participants and data, taking into account the commonalities between the researcher and

participants.

Gold (1958) states that in this role, the researcher or observer has only minimal

involvement in the social setting being studied. There is some connection to the setting but the

observer is not naturally and normally part of the social setting. According to the latter, in this

specific study, the researcher was not part of the social setting where the participants work and

studied; this fact made the participants feel more relaxed in being part of this study and

expressed openly their opinions and feelings about the programs and their place of work.

Based on Patton’s (2002) Ethical issues checklist, the researcher should be accountable

for ensuring that:


School Teachers. 55

• The participants and the institution are informed about the aim of the research they are asked to

participate in (See Appendix D – Consent Form for Directors and Coordinators of the Programs,

and Appendix B– Questionnaire with Consent Form for Participant-Teachers).

• They understand the risks and benefits they may face and get as a result of being part of the

research.

• Confidentiality is guaranteed. Numbers were used to change names and detailed information.

• There is peer-checking, meaning that the participants are aware of the interpretations that are

given to the data they provided.


School Teachers. 56

Chapter 4

Data Analysis

The questions that guide this research project relate to the participants’ areas of concern,

how EFL public school teachers’ participation in qualification programs sponsored by the local

government of Bogotá influenced their professional development from their own point of view,

and how such an experience had impacted their personal development. This chapter responds to

these questions and presents the findings from the quantitative and qualitative component of the

research.

Data Management

The data of this mixed study was gathered throughout the application of two instruments.

The first source of information was the EFL public school teachers’ responses in a questionnaire.

This instrument was composed of 6 demographic questions and 41 statements in which

participants rated their agreement or disagreement with some assertions that examined aspects

related to Shulman’s model of professional development (1987) and teacher welfare based on

Maslow’s model of Human Needs (1943, 1954, 1971).

The statements were grouped into 8 dimensions. The first five corresponded to

Shulman’s model, and the other one is about TPACK, (Koehler & Mishra, 2009) which refers to

the knowledge that teachers have to employ technology for educational purposes. The seventh

dimension was added by the researcher to examine teachers’ reflections upon researching and

their own practices, and the last one corresponds to Maslow’s model of Humans Needs (1943,

1954, 1971).


School Teachers. 57

The questionnaire was applied to 69 EFL public school teachers who participated in EFL

master’s degree programs sponsored by the Secretaría de Educación Distrital in seven

universities of Bogotá. The selection of the participants was done taking into account the number

of EFL public school teachers in each semester of the programs. Accordingly, the semester

which had registered the highest number of EFL public school teachers was selected. In one of

the seven universities, the questionnaire was applied to all EFL public school teachers of the

master’s degree program since there were not too many teachers matriculated. The participants’

responses were saved in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for their corresponding analysis.

The second set of data was gathered from six semi-structured interviews, which were

divided into four parts: personal background composed 14 questions; professional knowledge

composed 22 questions which were organized in the first seven dimensions of the questionnaire.

Welfare composed 5 questions and the final part is about general perceptions and is composed of

7 questions. The interview’s approximate answering time was one hour.

The instrument was applied to one EFL public school teacher sponsored by the program

of the Secretaría de Educación Distrital; one volunteer-teacher per each university was selected.

The participants’ responses were recorded and saved, and then, during the analysis, transcribed

into Microsoft Word files, and stored.

Data Analysis Framework

This is a mixed study and understood as one that “focuses on collecting, analyzing, and

mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or series of studies. Its central

premise is that the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches in combination provides a


School Teachers. 58

better understanding of research problems than either approach alone” (Creswell, 2008, p. 5). For

the quantitative data, the frequency and percentage of the participants’ responses in a

questionnaire were analyzed using Microsoft Excel.

The scope of this study is exploratory – descriptive, according to Creswell & Plano Clark

(2007, p. 78) this model is used:

when a researcher formulates quantitative research questions or hypotheses based on

qualitative findings and proceeds to conduct a quantitative study to answer the

questions. In addition, a researcher may identify emergent categories from the

qualitative data and then use the quantitative phase to examine the prevalence of these

categories within different samples

This study measured the participants degree of agreement and disagreement based on 4-

point Likert scale with scores ranging from 1 to 4 in which 1 meant total disagreement and 4

total agreement. The total scores in each question were counted and organized in percentages in

order to display their results as graphs. The quantitative framework was as an attempt to answer

research questions 2 and 3; the information that emerged from this analysis was triangulated with

the information from the interviews in order to have a more profound analysis of teachers’ views

The data gathered in the interviews was transcribed into Microsoft Word files and

analyzed based on the Charmaz (2010) Grounded Theory Framework. Charmaz (2010, p. 2)

defines grounded theory as “systematic, yet flexible guidelines for collecting and analyzing

qualitative data to construct theories ‘grounded’ in the data themselves”. This approach is purely

inductive and analytical and seeks to discover theory that emerges from collected data through


School Teachers. 59

comparative and systematic analysis. This qualitative information has as objective not only to

expand, compare, and explain the data from the questionnaires, but also to answer the first

research question of this study.

Three types of coding were used, namely open, axial, and selective coding. The process

used in each type of coding permitted the identification of patterns, groups, and categories that

served to inductively generate theory from the qualitative data gathered and to respond to the

research questions. The process followed is described below.

After having collected and transcribed the data from the six interviews, the color coding

technique was used to identify recurrent ideas in the data collected. Each emerging theme was

assigned a label name which corresponds to the open coding stage. Strauss and Corbin (1990, p.

62) indicate that in this stage “data is broken down into discrete parts; closely examined,

compared for similarities and differences, and [in which] questions are asked about the

phenomena as reflected in the data”. A process of reading and re-reading was done to start

coding the instances that could potentially nurture the questionnaire responses and the research

interest, while always keeping in mind the research questions and objectives of the study.

After labelling the data collected by using different codes or names, the next stage

consisted of grouping similar themes under a central idea, which is, in essence, axial coding.

Strauss and Corbin, as cited by Charmaz (2010, p. 60), refer to this stage as “[a] strategy for

bringing data back together again in a coherent whole”. At this point, codes were grouped

according to the commonalities found. The initial codes were then put together in broader

abstract groups that became the preliminary categories and subcategories which responded to the

first research question posed.


School Teachers. 60

Identifying the preliminary categories and subcategories was followed by selective

coding. In this phase, a process of writing code notes was followed in order to keep ideas that

possibly connected the four main categories found. Memos were also used in order to keep track

of the theoretical concepts considered as relevant to explain each of the categories. As for the

links among categories, the organizational scheme by Strauss and Corbin, as cited by Charmaz,

(2010) was used. This scheme proposes: 1) Conditions, understood as the circumstances that

form the studied phenomena and answer the why, where, how come, and when questions; 2)

actions/interactions, participant responses to issues, and answer the by whom and how questions;

and 3) consequences, the outcomes of participant actions or interactions and answer the what

happens questions as a result of such actions/interactions.

Findings

Graph 1. Visual display of the emergent categories.

As explained above, this is a mixed study. The quantitative data emerged from the

questionnaires; this data is aimed to examine the impact of professional and personal

The qualification programs:

oportunnities for growth

Lack of collegiality in

schools

Technology and Pedagogy: areas

that deserve attention

The role of research in fostering reflection

Teachers' welfare as an aspect that

requires attention

The need to create and

strengthen social networks

Improving working

conditions for other personal

dimensions

Areas of

concern

Professional Development Well-Being


School Teachers. 61

development on those EFL public school teachers who participate in the master’s degree

programs sponsored by the Secretaría Distrital de Educación. The graph above shows the

categories that emerged from the study and after the application and analysis of the instruments.

The graphs below show the information gathered from the questionnaires and this information is

divided into two parts: the first one is about demographic information while the second one

shows the frequency of responses of the 41 statements, which made up the questionnaire.

Demographic information

A total of 69 subjects responded the questionnaire, out of this group 71% (n=49) were women

and 29% (n=20) were men.

Figure 3. Number of female and male interviewees

Most of the participants were between 35–39 years old (32%), and 30–34 years (30%).

None of them was younger than 25 and a small percentage was older than 40 (26%).

Figure 4. Interviewees’ ages

Male

29%

Female

71%

0% 12% 30% 32% 10% 12% 4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

20 - 24 25 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 +


School Teachers. 62

A large number of the participants (n= 49) pointed out that they did not have any other

studies after finishing their undergraduate programs; some of them (n= 15) have studied

postgraduate programs and a small amount of them (n= 5) have already completed a master’s

degree program.

Figure 5. Degree obtained before entering the current program.

The majority of the participants work in schools in the Bosa (16%) and Kennedy (16%)

localities, while the same percentage work in Rafael Uribe (12%) and Ciudad Bolivar (12%), and

the rest of the participants are distributed amongst the other 12 localities of Bogotá. None of the

EFL public school teachers that made up this sample indicated that they were working in the

localities of Chapinero (L.2), Teusaquillo (L.13), Candelaria (L.17) orSumapaz (L.20).

Figure 6. Localities of Bogotá where participants work

0%

71%

22% 7% 0% 0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Normalista Bachelor Specialization Master Other

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

4% 0% 1% 4% 6% 3%

16% 16%

4% 4% 9%

1% 0% 4% 1% 1% 0%

12% 12%

0%


School Teachers. 63

The qualification programs: Opportunities for growth

This category refers to the development of a person in his or her professional role.

Professional development for educators is defined as “the activities that develop an individual’s

skills, knowledge, expertise and other characteristics as a teacher” (OECD, 2009, p.49); more

specifically, “teacher development is the professional growth a teacher achieves as a result of

gaining increased experience and examining his or her teaching systematically” (Glatthorn,

1995, p. 41).

According to this idea, the data gathered in this study shows that teachers wanted to

confront the area of professional development when they registered in the master’s degree

program since they felt the need for constant learning, improving teaching practices and

energizing students learning, which are the factors included in teacher professional development

as well as the domains that Shulman (1987, 2013) proposes in his model of Teachers’

Knowledge Base:

“For a long time the formulation of knowledge base was limited to the acquisition of the

basic skills required for teaching, the competency of educators in their subject matter

area, and the use of pedagogical skills. However, there are other variables that are critical

in the teaching profession. Such variables include the classroom context, the physical and

psychological characteristics of the learners, and the subject matter itself. Recently other

variables have been included in the list: the personal and practical experiences of

teachers, their reflective practices and research skills” (Pineda, 2002, p. 10)

A commonality in teachers’ responses was their inner drive to improve their teaching

practices and their expectation that the qualification programs (master’s degrees) would fulfill

that purpose. The teaching practices involved not only the way in which teachers delivered their

lessons, but also the skills to identify their students’ needs and ways of learning. The need to


School Teachers. 64

enhance their way of teaching and energize student learning and classes are themes that teachers

frequently expressed in their interviews:

T: I choose the program because actually I realized that I need to improve my practices as

a teacher, because I realized that my SS were not comfortable in my classes, so I need to

improve.

(Interview teacher 1, p. 1. March 3, 2015)

I: What motivated you to participate in the program?

T: My motivation was to be a better teacher, to try that our students have better

opportunities (tears) to learn.

(Interview teacher 5, p. 2. January 15, 2016)

T: I chose it because I wanted in a good way improve my teaching practices, because at

the public school, well, firstly, I haven’t had enough experience with teaching, because I

graduated in 2009 and in 2010 I was already working in public school, so, the context is

different from what you’ve learnt in the past, in the classrooms. When I faced real

situations in context, I faced real students, you considered things that you haven’t done

before, so, I was working on what I’ve learnt in my bachelor degree but I though and I’m

still thinking we have to grow up and learn more strategies and new things, everything

related to what students need day by day…


In the excerpts above, participants expressed that they needed more strategies to energize

their classes; students’ needs and interests are seen as key factors to take into account in the

fostering of the participants’ teaching practices. Some participants mentioned their desire to

offer better learning opportunities to their students through materials development and design:

I: Why did you choose this program?

T: Ok, I like that here we can work with English, because when I work with the Spanish

subject at my school I think we don’t have many problems with that, It’s easier. But after

that, I began to see some problems with English, especially in the public sector, students

don’t have the possibility to have materials, to have resources and English has become a

subject… hmm ... a meaningless subject, so, they (the students) don’t see that English is

useful for them, they don’t like it. Most of them, they don’t feel engaged with the

learning activities in the EFL, so, I wanted to work but with English, so, I like this

emphasis because of that […]

The development of materials, I think it’s wonderful and it’s important and it really

changes the way students’ access to the learning, I think it is the most important point of

this emphasis in particular.


School Teachers. 65

(Interview teacher 3, p. 2. September 29, 2015)

Student needs, identities, context, likes, wants and lacks were also something that this

category encompasses since teachers recognized that students should be the main reason of the

learning – teaching process in their classrooms. They also expressed that recognizing student

needs and voices as well as including them in the classroom will have a positive impact in the

way students respond to class.

T: Here I’ve learnt a lot of that, and I improved my practices and I realized that some of

my practices were not like proper applicated for my students.


I have written some readings depending on the context, this context. Because I live in

(name of the locality), I’m taking into account this, the identity. At the university they

emphasize in that, the identity, they don’t, they can’t lose the identity […]

Identity, the gender, they talk a lot about the gender, because we have this problem now.

We have to integrate, we don’t have to discriminate … mmm ... what else ... students

with learning difficulties.


