CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS - Professional Development and the Performance of Teachers of Engli

The last chapter on this dissertation is divided into four parts: conclusions, implications, limitations and suggestions. Conclusions are a brief summary of the main findings of this research. The implications for EFL teachers working in cram schools in Taiwan, or foreigners interested in coming to Taiwan to work in the different cram schools, as well implications for supervisors, and human resource personnel in the different cram schools in charge of the training and talent development of employees. The limitations faced while carrying out this research and are discussed. And, finally suggestions on future research are given to the readers.

Conclusions

The first aim of this research was to know in depth what are the common activities experienced by EFL teachers in Taiwan, that construct their professional development, and to understand how these activities influence their performance in three specific areas: classroom management, instructional strategies and students engagement. Literature related to teachers professional development: formal and informal learning, teachers ‘performance and self-efficacy were viewed, finally some aspects of the teaching criteria to work as an EFL teacher in Taiwan were mentioned, in order to provide a base for this dissertation.

As data collection instruments, semi-structured interviews, open-ended questions, observation and questionnaire with adopted in this study. The information collected went to a process of coding and analyzing by the researcher. This with the finality to answer what are the activities that EFL teachers in Taiwan practice in order to develop professionally and how these activities influence their performance.

Activities Experienced for EFL Teachers for the Construction of their Professional Development

Professional development was divided in the categories of formal and informal learning, the same as presented in the literature review, and the importance of professional development was presented explaining why this is important in their teaching careers. Finally, the researcher mentioned the different ways in which professional development is applied in the classroom.

The participants in this study mentioned that professional development can be seen as a process that last not only a few months in their careers, but a life time process, because it is important for EFL teachers in cram schools in Taiwan to update with the new educative reforms.

All of the teachers agreed that at least one formal teaching certification was needed in order to find a job in Taiwan. Thus, teachers who do not have a bachelor degree in education, literature, or any formal teaching certification probably will have a hard time finding a job as an EFL teacher in the different cram schools.

The majority of teachers mentioned that informal activities are vital in their professional development, and this is because they spend more time at work rather than in a training or workshops. They also appreciate the fact that having a mentor at work (supervisor, boss, or other experienced teachers) help them in the beginning of their careers. Since, the teaching style in Taiwan is quite different than in western countries, teachers have to be taught, to how to teach English in Taiwan and colleagues and mentors are role vital for this.

Teachers Performance

Reward system is an aspect learned during the teachers’ professional development in Taiwanese cram schools, either in a training, school, or from a colleague’s advice, and all the interviewed teachers know and use this strategy in their classrooms. They consider that Taiwanese students are highly motivated by rewards: points, candy, toys, games, stamps, etc.

And the teachers feel confident when rewarding students because it is a good strategy to keep the class smooth and participative.

Teachers are very respected in Taiwan, it can be said that even more than in other western countries, however EFL cram school teachers, are not very respected by the kids because most of the kids that go to cram school at the moment they get to school which is in the afternoon, are already tired and do not want to keep studying (Since they have been doing it in the morning) therefore, teachers need to think in active games, or warm up activities to make the kids feel confident and respect them as a teachers.

Outcomes from Professional Development

Regarding, self-efficacy and professional development, the teachers who participated in this research expressed how important is for them their supervisors feedback, they said that this influences greatly their teaching styles. They adapt it according to the request of their supervisors, however, some of they expressed to feel demoralized when their supervisors only listen to the parents’ complaints and demands rather than see the entire situation. They also feel it is uncomfortable when the only negative feedback is provided, however most of them mentioned that this is not an impediment for them to improve their teaching style, in fact they

take the suggestions form their supervisors and follow them in order to improve their work.

Professional development activities experienced, when including ‘teaching practice and hands-on’ activities have a good probability to be useful training. This is because according to the EFL teachers, they prefer to have the chance to practice what they learn, and not only listen to an experienced teacher for hours, without knowing if the knowledge acquire can really be applicable in their classes and with their students. Constant practice until doing perfection of the same, is called ‘mastery experiences’ and according to the self-efficacy theory stated by Bandura this will be a principal source of confidence for teachers.

Implications

The findings of this research have implications for the all the personnel that is part of the educative community in Taiwan, to be more specific to the personnel working in cram schools in Taiwan: EFL teachers, supervisors, and cram schools organizations in general.

For Supervisors in Taiwanese Cram Schools

The findings in this research expressed that teachers working in Taiwanese cram schools, tend to rely much in the informal learning produced at their work places, in fact they interact a lot with their colleagues and other senior teachers, therefore creating a knowledge sharing climate within the organizations becomes fundamental to guarantee a better teaching performance. Being able to share the tips, provide support to new teachers, and give advice (senior teachers to new teachers) is very helpful for producing knowledge within the work place, and to help the teachers to grow professionally. Being also aware of the importance of including self-efficacy (by providing positive feedback, hands-on experiences, and observation of classes among teachers) is also important for teachers in their workplace. In general, make the cram schools, schools not only for kids but also for EFL teachers, and provide as professional development opportunities as possible in the workplace.