T: Yes, I think, because now, I consider my students more, may be before I just worked

without thinking about them, about their needs, but now I think, they are teenagers, I have

to work for teenagers, they have different moments[…]

When you think about your students and you create and prepare something for them,

they, the class changes. They feel different and respond different to the process, I would

say they respond better, because they feel they are valued, they are heard, and this in

materials development is a very important factor.


You have the opportunity to reflect or to think about. Or to be sure that your students are

learning or the way they are learning or be aware of their learning.

(Interview teacher 4, p. 4. October 7, 2015)

Another important characteristic that mobilized teachers to enroll in postgraduate studies

was their desire to acknowledge and address social issues that students face in their

surroundings. Students’ contexts are the basis for these group of teachers to start making


School Teachers. 66

changes in their practices so that they respond to their students’ particular needs and situations

both academically and at the personal level:

T: Here I am developing a study based on the analysis of lyrics of songs related to social

issues that my students are facing through a critical thinking scope […]

The project, because it is related to the context, social issues that my students are facing,

but ... but know how to include it yes, I see that we have to go beyond of the classroom

and start what they are facing. And sometimes they did not like to go to school it’s not

because they want, it’s because they have something that happen to them and we don’t

know and actually teachers don’t realized that.


T: Ok, the project is about to enhance students’ oral fluency through in-context

photography activity based on community issues. We were working during one year,

well, preparing and planning, with eight graders, in 2014. The implementation took like

24 hours, in each institution, because there are two institutions, one in Ciudad Bolivar and

the other in Puente Aranda, but the population is very related, they have similar

characteristics […]

In our case, in the research part, let’s say that almost the 50% of the material was taking

and the other was designed because we have to fit with the purpose of the research

because it was in context photography and community based learning so, we have to

considered first the context and the issues that happen around it to design the material.


I: what kind of research are you doing?

T: A socio cultural research about learning, about English learning and all the aspects that

involves didactics of English.

I: Can you expand a little more this idea?

T: I think that in the way to manage the things with my partners because the topic of

intercultural competence is that, we have to manage the conflict, it’s a mediation, it’s

negotiation, we permeated our knowledge.


The samples above show that teachers are taking the social issues that surround their

students’ context into account - social problems, opportunities for learning with contextualized

materials, and intercultural competence to create tolerance. Further, local policies, projects and

programs currently carried out in public schools are aspects that affect their learners’ education.


School Teachers. 67

These local projects are also included in the concerns that teachers addressed in their research

studies:

T: As you know, (name of the university) is focused in investigation, research and we are

supposed to make a research and I thinking about Media Fortalecida ...

I’m trying to connect my studies with the school and with the distrital program Educación

Media Fortalecida...


I: Can you tell me a little about your research proposal?

T: It’s about a program, a public program from alcaldia, which is 40 x 40. This program

works with centros de interes, one of them is bilingualism, EFL. My research is a case

study in my school, I’m trying to see in the findings the perceptions children and teachers

who are working on that program, have about that program in my school.


As seen above, teachers included in their research proposals the factors that they

considered to be affecting the process of EFL learning in their students. Participants in this study

stated that their projects tried to respond to their students’ context and needs, so they wanted to

include them in their studies to contribute to the everyday issues their institutional community is

facing.

As explained before, the statements in the questionnaire were grouped into 8 dimensions,

taking into account Shulman’s model, TPACK (Koehler & Mishra, 2009), and Maslow’s model of

Humans Needs (1943, 1954, 1971). Regarding the first dimension, which was related to

Shulman’s dimension of Content Knowledge, the statements examined if participants perceived

that the program had impacted three aspects: improving proficiency, structure knowledge of the

target language, and understanding of the components of the communicative competence. The

following figure shows the results that correspond to each item:


School Teachers. 68

Figure 7. Participants’ view on the impact on the Content Knowledge dimension.

This data indicates that a high percentage of the participants had a favorable perception of

the impact of their programs on each of the three aspects examined: Proficiency (83%), Structure

Knowledge (78%), and Understanding of the Communicative Competence (90%).

This information is similar to what participants expressed in their interviews. A

commonality in their view was that programs provided ample opportunities for practicing the

target language. From their perception, this is relevant as they recognized the limitation of being

immersed in a monolingual context that to a certain extent detracts them from having a real

practice of the language. The fact that their programs demanded practicing the target language is

perceived as a contribution:

I: Has your language proficiency improved due to the program?

T: Yes of course, because... that’s not doubt that when you are in a public school and

may be; you don’t need to be in a constant progress speaking in English, so, your level

starts to decrease, so, in this master program my proficiency in the language has grown

up, because every time in the university I have to speak in English and that’s good.


I: Ok, has this program influenced your language proficiency?

T: Yes, in a positive way of course, because I have to listen all the time lot of people

talking in English, because the classes are in English. Excellent teachers some of them are

native teacher that come to (name of the university), and all the time they demand that

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

7% 7% 3% 10% 14%

7%

45% 43% 41% 38% 35%

49%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree


School Teachers. 69

our activities were in English, so, I think we had to improve the listening and speaking, I

consider that it affects my speaking because I’m always in Colombia and (name of the

school) all the time, but I think I can speak and communicate.


An aspect that was highlighted by one of the participants was the key role of tutoring

sessions provided by the university to help participants with language problems they

encountered. In this particular university, free tutoring sessions are offered as a support. This is

perceived as an extra contribution that programs give to the participants because this is not

something in which programs should focus on, as it will be explained in the conclusion chapter:

Something positive is that if you have difficulties with language, the university provides

the spaces and the teachers who support you with that part, I think in the language it’s

very good.


Shulman’s model proposes that teachers should master the knowledge of the structure,

which for EFL teachers requires a solid knowledge of the linguistic aspects of the language such

as syntax, semantics, morphology, phonology, grammar and so on. This was an area that teachers

highlighted as positive in their programs. They gained confidence in using the structure of the

language to diagnose students and to propose pedagogical solutions.

T: I think what have done this master program is it has given me tools, pedagogical tools

and so that, now I can use them to apply them in the context, with the difficult situations

we face every day as teachers in public institutions, nowadays, we have or I have more

tools in relation to language topics, I think it’s better now, I mean, my knowledge onto

that, I think I can manage more… some situations that maybe appear in the classroom, in

the class, in a normal class.


We always are making like diagnostics of the language, its parts, every activity is an

opportunity to know your students. If we are talking about speaking, you realize the

affective field, if they are shy, or they are enthusiastic about things, when you are. Just

with a simple activity, you see if they have enough vocabulary or not, if the things you

are asking for example matching, if they are able or not to do it, so yes, in the program, I


School Teachers. 70

have got, let’s say, a luggage of tools to know or to make simple activities that can make

you analyze if your population has or not.


The Content Knowledge Dimension also addresses the understanding of communicative

competence. The most recurrent and relevant feature of teachers’ views with respect to this area

was the awareness they gained of what communicative competence really implies. As shown in

the excerpt below, the participants tended to realize that their practices were mechanical and fell

into patterns of repetition. They were conscious that in some cases they were trying to meet the

demands of testing in the country and in doing so, their practices were limited.

T: I have learnt to be more communicative, because we also say that our approach is the

communicative approach, but we really don’t do that, no... we focus a lot in grammar, in

our classes, we don’t focus in speaking or in listening but in reading and writing, we

emphasize a lot in grammar because of the ICFES test, because it requires a lot grammar

so we emphasize in grammar and we forget about listening and speaking, and I’m trying

to improve in my classroom and I’m trying to improve the speaking.


Regarding the second dimension in Shulman’s model, Pedagogical Knowledge, the

following charts show the tendency in teachers’ responses. This dimension addresses the

principles, strategies and set of practices that are usually related to methodology, classroom

management, motivation, and decision-making. The first statements of this dimension are

related to classroom management and atmosphere.


School Teachers. 71

Figure 8. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs in classroom management and environment

Figure 8 shows that the responses to the impact of the program on teachers’ abilities to

manage and create appropriate and stimulating classroom atmospheres were very positive. A

high percentage indicated that they totally agreed with the favorable impact of the program

(enjoyable atmosphere 52%, classroom management 45%).

This finding echoes some of the responses provided in the interviews. Again a repetitive

feature was stimulating teachers’ awareness of the flaws in their classes. Teachers felt they

gained expertise to manage students by relying upon knowledge from theory that they could

apply to their teaching scenarios:

T: Yes, of course, to me it’s what I expected, that was to learn, to manage students, so, I

think it gives us a lot of tools… we have the knowledge of how to do the things, it’s not

only to work with the common sense, now, there are theories about that, so, I could apply

to the students.


T: yes, totally, I cry because of happiness, yes of course, when we know how to lead, how

to manage our way of teaching, the students. The universe of our students change and

we change. It’s not difficult to teach, because we understand the environment, the

context, we have tools or knowledge to do better our work, to me it’s, I’m so grateful for

this opportunity.


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1% 1% 6% 7%

41% 46%

52% 45%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Creating a relaxing and

enjoyable atmosphere

Improving Management

Skills


School Teachers. 72

The other set of statements that examined the Pedagogical Knowledge Dimension deal

with motivation, methodologies and strategies to work with learners from different ages and with

content presentation and organization. Figure 9 illustrates the favorable views of teachers with

respect to those aspects: Methodologies 58%, the highest percentage; Content Presentation 49%;

and Content Organization 48%.

Figure 9. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs in Content Presentation and Organization and

Methodologies with students from different ages.

These aspects - motivation, methodologies and strategies with learners from different

ages, and content organization - were also remarked in the teachers’ interviews, who expressed

the contribution of the program on their way of presenting and organizing the content, along with

the methodologies and strategies used with learners from different ages.

The following excerpt indicates one teacher’s opinion about the changes of her teaching

practices. She claimed that she was aware of these changes because her students expressed that

they had fun in her classes, how much they enjoyed the activities, and she said she had not had

this experience before doing the master’s degree program since her classes were very traditional.

I’m happier now, because I feel better in my class, I think I have more elements to work

with my children. I know many things that have improved my practice and in this

moment my students told me, told me that in my classes, teacher this exercise was

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1% 1% 1% 7% 7% 6%

49%

33%

48% 42%

58%

43%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Content presented through motivating

ways

Methodologies and

strategies used with learners from different ages

Content

Organization


School Teachers. 73

wonderful, I enjoyed it a lot , and we learnt and I haven’t had this experienced before of

the master program because my classes were very traditional and didn’t have enjoyable

activities.


The samples below indicate interviewees’ stances about presenting content in a

motivating way; the guidance received at their programs helped them to put into practice

strategies to select the content of their classes according to their students’ needs. Nevertheless,

they expressed the difficulty in applying some practices, due to the rigid programs that they have

at their schools.

I: Have you learnt how to organize the content?

T: Well, yes, I would say yes, the problem in the school is that there is like a program that

you have to follow yes, so... but if you are talking about the level of difficulty, yes,

maybe now I can start with the easiest part and go to more, more difficult, more complex

and that’s good, but in terms of the content per se; we have to teach something and that’s

what we have to do.


I: Has the program offered you opportunities or strategies to know how organize the

content, to select the content?

T: Yeah, that was one of the seminars, we talked about that and our teachers proposed to

us some kinds of ways to choose the syllabus, to design it, to follow, know we have to put

those strategies into practice.

There is a kind of framework that our teachers proposed us and it has like some… some

moments, some components, first we have to see which are the needs that our students

have, then we have to plan what are we going to work in reference to those needs.


Regarding the program’s influence on the knowledge of teachers’ methodologies and

strategies with learners from different ages, teachers claimed in the interviews that now they

understand the importance of considering their students’ ages because each life stage is different

and learners have different needs, likes, lacks and wants according to their age and teachers

should include these in their classes.


School Teachers. 74

I consider my students more, may be before I just worked without thinking about them,

about their needs, but now I think, they are teenagers, I have to work for teenagers, they

have different moments.


Yes, we do that in one subject, we talked about children ways of learning and we

understand each child is different… children learn different from adults and teenagers.


The last aspects that Professional Knowledge Dimension examined are feedback,

assessment and evaluation, and student rapport. Figure 10 shows the teachers’ views, which

continued inclining for the positive effect of the program; nearly fifty percent of the participants’

responses totally agree with the influence of their master’s degree program on feedback (42%

totally agree and 52% agree), evaluation and assessment (49%), as well as student rapport (49%).

Figure 10. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs in connection with student rapport, feedback,

assessment and evaluation.

In the interviews, participants also continued with the positive tendency; they asserted

that the program has made them aware of the diverse ways to assess and evaluate, as well as

provide students with more efficient feedback. They expressed that they have realized the

importance for their students to have the opportunity to know what their mistakes are and how

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

4% 4% 3% 1% 4% 9%

52% 42%

36% 42% 49% 49%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Ways to provide

feedback

Building student

rapport

Ways to assess and

evaluate


School Teachers. 75

they can correct them. As a consequence, both teachers and students would be more aware of the

content and the learning process:

Now I am trying to be more communicative, I am trying to improve my practices in the

error correction, I used to grade with an X with a red pen, it is incorrect, it is not, and I

understood that it does not help my students, because yes, that’s wrong but why, and I

didn’t give them the opportunity to know what was the mistake and how to correct it.

Now I think that this master program has helped me to be, like more, give more and

efficient feedback to my students.


T: Strategies, hmm... I think it gives the opportunity to think about evaluation process,

more important to evaluate, specifically in bilingualism, it’s to think on the general

process, so, you have the opportunity to reflect or to think about. Or to be sure that your

students are learning or the way they are learning, or be aware of their learning.


One of the participants pointed out that the university where she studied has a focus on

evaluation probably because it is a mandatory factor to take into account in master’s degree and

teacher qualification programs. The teacher indicated that this is a very important factor in

teacher qualification because of the scarcity of knowledge in this area. Her discourse indicated

that there were difficulties in the execution of proper evaluation, assessment and feedback

processes in public education. In addition, time seems to be a factor that influences what

teachers do in class and sometimes they perceive that there is not enough time to carry out all the

necessary activities:

I think that it’s something is which the master is very focused and very well done, in

improving that part. I don’t know if it is because they realized that this is a lack of

knowledge we have as teachers, not everybody. I think it happens because, for example

at my school I don’t see a lot of teachers that do as the way it has to be done. Yes, so, it’s

very difficult and for the teachers it’s very difficult to connect everything, especially

when you have forty students and you have only like one minute or two minutes to talk

with your students and see what happened, what did you do, what you didn’t do. It’s very

difficult because they are not used to analyze their progress especially in language

learning.



School Teachers. 76

The extract below presents most of the opinions that teachers had about the guidance that

they have received in their programs in order to build student rapport along with a more affective

and effective relationship. Participants expounded that they learnt to go beyond the classroom

and to understand the context, interests, needs and likely problems that their students face in

order to include them as part of the class and as activities to learn the language.

They claimed that it is important to know who the students are, to listen to them and to

consider them as people who feel, not only as sheer learners of something. Sometimes this is

difficult because it demands time which is something they feel they lack of:

I see that we have to go beyond of the classroom and start what they (students) are facing,

and sometimes they did not like to go to school it’s not because they want, it’s because

they have something that happen to them and we don’t know and actually teachers don’t

realized that.

There is a social purpose and objective which is very social, understand the student as a

human been as a person who feels, and not like the bottle that we have to fill up ... yes …

so ... that’s interesting, that is a perspective, that is not new, but some of us, talking about

teachers. We don’t take into account it because it demands time, because it is stopping

our activities, or not stopping apart of our activities we have to know our students, listen

to them, go beyond. That’s requires time and maybe we don’t do it but it’s important, I

know it, in here my teachers told me about it.


The third dimension in Shulman’s model, represented in the questionnaire, deals with

Pedagogical Content Knowledge, which “represents the blending of content and pedagogy into

an understanding of how particular topics, problems or issues are organized, represented, and

adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of learners, and presented for instruction” (Shulman,

1987, p. 4). The statements addressed aspects such as methodologies, strategies to promote

classroom interaction, collaborative work as well as materials adaptation and creation.


School Teachers. 77

Figure 11. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs in their repertoire of methodologies to teach

and strategies for interaction and collaborative work.

Figure 11 depicts the positive perception that almost half of the participants had regarding

the contribution of the program in relation to the first three aspects mentioned above: 55% of the

interviewees completely agreed with the positive impact of the program on expanding their

repertoire of methodologies, 48% with strategies to promote classroom interaction, and 45% with

encouraging collaborative work. This dimension was also pointed out in the interviews in which

teachers asserted that they have gained confidence in their knowledge and in ways to innovate in

the teaching of the language:

I: Have you gained knowledge about methodologies or strategies to teach EFL?

T: Yes it has, because in the program you study a seminar contexto y aprendizaje; you

study different methodologies, different strategies, programs. Yes, it gives you

knowledge to teach EFL, so, of course you are more able to teach that.


I: Ok, have you had opportunities to learn or strength methodologies and different

strategies to teach the EFL?

T: Yeah, I should say that in this master program we have learnt a lot…

I: For example?

T: hmm… I think now I’m working not from the traditional point of view, but I’m trying

to work more with the meaningful learning approach.


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1% 1% 4% 10% 6% 7%

33% 45% 43%

55% 48% 45%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Repertoire of

methodologies to teach

the target language

Repertoire of strategies to promote classroom

interaction

Repertoire of strategies to encourage collaborative

work


School Teachers. 78

The following samples describe teachers’ points of view about the way the programs

helped them to foster interaction. Participants expressed that they did not address interaction

effectively and that they were not aware of affective factors influencing it. The application of

theories seemed to have played a positive influence in their work. They reckoned that this was a

practical and useful component as they were able to understand the complexity of factors

involved in trying to stimulate students’ participation.

We have the knowledge of how to do the things, it’s not only to work with the common

sense. Now, there are theories about that, so, I could apply to the students, for example,

oral interaction. One theory says that the teacher talks a lot, but the teacher interacts with

the first students and the center of the students, the last of the lines, and the teachers

forgets other students, and that is a theory, to me it’s practical. When I tried to apply it to

my classroom and I noticed it was true, and the students say you only ask him, you only

ask her, and I said oh, the theory is true, and I didn’t notice that I did that thing. It’s

practical because I noticed and I had to change it.


It considers a lot of aspects that I haven’t considered before. I think that is practical,

because I have to consider as I told you cognitive, linguistics needs, affective factors,

objectives, the sequence, if you are making the scaffolding in the correct way, the

evaluation, the time, the kind of interaction you are having with your students, the

materials, some aspects I didn’t consider before.


Another aspect that is considered in this third dimension is the importance of developing

skills to select, adapt and create materials. Figure 12 represents participants’ answers to this

statement, which continues validating the favorable perception that teachers had about the

academic preparation (content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content

knowledge) of the programs. Most of the participants (88%) agreed with the positive effect that

programs have had on the development of skills to select, adapt and create materials


School Teachers. 79

Figure 12. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs to select, adapt and create materials.

This perspective was also underlined in the interviews, in which teachers valued the

emphasis that programs have in materials development and design. The excerpts below explain

teachers’ opinions about the importance of the qualification in doing contextualized materials for

Colombian learners now that most of the materials are created abroad and they do not take

different settings into account, particularly, the needs and identities of the students from the

sector of public education.

I: Has the program helped you to select, adapt or create materials?

T: Yes, it does, because I have written some readings depending on the context, this

context. Because I live in (name of the locality), I’m taking into account this, the identity.

At the university they emphasize in that, the identity, they don’t, they can’t lose the

identity.


T: Yes, selection, adaption and creation, yes, there was one of the topics in the

methodology assignment that we have to do all the time. As I told you, we have theories

but we had found the proper material to apply the theories, and make them evident in the

classroom and select the result. It’s difficult because almost all the material is designed

abroad, USA, UK, but basically we have to redesign those materials in order to adapt

them to our context, our population. In our case, in the research part, let’s say that almost

the 50% of the material was taking and the other was designed because we have to fit

with the purpose of the research because it was in context photography and community

based learning, so, we have to considered first the context and the issues that happen

around it to design the material.


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Select, Adapt and Create Materials

4% 7%

43% 45%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree


School Teachers. 80

The next sample illustrates the opinion of one teacher regarding the emphasis that the

university where she studied has on materials design. She learnt to create contextualized

materials for their students, and this action has had an impact on her students’ learning. She

pointed out that teachers used to work with photocopies, but when they thought of their students,

they created more appropriate materials and, therefore, students’ responses in class varied

because they felt valued. Students recognized teachers’ efforts to take their voices into account.

Yes, yes because teachers, we are used to work with photocopies, to work with the

traditional books. But when you think about your students and you create and prepare

something for them, they, the class changes, they feel different and respond different to

the process. I would say they respond better, because they feel they are valued, they are

heard. And this in materials development is a very important factor of this emphasis.


Maintaining the continuity with the dimensions examined in the questionnaire, the next

dimension that Shulman proposes is Curricular Knowledge, which requires understanding of

students’ learning potential, national syllabuses, policies, school planning documents and some

other local or contextual requirements that the educational field considers important.

Figure 13 explores the components of policies in the Curricular Knowledge Dimension.

Data showed that a large number of participants considered they have expanded their knowledge

regarding policies related to foreign language teaching and learning. The teachers’ tendency to

rate the statements continued being positive; teachers agreed with reflection (82%) and

knowledge (80%) issues that they have gained about the local foreign policies.


School Teachers. 81

Figure 13. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on reflecting and knowing about local policies.

This tendency is also highlighted in the interviews. Participants claimed that there is a

gap regarding policies because they did not read about them in their undergraduate programs.

However, the participation in postgraduate programs allowed them to become more

knowledgeable about the normativity of the country, particularly in terms of bilingualism and

how those policies could be applied in their work places.

I: Have you gained knowledge about local policies?

T: Yes, I would say yes, and specifically in second semester. We were reading a lot

about policies and I would say, that was kind of new for me, because in my

undergraduate program, actually I didn’t read anything about policies in language

education.

I: Which policies?

T: Bilingualismo, Standards of English Teaching even though the Ley 115, Ley de

educación. I knew that it existed but… to read it.. no…something about media fortalecida

and that was because I knew the policy first at the university and then I recognized it

because it is applied at the school where I work.


I: Ok, has this program helped you to expand your knowledge about EFL policies in

Colombia and other parts of the world?

T: Yes, I do consider this, hmm… before beginning this master program, I wasn’t very

aware of that, of the policies about education, but I think now I’m more engaged to that,

because it’s very important, it’s obviously and there was also a seminar in relation to

that, to that results.


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

3% 4% 14% 16%

49% 51%

32% 29%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Reflect upon country’s policies

Knowledge about local policies.


School Teachers. 82

The other features observed in this fourth dimension tackle curricular knowledge and

integration of EFL content with other subjects. Figure 14 shows that most of the participants had

a favorable perception of the impact of programs in regards to these aspects. Most of the

participants considered they had learnt about curricular knowledge (42% agreed and 39% totally

agreed), and leant how to integrate EFL content with other areas (38% totally agreed and 33%

agreed).

Figure 14. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on curricular knowledge and

integration of EFL with other subjects.

.

Lack of collegiality in schools

It is noteworthy that compared to the positive views teachers had of the other items

presented before in the questionnaire, the statement about integration of EFL content with other

subjects was met with a higher degree of disagreement (26%). This is explained maybe with the

opinions that teachers gave in the interviews. Many of them indicated that they have to cope

with lack of collegiality in their schools. Peers usually show some reluctance to work in teams

and, consequently, it is difficult for teachers to apply the knowledge gained in these components.

I: What about curricular knowledge? Have you learned something related to that?

T: Yes, I have learnt a lot. It’s difficult to put that into practice in the school, because

there is another thing, the practice is different. Here, we saw many ways of how we can

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1% 1%

17% 26%

42% 33%

39% 38%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Curricular knowledge

Integrating EFL content with

other subjects


School Teachers. 83

work to organize a syllabus, to propose maybe work with different areas, but when you

are in the context, in the school, that is complicated, people don’t want, teachers at the

school don’t want to work as a team, so, it’s very difficult.

I: So, regarding the interdisciplinary matter, have you had opportunities to integrate

content in different areas there, at your school?

T: Sometimes, I work with some colleagues, but it’s very different, I think this is one of

the problems, most difficult problems of our public sector, that teachers don’t work

together, to fulfill their objectives.


T: One of the my personal purposes and the one that I committed for this year was yes,

speak aloud regarding that. Now that we are in the planning, let’s say, creating a new

planning, we still continue having basis in the previous one, and it’s very difficult. I can

share, but each teachers is able or not to apply the things that I mentioned, and for

example, according to the Standards we have to fit in those parameters and I cannot

change the context, I cannot change that. What I can do is in my classes to have another

perspective, and implement strategies to see what happen, what can I improve beyond the

skills, beyond the topics. I can share this with the teachers but it’s up to them if they do it

or not, because the program still is based on the previous years and in the Standards that

set the SED and MEN.


In the excerpts above, teachers mentioned that they felt more confident about their

knowledge because of the experience that they gained in the master’s degree program. They tried

to share ideas with their coworkers and contribute to the planning and improvement of their

curriculum, but they did this in a very tactful way because they considered that, especially in the

sector of public education, they confront adversities with teamwork. This apparently leads

teachers to work individually in their classrooms and, despite the efforts to mobilize their peers

for making changes in the school, they prefer to remain silent. It seems that it is still an obstacle

to invite teachers to move beyond their comfort zone.

I: And in curricular knowledge, have you gain expertise in curricular knowledge?

T: Hmm ... to put into practice? Well, I tried to work on the school, but, it’s not actually

in the curriculum of the school, we don’t have, that’s part of my studio, operation

curriculum. That’s why we started doing changes, hmmm, by fixing somethings that

through the experience in the master you get. You start changing in the process, we are


School Teachers. 84

now working in the curricular school, I’m trying to make some adjustments, but it hasn’t

been finished, we are in that process.

I: Ok, and have you had opportunities to integrate EFL and other subjects at your school?

T: I do that by myself, sometimes I give my students activities with math topics, for

example, but in English or science but in English, but it’s because I do this in my English

classes, not because I’m working with the science or math teacher to integrate the

subjects.


I: Have you learnt about curricular knowledge to put into practice at your school?

T: Hmm ... yes of course, because all that we learnt in the master, we teach to our

students, we try to share with our students, and with my coworkers. I think that I try but

in an invisible way, when we talk in our curriculum about culture, about English, I say,

we can work that thing, but not in an imposing way, we work in groups and I don’t take

the leadership, because I think this is not the way. We can do the things in a calm way,

but I try to do it, because I consider now I have more expertise to do that.