For EFL Teachers in Cram Schools

EFL teachers in cram schools in Taiwan should always keep in mind the importance of update their knowledge, there is always a new way to do things, and kids in cram schools are demanding creativity and innovative practices from teachers. Also, the reality of work in Taiwan is very different to other western countries, therefore teachers should be willing to:

learn from Taiwanese educative practices, and be open to new ideas and suggestions from their supervisors and colleagues. Mostly they should accept that in Taiwan things are done different, feedback sometimes is a weakness for Taiwanese supervisors in cram schools and it might be negative as well, this is nothing to do with the teachers but whit the teaching style. Thus, EFL teachers considering to work in Taiwan should not let this affect their work but to motivate them to do better.

Also receive training in Taiwan, or attend to at least a few workshop sessions organized by Taiwanese schools is suggested, this is because through this the EFL teachers can learn how is the way that Taiwanese work and what are the specific or more common practices applied in Taiwan. Is not the same to learn teaching strategies in USA than in Taiwan, some of the

strategies learned are not applicable for students in Taiwan, and vice versa. EFL teachers should request to their supervisors to invest more in them and suggested some teaching training in English, so the EFL teachers can attend and grow professionally.

EFL teachers in Taiwan should also be active members or online teaching groups in Taiwan, through this practice interaction can help them to improve their teaching style, to cope with difficulties at work and to share with others their negative experiences at work and ask for advice.

For Trainers Developers

Some of the complaints addressed were that trainers some times are not native speakers, this affects when the training is delivered because the teachers get distracted by paying attention to the grammatical mistakes or pronunciation issues that the trainer has. Considering to hire native English speakers, ABC (American born Chinese-Taiwanese) or fluent trainers close to native speakers is encouraged. This will permit not only to the teachers be more interested in the topic, but indeed will minimize the distraction.

Generate more trainings and deliver this at the work place. Many training sessions are available for teachers, but not all of the teachers have the time to attend, usually a teacher works 20-36 hours weekly and on weekends they are quite busy to attend to training, thus trainer designers should offer to sale their programs to cram schools and offer to go to the work place and develop the training at work. A suggestion is to use the free time the teachers have to develop the training, this will permit them to feel part of the organization and to feel that the cram school cares for their professional development.

Offering trainings that include more ‘hands-on’ experiences will permit the teachers to feel more confident when applying this strategies at work, and also providing concrete examples to be implemented in Taiwan are beneficial for EFL teachers. Experienced foreign teachers should organize training and workshops where they can share their experiences, practice and concrete examples, and teaching advice to new teachers.

Finally, providing a follow up of the training it is recommended, to this it means that the teachers should be evaluated after workshops to see if they apply what they learned in the training and, also teachers should give a feedback to their supervisors regarding the training, to express if this training was useful for them or not too useful.

Suggestions

Despite these research attempted to collect as much information regarding the situation of professional development of EFL teachers in Taiwan, and also provided more insights for the area of professional development of teaches, for future research on the same topic it is necessary to address the following aspects.

Focus in informal learning within the work place, since the teachers mentioned many activities from this category. Longitudinal studies, to perceive how being exposed to informal learning practices within the work place are suggested.

For future researchers, it is suggested to focus in a small group of teachers and observe their classes for a longer period of time (days, weeks), thus the researchers can truly see their performance and how this is influenced by their professional development.

Focusing in specific cram schools, by these I mean to select four or five branches from the same cram school, to learn how this specific organization chain of cram schools, motivate to their teacher staff to cultivate their professional development is also suggested. Thus, researchers are encouraged to do more case studies in the area of professional development for EFL teachers from cram schools in Taiwan.

Finally, consider to interview supervisors of teachers and ask them about the interviewee teachers’ performance, and how they as supervisors help them to develop the teachers and empower their talents, in their daily work activities.

Limitations

Although this research has provided an answer to the research questions formulated, there were also some unavoidable limitations. The following limitations should be considered and examined thoughtfully

Most of the participants are from Taipei, only 6 from the 24 participants in this research are from areas out of Taipei city, therefore the work conditions and the criteria to hire personnel might vary in other counties in Taiwan. Taipei has a higher number of teachers coming from USA and England, but little we know about cram schools out of Taipei city.

Only less than the half of the participants could be observed, not all the cram schools allowed to the researcher to go inside and observe the teachers interviewed in action.

Some of the cram schools that are very ‘prestigious’ or ‘famous’ in Taipei are very careful about not providing their information and some teaching practices to outsiders. In fact around half of the teachers could not be observed, thus, since the very first beginning the supervisors declined in participate in the study, but the teachers accepted and this situation forced the researcher to only interview the teachers but not observe them.

Only three dimensions of teaching performance were address, there might be other dimensions of performance however according to the self-efficacy theory these were considered as more important to study.

The teachers participants in this study had receive training and certifications in their native countries this might affect some of the interviews experiences, due when the teachers were telling their experiences, this might be different depending of the country and culture context. For future research is recommended to focus on teachers who have had trainings only in Taiwan.

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