I: Ok, have you gained expertise in integrating foreign language content with other

subjects?

T: Hmm ... I think that I can do it, but I don’t apply this in the school, because it’s

difficult, the English is only, it’s beginning to better, to improve, but not in all the

subjects, some colleagues don’t like English.


The subsequent dimension explored in the questionnaire is the one that Shulman proposes

as Knowledge of the Learner, which states that “besides the physical and psychological

characteristics of the learners, educators should include knowledge about students’ cognitive

processes. This is knowledge about how children, adolescents and adults learn” (Pineda, 2002,

p. 11)

This dimension examined aspects such as the role of the physical and psychological

characteristics of the learner, expertise of students’ cognitive processes, neurolinguistic processes

involved in language learning and acquisition, receptiveness towards students’ context and

adaptation of methodologies, strategies and material according to students’ characteristics and

context.


School Teachers. 85

Figure 15 presents participants’ views on the impact of the first three aspects examined in

the Knowledge of the Learner Dimension. The perception continues being optimistic and the

majority of the participants agreed on the influence that their programs have had on the

awareness of the role played by the physical and psychological characteristics of the learner

(88%). They gained expertise of students’ cognitive processes (83%), and knowledge about

neurolinguistics processes involved in language learning and acquisition (71%).

Figure 15. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on the role of the physical and psychological

characteristics of the learner, expertise of students’ cognitive processes and processes involved in language

learning and acquisition

This information is similar to what participants expressed in their interviews. A

commonality in their view was that programs guided them to take students’ characteristics,

learning styles and difficulties into account. In the excerpts below, teachers stated that before the

master’s degree programs, they did not consider the latter as important factors. They carried out

their duties without including considerations of students’ qualities, needs and ages. They realized

that these features play an important role in students’ learning and that when included in

teachers’ planning, students’ responses are more positive. It is also important to highlight that

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

3% 1% 6% 9% 12%

22%

46% 42% 43% 42% 41%

28%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Role of the physical and

psychological characteristics

Expertise of students’

cognitive processes.

Processes involved in language

acquisition and learning


School Teachers. 86

teachers begin to become aware of issues such as gender, identity and discrimination in EFL

context.

I: Has this program helped you to understand the role of the psychological and physical

characteristics of the learners?

T: Yes, I think, because now, I consider my students more, maybe before, I just worked

without thinking about them, about their needs, but now I think, they are teenagers, I have

to work for teenagers, they have different moments.


I: Have you learnt about the role of the psychological and physical characteristics of the

learner?

T: Yes because my teachers show us their researches and most of them are according to

the psychological characteristics of the students and according to their investigations we

have learnt something about the psychological characteristics of the students… Not all,

but somethings, for example identity, the gender, they talk a lot about the gender, because

we have this problem now, we have to integrated, we don’t have to discriminate …

hmmm ... what else ... students with learning difficulties.


The fragment below illustrates one teacher’s opinion about the role the programs played

in providing educators with tools to be aware of students’ characteristics and needs. They

recognize the importance of working autonomously and gaining knowledge through the

exploration of theories and experience in the application of those tools to cope with all the

pedagogical situations at their schools.

I: ok, has the program given you the tools to recognize or know how to take into account

the psychological and cognitive characteristics of the learners?

T:Hmm, at the beginning of the master, we had a subject that dealt… went in deep into

those aspects, to know theory about that, then, in the process is when you see if

something happens with the students. You can distinguish, but I think is something that

you develop with the experience also, if the university gives or not tools, they can give us

something, but we have to go further and it’s autonomous. That’s why I told you that

sometimes we can discover, we have to ask others to explore sources, to know what

others were doing, because teachers they give us a lot of possibilities but we have to look

for other things. It’s like the part of the autonomous learning that they are trying to foster

in us.



School Teachers. 87

Participants also mentioned the knowledge they have gained about the processes involved

in language learning and language acquisition. They felt more confident about the application of

that knowledge in their settings. They also recognize that English in the Colombian context

should be understood as a foreign language learning process not as a process of acquisition. The

next samples present these perspectives.

T: hmm.. yes of course, it’s the theory about learning, we worked on the Stern theory, in

which foreign language is a process of learning, and I believe in that, not that it’s an

acquisition, because this is not our context, so, we think that the learning is crucial. So,

we think that the learners are the important people here, our learners, and we look for the

characteristics of the learning process. We are working on that.


I think I’m learning language regarding any topic about language learning and

acquisition. I think I’ve improved a lot but specially in writing.


As mentioned above, Knowledge of the Learner Dimension also addresses other two

aspects: the receptiveness towards students’ context and adaptation of methodologies, as well as

strategies and materials according to students’ characteristics and context. Figure 16 illustrates

participants’ affirmative responses to these statements, in which they agreed that the program

had contributed to becoming more sensitive to students’ context (96%) and to develop skills to

adapt methodologies, strategies and materials according to the students’ characteristics and

contexts (92%).


School Teachers. 88

Figure 16. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on the receptiveness to students’ context and

adaptation of methodologies, strategies and material according to students’ characteristics and context.

This positive perception is also shared by the teachers in the interviews, in which they

expressed that the programs have helped them to be aware of their contexts, and to go beyond

their classrooms. Evidently, the programs have stimulated teachers’ willingness to examine the

pertinence of their pedagogical proposals to the students’ contexts and to explore the social needs

surrounding the students. The samples below present these ideas.

I: Have you learnt how to include context in you activities?

T: Of course, maybe because of the project, because it is related to the context, social

issues that my students are facing. But... but know how to include it yes, I see that we

have to go beyond of the classroom and start with what they are facing. And sometimes

they did not like to go to school it’s not because they want, it’s because they have

something that happen to them and we don’t know and actually teachers don’t realized

that.


T: I think the way you begin to be aware of your context in terms of pedagogy, here in

Colombia. I think the university and specially this master program gave us the possibility

to begin to comprehend what is our pedagogical setting and how difficult is to teach here

in this context and in the public sector.


Teachers also highlighted the guidance they received from the master’s degree program

to become skillful at adapting methodologies, strategies and materials according to their

0%

20%

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60%

80%

100%

1% 4% 3% 3%

45% 49% 51% 43%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Receptiveness to

students’ context

Skills to adapt methodologies, strategies and material


School Teachers. 89

students’ needs and context. In the following excerpts, teachers asserted that they had not

previously considered all the components that are implicit when they adapt methodologies,

strategies and materials based on the needs that their students have and what they have

expressed. Participants remarked that this process needs to be co-evaluated with their students in

order to start again and make this adaption cyclical.

T: Yeah, there is a kind of framework that our teachers proposed us and it has like

some… some moments, some components. First we have to see which are the needs that

our students have, then we have to plan what are we going to work in reference to those

needs they expressed, after that, we have to begin to work with each one of the things.

But in this case, I would do that with the materials and that was the best thing of this

emphasis, the contextualized materials according to the students’ needs, and after that,

it’s obviously that we have to evaluate, it could be with the students or both, our own

evaluation as teachers or theirs, so that, we can begin the cycle of the framework they

(master’s teachers) proposed.


I have to consider as I told you, cognitive, linguistics needs, affective factors, objectives,

the sequence. If you are making the scaffolding in the correct way, the evaluation, the

time, the kind of interaction you are having with your students, the materials, some

aspects I didn’t consider before, but it is a way to consider everything


Technology and Pedagogy: areas that deserve attention

Keeping on with the dimensions looked into the questionnaire, the sixth one proposed is

related to the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Model (TPACK) (Koehler &

Mishra, 2009), which digs into the knowledge that teachers have to use technology to teach

content.

This dimension inquired after four main aspects: understanding of the manner in which

technology and the foreign language content influence one another, mastering of the

technological tools to address contents or specific topics in the classroom, knowledge and


School Teachers. 90

management of the technological devices and programs to teach the target language, and training

on the creation of materials using technology. The following figure shows the results

corresponding to each item:

Figure 17. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on the aspects which compose the TPACK

model

The data indicate that a high percentage of the participants had a favorable view of the

impact of their programs on each of the four aspects examined: understanding of the influence of

technology and EFL on each other (81%), use of technology to teach the target language (74%),

knowledge of technological devices and programs to teach the foreign language (68%), and

training to create material and activities using technology (61%).

It is important to mention that the last aspect related to the creation of materials using

technology had an equal percentage in the agree (28%) and disagree (28%) options. This could

be expanded in the responses that participants gave in the interviews.

All of the teachers interviewed agreed on the positive effect that the programs have had

on the use of technology for educational purposes, but beyond the contribution from the

0%

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100%

4% 7% 6% 10% 13%

17% 25% 28%

49% 42% 39%

28% 32% 32% 29%

33%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Understanding of the

influence of technology on

EFL

Use of technology

to teach EFL

Knowledge of the technological devices to

teach EFL.

Create materials using

technology


School Teachers. 91

guidance of this topic within the programs, they highlighted the opportunity they have had there

to share experiences with other teachers and partners.

Most of the participants pointed out that the emphasis of the program is not about

technology and, if offered, it would be a different line of the program, which is not mixed with

languages. In spite of the limited instruction that teachers have received in the use of technology

to teach and to create EFL materials, they appreciated the help and advice they have received

from teachers and colleagues from the programs. The considerations presented above are

explained in the following samples.

I: ok and has he program influenced you on the use of technology to teach EFL?

T: Actually not, but teachers have told me or had recommended me some softwares that

maybe, they are useful to language teaching, yes, but that I’ve used them, actually no, I

haven´t. Hhmmm… the use of tics... talking of my school, I use some computers,

television, laptops, but, but that is not like common in my class.

I: Have you been trained to create materials using tics?

T: No... we had the opportunity to study a seminar based on that but we didn’t take it

because several reasons, but actually... no... that is not like the focus of the program.


I: Ok... this question is related to the use of technology, how does the program handle the

use of technology for teaching purposes?

T: Actually, we don´t study anything about technology …

I: And materials design using technology?

T: Not… not yet…

I: Probably later?

T: No, I don’t think so, I haven’t seen in program topics, anything about technology, we

have to study by ourselves.


I: Ok, what about the use of technology. What’s the role of technology in your M.A.?

T: Hmm.. Sorry?

I: Does the technology with education purposes take any role in your master?

T: We have shared some experiences with my classmates, so, we see different activities

or different games to teach by using the technology, but there is no a seminar in the

master which offers this preparation, because there is one concentracion that I forgot at

the beginning, which is called TICS and it deals with that topics, but not in mine.



School Teachers. 92

Some teachers claimed that their programs offered instruction in technology for EFL

teaching, but when they tried to apply what they learnt or what they are instructed to do in their

workplace, they faced many problems; mostly concerning to the lack of resources in the sector of

public education. As a result, they do not consider the use of technology relevant to their

contexts. It is almost impossible and very demanding for them to work with technology for

teaching purposes.

One teacher said that programs encouraged them to use technology, but this person

considered that these programs are planned for teachers within the sector of private education

because they do not take into account the needs and lacks that the sector of public education

confronts. Subsequent fragments expand this notion.

I: ok, and what about the technology for teaching purposes, has this program offered you

opportunities to learn about technology for teaching purposes?

T: Yes, I think it has, but it doesn’t happen in the school, we have serious problems with

resources.

I: But the program offers you the training on this?

T: Yeah, yeah, we saw a seminar, a subject about statistics and it was everything related

with the statistics… and for teaching…. Because that was for research… hmmm ...

maybe we saw that in a seminar that was material development and the teacher allow us

to see some ways of working with that, but I didn’t consider that for my classes because

not, in my school, it’s impossible.


For teaching purposes we have to consider all those things that they provide us in order to

design or to create new possibilities for our students, yes, they are very. For them

(teachers at the master) it’s very important the use of technology and they’re encouraging

us a lot to virtual language, to include or integrate technology in the classroom. Actually,

we tried to make it in the research we are, because we told the students to use their

cameras and their cellphones to do some activities, but, as I told you, it’s difficult, also

because...For example for the private, I have to make this comparison. I know that they

are not what I have to do, but for the private sector, they have lot of tools, yes, and most

of the programs, it’s designed for those context, where you have, pc, tablets, internet,

phones.


School Teachers. 93

But in the case of the public institutions, we don’t have those resources but we still have

to design webpages, we still have to design activities which require online participation

from the students. I meant, they focus a lot on working on that for teaching purposes, but

in the reality, in my case, it didn’t happen, not in a good way, because I don’t have the

resources to apply, I can do it, for example like a blend thing, that I complete in my class

with some activities on line. The students are not used to do it, we have to do a lot of

training to make them improve in the use of these technologies and yes, the program it’s

very updated in CLIL, in CALL, in autonomous learning, yes, that’s ok, but when we go

to our real context, yes we can do that, but it’s really hard, it’s really hard because we

don’t have enough resources or support to do this.


The role of research in fostering reflection

Moving forward, the seventh dimension considers the knowledge that teachers have about

their teaching practice and research. This dimension was added by the researcher so as to

examine the expertise that teachers have gained in these aspects through the participation in the

master’s degree programs. In this component, four factors were explored: reflection upon their

own teaching practices, expertise in examining their context, opportunities to innovate in their

classes, and familiarity with research methods to carry out research proposals.

Figure 18 presents participants’ perceptions on the effects of their programs regarding

this dimension; opinions are still positive inasmuch as the show that teachers agreed with the

contribution of the programs on the reflections upon their own teaching practices (99%),

expertise in examining their own context (95%), opportunities to innovate in their classes (98%),

and their becoming familiar with research methods to carry out research proposals (94%).


School Teachers. 94

Figure 18. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on reflect upon teaching practices, expertise in

examining the context, opportunities to innovate in the classes, and familiarity to carry out research proposals.

A common opinion is presented in the interviews; participants asserted that through the

programs they have had opportunities to reflect upon their teaching practices and the way to

improve them since this was the first expectation they had when starting their master’s degree

program. They realized they needed to change some practices and through the master’s degree

program they have experienced that they were able to overcome this situation, and as a result,

they feel more confident in their classes and with their teaching practices. The fragments below

show the teachers’ viewpoints regarding the components of this dimension

T: Yes of course, here I’ve learnt a lot of that, and I improved my practices and I realized

that some of my practices were not like proper applicated for my students.


T: in my classes I’m trying to improve, I feel a little different with teaching, with my

strategies, with my methodology, I’m trying to improve, so, in my classroom I feel that

I’ve improved a lot.


T: Hmm, because I think I have to improve my way of teaching, I teach here at the school

English, Spanish and Spanish for deaf people, but I noticed that I had a lot of difficulties,

and that’s the thought that I think I need to improve in English.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0% 3% 1% 3% 1% 1% 0% 1%

28% 25%

43% 43%

71% 70%

55% 51%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Reflect upon their own teaching practices

Expertise in examining

the context Opportunities to

innovate Becoming familiar with

research methods.


School Teachers. 95


In regards to the expertise in examining context and opportunities to innovate, teachers

argued that they have studied theory to learn how to examine the context and to take it into

account; they should also apply in their respective contexts all the knowledge, methodologies,

and strategies that they have studied at the programs so that these applications entail innovations

in their classrooms.

Innovation was defined by the participants as something new and different that they had

not done before in their classes, and the program has offered them the opportunity to do so, and

to bring useful, unusual and non-common activities to their contexts. The following excerpts

present what teachers thought about these components of the seventh dimension.

T: ... now recognizing but it is based on theory, for example Norton and Tucky,

Kuramaradadivelu, Penycook. They are talking about that we have to take into account

the context of the students and we can’t set apart those experiences and discuss something

about the house or the neighborhood because everything is connected

I: Have you had opportunities to innovate?

T: Innovate, I would say yes... defining innovation as something that is useful, not usual

and not common in my context… yes... for example, talking about my study, it’s not

common that teacher start to talk to the students about social issues, so, for them was new

and that’s important.


T: I like very much these programs because I consider that here I have grown up

professionally, the opportunity of the SED is the best way teachers from the public sector

can do something different from their students, because we are learning, we are

implementing, and the innovation is because of that, because when you learn something

new you can innovate in your classroom.


You get to know what to do or how to do things in other parts and how to apply this in

Colombia, in our context.

I: ok, has the program given you opportunities to innovate in your classes?

T: Well, yes, it has, because in all the seminar you should create a project, so, there is an

opportunity to innovate, to think about something you haven’t done or you can change at

your school.


School Teachers. 96


In connection with the knowledge necessary to carry out the educational research that this

dimension explores, teachers expressed that this is an important area to work on at teachers’

qualification programs because it is, undoubtedly, a new approach they need. Participants also

remarked the knowledge to conduct research as something very positive and gratifying for them

because they did not know how to conduct either in-classroom or out-of-the-classroom research.

The next excerpts underline these insights.

T: Here I am developing a study based on the analysis of lyrics of songs related to social

issues that my students are facing through a critical thinking scope.

I: Ok, and what is the emphasis of the program?

T: The emphasis ... hmmm ... I would say research, because that’s … and actually it’s

good because that’s what we need as a teachers.


I: So, can you tell me a little about your research project?

T: It is a socio cultural research about learning, about English learning and all the aspects

that involves didactics of English.

I have to work a lot in order to understand the research process, but I’m so happy because

I learnt, before I didn’t know about that, although I did two specializations, but now, it is

really a research project, besides the knowledge of how to do a research. So, I

accomplished two things, to learn about how to do a research and second to apply it, I

think this is too nice.


T: the program, it has different components, one of those is improving teaching practices,

basically it was the ICELT, and other one is the research program that was putting into

context all the knowledge we have worked during these semesters and apply this in our

context in order to have, to research before, and to have results of some of the specific

strategies that we can use in the classroom and the results they come up.


In general, participants in this study indicated that by means of in-classroom research,

they could break the paradigm of traditional classes and, thus, innovate. Research processes


School Teachers. 97

helped them to be more knowledgeable about their pedagogical setting, their role as educators,

and gain awareness of their students’ context and needs.

I: Ok, and what is the emphasis of the program?

T: The emphasis.. hmmm.. I would say research, because that’s … and actually it’s good

because that’s what we need as a teachers[…]

Talking about my study, it’s not common that teacher start to talk to the students about

social issues, so, for them was new and that’s important. They have studied like with

music, but just those exercises of filling the gaps and that’s all, but know they’re trying to

understand, analyze, debate…those activities are new for them and they like them.


T: I think the way you begin to be aware of your context in terms of pedagogy, here in

Colombia. I think the university and specially this master program gave us the possibility

to begin to comprehend what is our pedagogical setting and how difficult is to teach here

in this context and in the public sector […]

I would do that again without thinking, I’m happier now, because I feel better in my

class, I think I have more elements to work with my children. I know many things that

have improved my practice and in this moment my students told me, told me that in my

classes, teacher this exercise was wonderful, I enjoyed it a lot , and we learnt and I

haven’t had this experienced before of the master program because my classes were very

traditional and didn’t have enjoyable activities.


T: I have to work a lot in order to understand the research process, but I’m so happy

because I learnt, before I didn’t know about that, although I did two specializations, but

now, it is really a research project. Besides the knowledge of how to do a research, so, I

accomplished two things, to learn about how to do a research and second to apply it, I

think this is too nice […]

In the way of applying the research, it’s not only to do an activity in order to do the

activity, it’s to do the analysis of things that you are doing in the class or for the students,

and we have to participate with the students in this discussion. The students can apply

what we are doing in the class and they can talk about that, I think that I changed my way

of teaching 70% I think, I have better classes, because I notice my students participate

and they say are different, teacher you are changing, and I say yes, it’s easy, it’s easy to

teach.


T: I consider that I’m learning to innovate in my classes, because I’m not innovating, I

hope this year maybe […]

I want to do something important in my school this year, I tried last year, it was because

my research, it happened, but I think innovating in the classroom is something really


School Teachers. 98

hard, really hard because you have to try one thing and the other in order to see what

happen…


Teachers’ welfare as an aspect that requires attention.

The final dimension in the questionnaire addressed Maslow’s Human Needs Model

(1943, 1954, 1971). This model represents the idea that human beings are propelled into action

by different motivating factors at different times: biological drives, psychological needs, higher

goals. Maslow organizes the human needs hierarchically, in which higher needs do not appear

unless and until unsatisfied lower needs are satisfied.

This model was taken as a reference to examine the impact that the program has had on

teacher welfare issues. Accordingly, there are six levels of humans needs; the questionnaire

looked into the first five of them: basic, safety, social, esteem and self–actualization needs - the

last need was skipped because it was not created by Maslow; it was added later by Koltko-Rivera

in 2006.

Figure 19 shows teachers’ perceptions about the impact that the programs have had on

their welfare. The responses tended toward a negative view of the first two aspects that this

dimension considered, essentially in connection with their basic needs: recreation programs -

sports, cultural and recreational activities - 20% totally disagree and 32% disagree; safety needs -

26% totally disagree and 30% disagree.


School Teachers. 99

Figure 19. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on their basic needs (psychological needs)

and safety needs

The negative tendency seemed to represent the lack that teachers noticed in the programs,

but this is expanded in the following excerpts taken from the interviews, in which all of the

teachers shared the same opinion about these aspects.

Participants expressed that doing a master’s degree program is very demanding. They do

not have time to study, work and live their own lives, and as such they do not have time to

participate in the welfare programs that their universities and the Secretaría Distrital de

Educación offer. They indicated that there are indeed cultural, recreational and sports programs,

but they only have time to go to their work places and do their master’s degree programs. Sadly,

teachers cannot take advantage of these benefits. The lack of time is a negative factor that has

influenced the psychological and safety needs of the participants. This is shown in the

pessimistic tendency in their answers. The excerpts below indicate all the teachers’ negative

opinion about this aspect.

T: I know that SED has a program something like bienestar de los docentes, something

like that, they promote some cultural activities, they have like champion ships in sports,

but I can’t be part of this because I don’t have time in my free time for this, because the

time that I don’t have in my school, is dedicated for my master program. I know that it

exists but I’m not part of that.

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20% 26%

32% 30% 25% 28%

19% 12%

4% 4%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

No agree or disagree

Basic Needs Safety Needs


School Teachers. 100


I: Are you part of cultural, sport, recreational or other type of activities that the SED or

the master offers to you?

T: No because I don’t have much time, I work here, I work in private classes, I’m a house

wife, I’m a student, so, I don’t have much time…

Sometimes I have information in my email because prensa SED sends mails all the time,

most of the time I read them, but I don’t have time.


I: Ok, Have the master program as well as the SED program offered you opportunities for

cultural, recreational or sport activities?

T: Yes, they offer that, but the problem is that we don’t have time, we didn’t have time

during the master, both programs offer something, because at the university I know there

are cultural activities but we didn’t have time.

I: ok, have the programs offered wellbeing programs and are you part of one of them?

T: Some of them, but the true is that we didn’t have time, we don’t have time to stay very

much at the university, just attend to the classes and then to go to our houses.


T: ok, I think opportunities are there, the groups are there, activities are there but you just

don’t have time.

I: Yes.. ok. Have the master and the SED program offered you services of welfare?

T: Yes, the university provides those services and of course the SED does it too, because

you are working with them, they offer health, sports activities that they organized, but we

don’t have time, and at the university, we have too many activities to do there, sports

groups, arts, this is very complete there, but I cannot take any of them because of time,

again.


I: … have you had opportunities to participate in cultural, recreational or sports activities?

T: I think they exist, but we don’t have time to do, nothing more than study, I think that

during the first semester they give us the information about this, but we don’t have time

to participate, we don’t have time for the family, for the health, it’s exclusively to study

and apply. I think this part is important because the teachers need to rest, because this is

so demanding.


I: Have you had access to recreation, sports or cultural programs?

T: The university offers plans, swimming and basketball and whatever but we don’t have

the chance to take them because these programs happen on weekdays and we work on

these days, so it’s really difficult and on Saturdays we are in class, I really don’t know

someone taking advantage of these courses because the schedule is not possible for us

and at the university is in (name of the place) and we have to travel two hours.




The need to create and strengthen social networks

The next level examined according to Maslow’s model is the one about social needs. They

address the opportunity to belong to different groups in a society. For purposes of this

questionnaire, the statements were narrowed exclusively to enquire into professional social

networks. A high percentage of the participants acknowledged the contribution of the programs

in connection with the opportunities to create (83%), strengthen (77%), and collaborate in their

social networks (71%). The figure below presents the participants’ perception.

Figure 20. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on their social needs

Data gathered from the questionnaire reflects the perceptions that teachers expressed in

their interviews. All of the participants considered that the programs have allowed them to

expand their social networks and to meet some colleagues from the sector of public education.

They shared experiences, problematic issues, and looked for solutions to their common

0%

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40%

60%

80%

100%

6% 6% 3% 12% 14%

23%

54% 49% 51%

29% 28% 20%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Opportunities to create

social groups. Opportunities to

strengthen social networks Opportunities to

collaborate in networks



problems. In their networks, most of them had the same context, needs and difficulties and they

have helped each other in different situations. The following samples illustrate this notion.

I: have you had opportunities to create social networks?

T: Yeah, maybe, because we are seven students from SED at my master program, so

maybe in that field, with my colleges. When we have to work in groups, most of the time

we organized our groups with the teacher from SED because we have similar needs,

similar population, similar difficulties, so, we can help… maybe, we talk and we describe

the problem and the other teachers help ... maybe in that part, no more.


I: have these programs given you opportunities to create social networks?

T: Yes, because in some way with the classmates we have always contact for everything,

talking about our classes, our works, … but we haven’t talked about working together for

a specific project, but we have shared some experiences.

I: Have the programs given you the opportunity to collaborate in the networks that now

you are part of?

T: May be from now ... ok … with this research, the last two years there wasn’t

possibilities to work with some other colleagues, but may be after this, when we finish

this, I think it could be nice to work with may be people from other schools.


The programs have offered the participants opportunities to create and join social

networks; however, some participants did not share the same optimistic view of their colleagues.

They asserted that they did participate in social networks, but these are quite reduced because

they did not allow the participants to interact with teachers from programs of other universities,

which limits the possibilities to work with other public school teachers in similar projects for

different localities. The excerpts below expand this perception.

T: Hmm… social networks yes, with public and private teachers as students at the

university, but we don’t know in the public sector who is doing a master or not. At the

university we are invited to share experiences with the other programs, for example last

year we had the opportunity to present and there were teachers from tecnologías,

education and preschool.

I think, and we shared, only people from the university, usually we don’t know nothing of

others universities or other programs, and this is also something that could be improved. I

think in the (name of the university) is the other one that presents about languages, and



we should invite each other to see what’s going on in there, at (name of the university),

there is a simposio and another thing, last year they made CLIL and another one and they

invited from (name of the university), (name of the university) and from foreign

universities... there are some possibilities to make network connections, but collaborative

works I think, it depends on each teacher if you want to go further on that. It’s difficult

because perspectives are different and contexts.


T: No, we only study and study, we don’t have the opportunity to share experiences. One

professor from (name of the university) made us create a group in WhatsApp but because

his idea, but only the semester, and he did a lunch where we shared as a group, but we

don’t know anything about other universities or teachers from SED, and it’s a pity

because maybe teachers from other universities are working the same aspects than us, and

we don’t know, and we can create projects for different localities.


The third level examined in Maslow’s model of Human Needs deals with esteem needs,

which look for being recognized and admired as individuals who accomplish things. Human

beings want prestige and power among their social groups. Regarding this definition,

participants shared a positive perception about the impact that the programs have had on the way

their educational community sees them and on their own self-esteem. They had experienced that

their profession is gaining a higher social status (70%), and more recognition within their

educational community (76%). Figure 21 illustrates these participants’ perceptions.

Figure 21. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on their Esteem Needs

0%

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60%

80%

100%

10% 4%

20% 19%

38% 48%

32% 28%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

The profession is gaining

higher social status Experiencing more

recognition among community



In the interviews, teachers asserted that they have experienced greater recognition and a

feeling of respect and esteem from their students, which is very valuable and rewarding for them.

Teachers also considered that the participants in the master’s degree programs work in a more

academic and noticeable way in comparison to the other teachers in their institutional context.

Despite the fact that interviewees considered the aspects examined in this level as

positive, they also stated that there is lack of attention and support from their principals and

coordinators, who are not aware of the work and proposals they, as students in the master’s

degree programs, are doing. Participants feel like isolated islands since they are not able to share

and integrate the interventions that they are doing with the whole institution due to factors such

as lack of peer interest, no opportunities to share experiences with teachers from the same

institution, principals give more importance to the different projects and programs that they

should carry out in accordance with guidelines set out by the Secretaría Distrital de Educación,

and there is not enough time to take individual projects into account. The excerpts below show

the aspects highlighted above.

I: Have you experienced more recognition among your community since you are doing

your master?

T: Based on that ... from my students yes ... since I told them that I am doing a master

program... like they felt kind of proud of the teacher… they said oh my teacher is now a

master, a master ... now is not just a teacher… yes because I’m being explained the

difference of an undergraduate program, specialization, master, doctoral programs…

those things and now when I told them that I’m doing a master program … oh you are

like… better than the others… like ... that’s the way like that my students think… this is

bigger than that… so my teacher is better than this ...

May be yes… I would say yes, for example, as I told you the other teachers, they are part

of this initiative, this help ... I realized that the work is like more academic prepared […]

I: And what about you… have you experienced more recognition because of your master?

T: Unhappily no… that’s because in the school we are still like isolated island in which

… if you work something but nobody knows what you are doing, yes… and that happens

with every single teacher ... actually, I don’t know what physics teacher is doing in her

class … and for example, almost nobody knows about this study that I’m carrying out in



the school, almost nobody... including the principal and coordinators, … for example I

didn’t know that the psychologist of the school carried out another study about teenagers’

pregnancy in the school... nobody knew that… until the moment she said .. yes I am

going to be graduated from that university because I did a master and bla, bla, bla … yes

you did that... but nobody knows that… there is no like, no communication in what we

are doing at the school…


I: Have you experienced more recognition among your community, there at your school?

T: Maybe with my students, but not with my colleagues, not because in the school they

didn’t consider my project relevant. In fact I have a lot of problems there, my students

were working with the SENA project and most of the time I didn’t have English class

with them, at the school they consider more important the SENA project, so, I couldn’t

implement some of the units properly. I have to ask other colleagues, please give me an

hour, give me an hour, I need to implement and it was terrible…

I: What about the support of the directors?

T: Yeah, the principal said ok, you can implement, but I have to look the way of

implementing, because SENA is very important for eleven graders, because when they

get out of the school, they continue with that, so, they consider more important for

students’ life to study, attend, think about the activities that SENA offers.


I: Have you experienced more recognition with your colleagues or your students?

T: To be honest, it is just like, ah ok you are doing a master in (name of the university),

and that’s it. They don’t care about what are you doing there…

I: Ok, so you are not sharing what you’ve learnt with them?

T: I do when I have the opportunity, but they never ask about the master.


The last statements examined in the questionnaire have to do with the final level that

Maslow proposed, which explores self-actualization needs, seen as the desire to experience even

deeper fulfillment by increasing updating. Participants showed a very positive viewpoint about

the feeling of empowerment in their classrooms due to their educational professional

development (94%), and the sense of reaching their academic goals (91%).



Figure 22. Participants’ view on the impact of their programs on their self-actualization needs

There is a commonality in the opinions given in the interviews. Teachers have gained

confidence of the knowledge they have acquired in the programs and this feeling of having the

knowledge to confront pedagogical situations, manage their classes, and have better teaching

practices empower them in their classrooms and institutions. Teachers considered they can

participate more actively in the construction of knowledge of their students as well as contribute

to improve the weaknesses they have realized their schools are facing.

There was emotionalism in their responses; they expressed they feel better teachers,

somehow because now they really know what to do, and the experience of participating in these

programs has impacted not only their professions, but also their personal lives. The following

samples illustrate these opinions.

I: Have you been reaching your academic goals and have you felt empowered because of

that?

T:I’m reaching my goals, I’m in the process, after my crisis and the effort and the

challenges and everything, I finally can say I can do it, and it gives me security to do

more things in the future, and actually that is what I want to do this year. I want to have

more time to devote to my students and to my classes, still going with the parameters I

received, with the tools that I had, but doing it with more time, because sometimes you

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1% 3% 4% 6%

54% 45% 40% 46%

Totally disagree

Disagree

Agree

Totally agree

Feeling of empowerment because of the master’s

degree

Reaching academic

goals



are in a rush and if you have time that makes you feel, yes, you are a better teacher,

somehow.


I: The name of the project of the SED is Maestros empoderados y con mayor bienestar,

have you felt empowered because of your master?

T: yes, totally, (she’s crying)...I cry because of happiness, yes of course, when we know

how to lead, how to manage our way of teaching, the students, the universe of our

students change and we change. It’s not difficult to teach, because we understand the

environment, the context. We have tools or knowledge to do better our work, to me it’s...

I’m so grateful for this opportunity. This experience is not only for my profession, it’s a

personal experience, I’m so happy, I think that I changed my mind, one teacher says, not

only to talk judging others, but now, we have the arguments to say things, you know you

need to have a context, not only talk and talk.


Improving working conditions for other personal dimensions.

This category deals with aspects such as improving teachers’ working conditions,

accelerating teachers’ retirement process, offering different healthcare, recreation, and welfare

programs, and also giving out incentives - prizes, monetary benefits, and community recognition

- to teachers with outstanding performance. These are the same welfare factors that Project 894:

Empowered Teachers with Better Welfare and Better Training considers for participating

teachers (SED, 2013).

Participants attached great importance to this category since they felt motivated to start

their postgraduate studies seeking to improve their working conditions as well as benefiting from

the economic support from the Secretaría Distrital de Educación. Teachers claimed that without

the sponsorship from the government, they would have not started their master’s degree

programs due to their complexity and lack of time to find an additional job to fund such studies:

I: Did money motivate you?

T: Yes of course, actually yes, if SED does not help teachers I supposed that most of the

teachers don’t want to attend to the university because most of them have another



responsibilities and a master programs demands time, money and that’s what we don´t

have.


I: What about the sponsoring that the SED offers?

T: It’s wonderful, I think most of us couldn’t study if we don’t have that sponsor, because

it’s very difficult and demanding to have all these responsibilities and also to pay for

them.


I: Ok, Did you enroll in that program because it is sponsored by the SED or because it

was one of your objectives, as you have said before?

T: I think both, I mean, due to the results, one factor about studying at (name of the

university) is that it’s quite expensive for a public teacher so I saw the opportunity and I

took it.


Darling-Hammond & Sykes (2003) found that money factor clearly is of great

importance, as is evident from states and localities that have implemented successful policies

directed at salaries, benefits and working conditions.

Another important aspect of teachers’ concern regarding their professional development

opportunities relates to the financial resources to keep up with the cost associated to the

programs. González (2003, p. 162) affirms that a limitation for teachers to be part of in service

qualification programs is “the high cost of graduate tuition fees”.

Aspects related to money are part of the incentives that the project addresses in line with

teachers’ welfare. The category also shows the need of creating social networks as considerable

issue for teachers. González (2003, p. 167) mentions “there is special emphasis on the teachers’

experience and the contact with many well-prepared teacher educators in EFL settings who are

willing to help colleague teachers”.



For participants, being rewarded with a better position and salary is a factor that

motivates their participation in this kind of programs. Nevertheless, an unexpected but

meaningful outcome of the qualification has been the collaborative networks they formed and the

enriching experience of sharing with teachers from different localities, places and sectors (public

and private):

I: The answers that you are giving to me, they came up as your experience as a master’s

student or just because you as a teacher you think like that…

T:Well, I think that it’s both, yes, because I have like a my perspective to be teacher it’s

what I’m here it’s because I have to grow, to grow up in different aspects, yes, but also

the university give me some food for though, that you haven’t seen before, I don’t know,

maybe you have some things from the bachelor there were a lot of things that I didn’t

know how to, how to, but in the master it was more evident, that you said, ohh, this is so

simple, and not only because the program provides you things or because the program

says or because the teachers, also because the colleagues, the other teachers, not only

from public but also from private schools, they have lots of experiences to share and

that’s makes you look the wide range of things you can do in the classroom.


I: Now we are going to talk about some benefits from the master and the SED program,

have these programs given you the opportunity to create social networks or collaborative

ones?

T:hmm… social networks yes, with public and private teachers as students at the

university, but we don’t know in the public sector who is doing a master or not, at the

university we are invited to share experiences with the other programs, for example last

year we had the opportunity to present and there were teachers from tecnologías,

education and preschool.

I think, and we shared, only people from the university, usually we don’t know nothing

of others universities or other programs, and this is also something that could be

improved, I think in the distrital is the other one that presents about languages, and we

should invite each other to see what’s going on in there, at Universidad la sabana, there is

a simposio and another thing, last year they made CLIL and another one and they invited

from pedagogica, distrital and from foreign universities.. there are some possibilities to

make network connections, but collaborative works I think, it depends on each teacher if

you want to go further on that, it’s difficult because perspectives are different and

contexts.




In regards to teachers’ welfare and sharing experiences, González, Montoya and Sierra

(2002, p. 32) affirm: “EFL teachers, professional development programs represent a way to

fulfill their highest needs and to transcend their daily routines of teaching. They look for

alternatives that promote group work and involve the community of teachers to achieve the goals

proposed”.

The data collected offered a significant view of teachers’ areas of concern when carrying

out a master program as well as its impact on their professional and personal development. This

information is quite relevant for those who are in the ELT programs and want to offer

qualification programs which focus on teachers’ needs and wants.



Chapter 5

Conclusions and Discussion

This study was framed within three main objectives. The first objective was to identify

the areas of concern that EFL public school teachers are trying to confront with the sponsored

master’s degree programs they are carrying out. The second objective aimed to analyze the

impact of these programs on their professional development. Lastly, the third objective was to

examine the experience gained upon participating in these programs in connection to their

personal development.

In regards to the first objective, data showed that the teachers who took part in the

master’s degree programs were driven by an inner professional desire to increase their repertoire

of strategies and improve their methodology with special emphasis on didactics . Their

motivation to do so stem from their aspiration to energize and improve their daily practices. They

valued their learning experience as positive and found the content and skills they acquired in the

programs very useful to strengthen their knowledge base. This finding has important

implications. One is its connection to fostering student opportunity for meaningful learning;

secondly, the chances to increase school achievement and success.

Regarding the first aspect, teacher participation in programs sponsored by the Colombian

government allow them not only to become more knowledgeable about their disciplines, but to

explore more options in connection to classroom management and routes for learning based on

theories and research. If teachers are stimulated to learn and to improve their professional

practices, they will create the proper conditions for students to learn and to achieve higher

academic and personal levels.



The findings of this project support the ideas presented in relation to the role that

teachers’ professional opportunities play in their pupils’ performance (Goldhaber & Brewer,

2000; Betts, Reuben, & Danenberg, 2000; Goe, 2002; Darling-Hammond, 2000b). Mizell (2010)

stated that teachers usually face a deluge of tasks that increase the complexity of their jobs. But

given the appropriate support, they become more effective educators as they learn how to

assertively confront daily challenges.

Another important aspect to highlight is that when teachers innovate in their classes, the

attitude of students change and, therefore, their motivation to learn increases (Hernández, 2007).

Those that participated in the project have experienced that, as a result of the changes they

implemented in their classrooms, they observed that their students enjoyed the lessons more and

expressed that their enjoyment was due to the changes introduced. This created a sense of

personal accomplishment, which served as a platform to keep on evolving in the practices

proposed.

As research has shown (Guskey, 2000); teachers change their underlying beliefs about

how to teach something only after they see success with students; indeed, when teachers do not

see success, they tend to abandon the new practice and revert to their old ones. This is a key

aspect that teachers highlighted; they asserted that they have seen changes in their students’

attitudes towards the class and learning English, but they don’t see changes and support from

their principal and in some cases from the other teachers, which is some cases is frustrating for

them.

Another area of concern for teachers was the need to be updated, not only in terms of the

subject matter, but in a broader set of pedagogical tools that could be used to cope with the



current issues faced in their contexts which, they felt, were not addressed in their undergraduate

programs. All teachers, despite their age difference and years of experience, affirmed that they

lagged behind their students because they did not know how to respond to their needs. They

acknowledged that they lacked the necessary awareness to respond to classroom diversity.

Teachers yearned and valued the update on language teaching education provided by the

programs as well as the information on international and national policies on bilingual education.

According to the latter, professional development opportunities for teachers need to be

designed so that they respond to the particular needs of teachers. One of such needs is the

mastery of subject knowledge so that they are enabled to introduce changes in their

methodologies. Another noteworthy aspect is that programs must stimulate reflection on their

context and deep thinking about the national and international trends that stimulate such

reflection

Bearing in mind the second objective, it can be concluded that teachers perceived that the

programs helped them to become aware of their context and the peculiarities of their learners.

Teachers felt they developed a more humanistic view of learning, centered on who students were

and became more aware of the fact that they had to address students’ social needs. Participants

claimed that the programs reinforced the idea of having a more holistic view of the learner, in

which they are seen as individuals with personal needs.

According to the previous ideas, the fact to consider learner particularity and needs is

something that programs should stimulate in order to make teachers to be aware of students’

differences as well to determine the ways in which such particularities and differences may be

altered. Bloom (1976) concludes that if provided with the appropriate conditions of developing



their interests as learners and as human beings, any person in the world can learn. . This aspect

is also highlighted by various authors (Connor, Morrison, & Katch, 2004a; Connor, Morrison, &

Petrella, 2004b; Green et al., 1992; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998; Torgesen et al., 1999), which

claim that student achievement is related to teacher regard for their students, responsiveness to

student questions and interests, and the emotional climate of the classroom.

Regarding teaching practices, participants expressed that they learned to transfer the

knowledge from theories to applications of the tenets of these theories in the classroom.

Teachers considered they have gained knowledge, not only about teaching, but research process,

learners’ way of learning, and characteristics of their pedagogical setting.

One of the most important aspects that emerged from this study is the importance

teachers assigned to opportunities given to the use of systematic reflection and research.

Teachers not only felt that the programs provided opportunities for the application of knowledge

and theories in their classes, but found the systematic reflection implicit in the research

component very stimulating.

This highlights key aspects for professional development programs in Colombia, which

have also been identified elsewhere. Borg (2015, p.6) stated that for teachers’

professional programs to be effective, they should consider among other aspects: job-

embeddedness, or the emphasis on the classroom and the milieu in which it is located;

contextual alignment with the institutional and education system; and critical engagement

or in-depth reflection upon the contents included in the program.

These are necessary to empower teachers to become “generators” of knowledge rather

than perpetuating the notion that teachers are simple consumers of information. Thus, the



transformation of Colombian education would require the implementation of programs allow

teachers to gain knowledge about their fields, to be critical about the information they receive,

and be able to apply what they consider necessary to transform their practices. This last aspect

must be accompanied by a strong component of research that stimulates action and reflection

about those actions.

A subsequent issue relating to the previous idea is the concern teachers expressed

regarding the sustainability of their proposals. They felt that the programs and policies that local

governments set have no long-term reach and scope; such programs and policies start and end

within each 4-year term in office. Somehow, policies create a tension between what teachers do

and what the education system tells them to do. The fact of the sustainability affects the way in

which policies and programs impact the educational community for a period. However, the

discontinuity does not allow education to reach the objectives that programs and educators have

stated.

An interesting finding about the impact that teachers have experienced on their

professional development is that they have felt that their teaching context influences their

language proficiency. They value the seminars/lectures offered in the target language during the

master’s degree programs. Although the objective of the programs is not to teach languages, this

aspect has an indirect effect on teachers’ proficiency and confidence of their content knowledge.

An important factor is the motivation that teachers gained to work collaboratively.

Research (Dunne et al., 2000) suggests that there’s an exceptionally strong relationship between

communal learning, collegiality, and collective action. It can inspire a change in teachers’

practice and increase student learning.



Participants reflected upon their teaching practices, collaborative networks, and language

proficiency. Teachers who manage to strengthen social networks create a ripple effect on the

practices of their colleagues because they can learn from each other and work collaboratively,

this makes that teachers do not work isolated. A very important viewpoint to ponder upon

arising from the findings is that there is a continued need to work on collaborative networks at

schools in which teachers participate actively. Teachers feel the research and proposals they have

made did not impact the whole community due to the lack of collaboration and attention from

their principals and coordinators.

This underestimation of EFL research projects that teachers experienced is especially true

in the ELT field, in which little or no support for professional development is available (Johnston

2003; Nunan, 2001; and Pennington, 1992). Teachers felt that their principals gave more

importance to the projects who offer technical skills to students rather than the type of projects

that the participants of this study were proposing.

Regarding the support of principals, Crowther and Andrews (2003) proposed the IDEAS

model in which the role of the teachers – crucial actors for education quality and improvement.

The authors state “the role of the principal in IDEAS schools is twofold. As a meta-strategic

principal the approach to strategic management integrates the processes of vision and identity

management with the more customary processes of strategic design and implementation”

(Limerick, et al., 1998 as cited in Andrews, 2008). This means that principals and coordinators

are the ones who provide pedagogical leadership, mobilizing colleagues and developing a

professional learning focus in the teaching community which will result in the impact of teacher

qualification and research proposal in their educational setting.



As discussed earlier and in Gulamhussein’s (2013) study, professional development

should expose teachers to various pedagogical strategies and the research base behind them, and

support teachers as they implement the research based strategy into their classroom, while

recognizing that implementation is the most difficult learning stage for teachers.

Considering the impact of the master’s degree programs on teacher personal

development, the main aspects that teachers highlighted were empowerment, recognition, and

improving working conditions. Although most of the participants have felt that their peers and

directors do not value enough their postgraduate studies, they do feel that their knowledge could

change some school dynamics since they are willing to give ideas, opinions and considerations in

all possible scenarios and circumstances. Completing a master’s degree program, empowers

teachers, encourages their participation, and makes their voices heard.

In spite of the fact that community recognition was not an objective when doing a

master’s degree program, teachers experienced that this aspect has had an impact not only on

their students’ view of the class, but also on class content and as teachers themselves. Students

pride themselves on their teachers’ goals and how they somehow are a part of their teachers’

achievement.

Most of the participants argued that the main motivation to do a master’s degree program

was the financial support offered by the Secretaría Distrital de Educación. This funding made

them take the decision to start this arduous endeavor, but teachers also had in mind that this

effort would lead to economic reward, thus improving their working conditions. But when doing

the master’s degree program and their research studies, the reward was greater than anticipated.

They exalted the experience as something gratifying, not only for their personal lives, but also



for their personal and professional growth. Undoubtedly, something they would definitely relive

over and over again.

This previous paragraph and the findings of this research emphasizes the importance of

considering teachers’ personal needs and decisions to carry out programs for professional

development, which was essentially driven by teacher inner motivation and was exclusively

reserved for those with career ambitions (Craft, 2000).

Finally, if student achievement is considered an accurate measure of teacher effectiveness

and has become a basis for value-added teacher assessment systems and creates a demand for

teacher qualification programs (González, 2007; Braun, 2005; McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz,

Louis, & Hamilton, 2004; Sanders, 2000; Sanders & Rivers, 1996); it is important to create

programs of professional development that address discipline-specific concepts and skills, which

have shown to both improve teacher practice, as well as student learning (González, 2007).

Limitations

There were various aspects that limited the collection of data. It was difficult to obtain

prior permission to enter the universities and classes. This process took much longer than

initially expected inasmuch as all research actions should meet universities’ schedules,

requirements and authorizations.

As the answers to the questionnaires and surveys were voluntary, some teachers

abstained from participating. In spite of the fact that I as a researcher explained the nature of the

research, my responsibilities, and their rights, they felt exposed and afraid of the likely

consequences their answers may have on the funding they were receiving. These reactions were



easily anticipated as most public school teachers are part of transitory work policies, programs

and changes that are modified according to local government plans and needs. Therefore, the

researcher should visit different semesters of a program to have a wider sample of the

participants that contributed to this study..

The interviews took more than one year which delayed the data collection process and

analysis. In short, some foreseen factors regarding the tension of being interviewed were: lack of

time, discomfort due to their English proficiency, a feeling of being exposed, and the fear that

information management could somehow affect them.

Although the data collected was vast and its corresponding analysis entailed a lengthy

process, the findings were very rich. These findings provided enough information for all master’s

degree and government qualification programs in terms of what teachers really consider

important for their professional and personal growth.

Further research

With the experience and knowledge gained from this research study, the data showed that

there is a wide variety of possibilities for doing research in the field of teacher qualification

programs.

Listening to teachers’ voices was interesting and meaningful. Alliances between

universities and governments are impacting both the population they are qualifying, the

dynamics, and structure of the master’s degree programs and their staff.

Research lines for future studies may include:



● Investigating the effects of the alliances between universities and governments on the

quality and design of university programs.

● Reviewing and analyzing the effects of these qualification programs on the number of

people enrolled at the universities, which probably affects the quality of the process and

increases workload for professors and tutors of the master’s programs.

● Possible effects of creating collaborative networks between the participants of the public

sector of the master’s programs in different universities in order to create research and

study groups arising from the commonalities presented in public school teacher contexts

and settings, as well as those problematic areas that affect their students.

● Tensions that exist in teacher performance at schools and master’s degree programs as a

result of policies and their effects on teachers’ personal lives.

● Impact on the overall educational community when the institution and directives from the

schools offer a greater support, motivation, and relevance to the research and institutional

projects that teachers do when carrying out qualification programs.

● Status of the English teaching profession in Colombia.



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APPENDICES

The Impact of Qualification Programs on the Professional and Personal Development of EFL Public School Teachers.

133

Appendix A: Categories for the questionnaire for teachers

Apreciado profesor,

Esta encuesta tiene como propósito indagar acerca de su percepción sobre el impacto de ha tenido en programa de

profesionalización docente (especialización, maestría, doctorado) auspiciado por la SED, y en el que usted participa.

La encuesta de selección múltiple consta de 7 partes y se responde aproximadamente en ___ minutos . No hay respuestas

correctas ni incorrectas. La información que usted suministre es confidencial y anónima, no tendrá incidencia en su programa o en

su carrera profesional. En cualquier momento, usted puede preguntar al encuestador sobre los contenidos y desistir de participar.

Con los datos que proporcione se espera tener una radiografía del impacto de los programas en su desarrollo profesional y

personal.

Si acepta por favor marque con una X este cuadro

Category Characteristics Question

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE (CK):

Knowledge and domain that

teachers have of the subject matter they are

teaching.

Knowledge (proficiency) of the target language.

Knowledge of the structure of the target language (i.e. syntax, semantics, morphology, phonology, grammar, vocabulary)

Knowledge of the components of the communicative competence of the target language

In the program you are participating … You have improved your proficiency in the foreign language that you teach Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have improved your knowledge about the structure of the FL that you teach (i.e. syntax, semantics, morphology, phonology, grammar, vocabulary) Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have better understanding of the components of communicative competence of the FL that you teach Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree

Creation of a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere in the

You have become skillful at creating relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere in your classroom


134

GENERAL PEDAGOGICAL

KNOWLEDGE (PK):

Principles, strategies and set of practices which are

usually related to methodology, classroom management, motivation,

and decision-making.

classroom

Management of the classroom

Presentation of work in a way that interests and motivates

Providing feedback

Building rapport with students

Management of classes for learners of different ages.

Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have improved your skills in classroom management in your classroom Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have been oriented to present the topics through interesting and motivating ways Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have reflected upon various ways to provide feedback Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have better comprehended how to build rapport with your students Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have updated your knowledge regarding methodologies and strategies to manage learners from different ages Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree

PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

(PCK):

“Identifies the distinctive bodies of knowledge for teaching. It represents the blending of content and pedagogy into an

Repertoire of different forms to formulate the content.

Content represented in different ways.

Organization of the content (i.e from the easiest to the most

You have expanded your repertoire of methodologies to teach the target language Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have improved your strategies to represent the content that you teach in different ways Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have better understood how to organize the content of the FL that you teach (i.e from the easiest to the most difficult)


135

understanding of how particular topics, problems or issues are organized, represented, and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of learners, and presented for instruction”. (Shulman, 1987:4). “The means to represent and communicate the subject, in order to make it comprehensive for other people”. (Pineda,2002)

difficult)

Strategies to foster the development of each skill.

Selection, adaptation or creation of material to teach a specific topic.

Activities to promote interaction

Activities to encourage collaboration and group work.

Evaluation and assessment alternatives

Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have improved your strategies to foster the development of the different skills Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have developed your skills to select, adapt or create FL materials Totally disagree Disagree Agree otally agree You have enlarged your repertoire of strategies to promote classroom interaction in the target language Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have improved your repertoire of strategies to foster encourage collaboration and group work. Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have become aware of diverse ways to assess and evaluate students FL learning process. Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree

CURRICULAR KNOWLEDGE:

Knowledge of what should

be taught to a particular group of students. It

requires understanding of students’ learning potential,

Study of country’s policies related to foreign language teaching and learning.

Knowledge of local policies that affect foreign language teaching and learning.

You have reflected upon the country’s policies related to foreign language teaching and learning Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have expanded your knowledge about the local policies that affect foreign language teaching and learning Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree


136

national syllabuses, school planning documents and

year group plans. In addition any examination or testing syllabuses must be taken into account and any

local or contextual requirements should be

considered.

Knowledge of curricular knowledge

Examination of the integration of foreign language content with other subjects and vice versa.

You have learnt about curricular knowledge to put into practice in your school Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have gained expertise in integrating foreign language content with other subjects and vice versa Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree

KNOWLEDGE OF THE LEARNER:

“Besides the physical and

psychological characteristics of the learners, educators

should include knowledge about students’ cognitive

processes. This is, knowledge about how

children, adolescents and adults learn”. (Pineda,2002)

Awareness of the role of physical and psychological characteristics of the learner.

Understanding of the cognitive processes of the learners.

Familiarity with the neurolinguistics processes involved in language acquisition and language learning.

Sensitive to students’ context.

Adaptation of methodologies, strategies and material according to the students’ age, proficiency and context.

You have become more aware of the role played by the physical and psychological characteristics of the learner Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have gained expertise of students cognitive processes Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have expanded your knowledge about neurolinguistics processes involved in language acquisition and language learning Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have become more sensitive to students’ contexts as part of the teaching and learning process Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have become more skillful at adapting methodologies, strategies and material according to the students’ age, proficiency and context Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree

TECHNOLOGICAL


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PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

(TPACK):

TPACK is the basis of effective teaching with technology, requiring an understanding of the representation of concepts using technologies; pedagogical techniques that use technologies in constructive ways to teach content; knowledge of students’ prior knowledge; and knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing knowledge or to strengthen the old one” (Koehler & Mishra, 2009).

Understanding of the manner in which technology and the FL content that you teach influence one another.

Mastering technological tools to address contents or specific topics in the classroom.

Knowledge and management of the technological devices and programs to teach how to use them and to reach the goal of the class.

Training about technological material design.

You have improved your understanding of the ways in which technology and content influence one another Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have learnt how to use technological tools to teach the FL Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have expanded your knowledge about the management of the technological devices and programs in order to teach language Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have been trained to create materials and activities using technology Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree

KNOWLEDGE OF TEACHING PRACTICES

AND RESEARCH:

Capacity to reflect upon his/her own teaching

practices.

Knowledge about how to carry out an educational

Reflect upon your own teaching practices.

Capacity and ability to examine your own context.

Develop opportunities to innovate in your class

Become familiar with research methods to study your research

You have reflected upon your own teaching practices Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have gained expertise to examine your own teaching context Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have developed opportunities to innovate in your class Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have become familiar with research methods to carry out your research proposals.


138

research. proposals. Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree

HUMAN NEEDS:

Model in which Maslow (1943, 1954, 1971)

attempted to capture the different levels of human

motivation. It represents the idea that human beings are

propelled into action by different motivating factors

at different times – biological drives,

psychological needs, higher goals.

Basic / Psychological Needs: Include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food. Also, the needs to be active, to rest, to sleep.

You have access to recreation programs (sports, cultural activities, etc.) Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have access to health services Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree The program has given you opportunity to form new social groups Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree The program has given you the opportunity to strengthen your social networks Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree The program has given you the opportunity to collaborate in the networks you are part of Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree

Safety and Security Needs: Include needs for safety and security. Examples of these needs are: a desire for steady employment, health care, safe neighborhoods, and shelter from the environment.

Love and belonging needs (Social Needs): These include needs for belonging, love, and affection. Relationships such as friendships, romantic attachments, and families help fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance, as does involvement in social, community, or religious groups.

Steem needs: Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs: The lower one is the need for the


139

respect of others, the need for status, fame, glory, recognition, attention, reputation, appreciation, dignity, even dominance. The higher form involves the need for self-respect, including such feelings as confidence, competence, achievement, mastery, independence, and freedom.

You have felt that your profession is gaining a higher social status Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You are experiencing more recognition among your educational community Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You have felt empowered in your classroom due to your educational training Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree You feel you are reaching your academic goals Totally disagree Disagree Agree Totally agree

Self-actualizing Needs: This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested fulfilling their potential.

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/maslows-needs-hierarchy_6.htm



The Impact of Qualification Programs on the Professional and Personal Development of EFL Public School

Teachers. 140

Appendix B: Teachers’ Questionnaire

Percepciones acerca del impacto de los programas de profesionalización docente patrocinados por la

SED

Apreciado profesor,

Esta encuesta tiene como propósito indagar acerca de su percepción sobre el impacto de ha tenido en

programa de profesionalización docente (especialización, maestría, doctorado) auspiciado por la SED, y en

el que usted participa.

La encuesta de selección múltiple consta de 41 preguntas y se responde aproximadamente en 10 minutos.

No hay respuestas correctas ni incorrectas. La información que usted suministre es confidencial y anónima,

no tendrá incidencia en su programa o en su carrera profesional. En cualquier momento, usted puede

preguntar al encuestador sobre los contenidos y desistir de participar. Con los datos que proporcione se

espera tener una radiografía del impacto de los programas en su desarrollo profesional y personal.

Si acepta por favor marque con una X este cuadro

FIRST PART: DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS

Indicate your answer to the following items: Male Female

1. Select your age from the following ranges:

20 – 24

25 - 29

30 – 34

35 – 39

40 – 44

45 - 49

50 +

2. Indicate the last degree you obtained before entering the program you are currently studying on

Normalista

Licenciatura

Especialización

Maestría

Other

Which?_________________________

3. What is the name of the program you are currently registered on?

_____________________________________________________________________________

4. What semester are you in?

_____________________________________________________________________________

5. What is the total length of the program and which semester are you currently registered on?

_____________________________________________________________________________

6. Your place of work (school) is located in

Localidad de Usaquen (1)

Localidad de Chapinero (2)

Localidad de Santa Fe (3)

Localidad de San Cristóbal (4)


Teachers. 141

Localidad de Usme (5)

Localidad de Tunjuelito (6)

Localidad de Bosa (7)

Localidad de Ciudad Kennedy (8)

Localidad de Fontibón (9)

Localidad de Engativa (10)

Localidad de Suba (11)

Localidad de Barrios Unidos (12)

Localidad de Teusaquillo (13)

Localidad de Los Mártires (14)

Localidad de Antonio Nariño (15)

Localidad de Puente Aranda (16)

Localidad de Candelaria (17)

Localidad de Rafael Uribe (18)

Localidad de Ciudad Bolívar (19)

Localidad de Sumapáz (20)

In the program you are participating in…

1 You have improved your proficiency in the foreign language (FL) that

you teach

2 You have improved your knowledge about the structure of the FL that

you teach (i.e. syntax, semantics, morphology, phonology, grammar,

vocabulary)

3 You have a better understanding of the components of communicative

competence of the FL that you teach

4 You have become skillful at creating a relaxing and enjoyable

atmosphere in your classroom

5 You have improved your skills in classroom management in your

classroom

6 You have been helped to present the topics you teach through

interesting and motivating ways

7 You have reflected upon various ways to provide feedback to your

students

8 You have better understood how to build rapport with your students

9 You have updated your knowledge regarding methodologies and

strategies to use with learners from different ages

10 You have expanded your repertoire of methodologies to teach the

target language

11 You have better understood how to organize the content of the FL that

you teach

12 You have developed your skills to select, adapt or create FL materials

13 You have enlarged your repertoire of strategies to promote classroom

interaction in the target language

14 You have improved your repertoire of strategies to encourage

collaboration and group work.

15 You have become aware of diverse ways to assess and evaluate

students´ FL learning processes

16 You have reflected upon the country’s policies related to foreign

language teaching and learning

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Teachers. 142

17 You have expanded your knowledge about the local policies that affect

foreign language teaching and learning

18 You have learnt about curricular knowledge to put into practice in your

school

19 You have gained expertise in integrating foreign language content

with other subjects and vice versa

20 You have become more aware of the role played by the physical and

psychological characteristics of the learner

21 You have gained expertise of students´ cognitive processes

22 You have expanded your knowledge about neurolinguistic processes

involved in language acquisition and language learning

23 You have become more sensitive to students’ contexts as part of the

teaching and learning process

24 You have become more skillful at adapting methodologies, strategies

and material according to the students’ age, proficiency and context

25 You have improved your understanding of the ways in which

technology and the FL that you teach, influence one another

26 You have learnt how to use technological tools to teach the FL

27 You have expanded your knowledge about the use of the technological

devices and programs available to teach language

28 You have been trained to create materials and activities using

technology

29 You have reflected upon your own teaching practices

30 You have gained expertise in examining your own teaching context

31 You have developed opportunities to innovate in your class

32 You have become familiar with research methods to carry out your

research proposals.

33 You have access to recreation programs (sports, cultural activities, etc.)

34 You have access to health services

35 The program has given you opportunity to form new social groups

36 The program has given you the opportunity to strengthen your social

networks

37 The program has given you the opportunity to collaborate in the

networks you are part of

38 You have felt that your profession is gaining a higher social status

39 You are experiencing more recognition within your educational

community

40 You have felt empowered in your classroom due to your educational

professional development

41 You feel you are reaching your academic goals

If you want to add something or clarify the information, please refer here to the strengths and weaknesses

that you have found relating to the SED program , the Master’s program, the support of the school, etc.

Thanks a lot!


Teachers. 143

Appendix C: Teachers’ Interview

Percepciones acerca del impacto de los programas de profesionalización docente patrocinados por la

SED

Apreciado profesor,

Esta entrevista tiene como propósito indagar acerca de su percepción sobre el impacto de ha tenido en

programa de profesionalización docente (especialización, maestría, doctorado) auspiciado por la SED, y en

el que usted participa.

La información obtenida a través de esta entrevista será utilizada exclusivamente con fines académicos y

será confidencial.

Personal background

1. What is your name?

2. How old are you?

3. Where are you from?

4. Where do you live?

5. Where do you work?

6. Where is your school located?

7. How long have you worked as a public teacher?

8. What do you currently do in your school? (what are your responsabilities?)

Tell me about your studies:

9. What was the last title you obtained before entering the program you are currently doing?

10. What program are you enrolled in an in which university?

11. Why did you choose that program?

12. What professionalization opportunities have you had since then?

13. How did you know about the SED program?

14. What motivated you to participate in the program?

Money?

Professional Knowledge:

Tell me about the program you are currently doing:

1. What does it consist of?

2. What are the emphases?

3. What graduation requirements does it have?

4. Is it theory, practice or research oriented?

5. Do you have to do research? If yes, what kind? Explain the kind you research you are doing

(individual/group, type: action research, other)

Which methods are you using?

What instruments?

What type of analysis?

What population?

If it includes an intervention or action plan, what is it about?

6. Tell me about how this program has influenced your language proficiency

7. Have you had opportunities to learn or strengthen methodologies and different strategies? If yes, tell

me about them


Teachers. 144

8. Have you had opportunities to help you to understand how to organize the content of the FL that you

teach (i.e. from the easiest to the most difficult) ? if yes, tell me about them

9. Have you refined your skills to select, adapt or create materials to teach FL?

10. What practical applications have you obtained from the program?

11. Explain to me the opportunities you have had to update yourself about the most recent trends in

language education.

12. Have you become aware of diverse ways to assess and evaluate students FL learning process? If yes,

tell about them

13. Have you expanded your knowledge about the local policies that affect foreign language teaching

and learning? Which ones have you discussed?

14. Have you learnt about curricular knowledge to put into practice in your school? If yes, how?

15. Have you gained expertise in integrating foreign language content with other subjects and vice

versa? If yes, how?

16. Has this program given you opportunities to examine your students’ contexts as part of the teaching

and learning process? If so, how?

17. Can you tell me about what this program has taught you about the role played by the physical and

psychological characteristics of the learner?

18. How does the program handle the use of technology for teaching purposes? (technological devices

,programs, software, websites… in order to teach language)

19. Have you been trained to create materials and activities using that technology? Give me examples.

20. What have you found useful / practical from the program? why? give me examples

21. Have you developed opportunities to innovate in your class? If yes, which ones? can you give an

example

22. What would you like the program to emphasize more? why? how?

Welfare

1. Has the program given you opportunities to create social networks (groups) how? With whom?

2. Has the program given you the opportunity to collaborate in the networks you are part of?

3. What cultural, sport, recreational or other type of activities does the program propose for boosting

your welfare?

4. Do you know the services of welfare that your university offers? Are you taking advantage of these?

5. Have you felt empowered in your classroom due to your educational training?

General perception

1. In general, how do you like the program?

2. Can you tell me about the teachers?

3. Can you tell me about the services the program offers?

4. What would you change or strengthen in this program?

5. Are you experiencing more recognition among your educational community?

6. Do you feel you are reaching your academic goals?

7. Is there anything that you would like to add about the SED program or your masters program:

Thanks!


AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. 146

Appendix D: Consent Form for Directors and Coordinators of the Programs