Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Research in Teaching and Education
Year: 2022
DOI:
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Towards A Holistic Framework: Balancing Teachers’ Pedagogical, Technological and Psychological Factors in Professional Development
Naila Akram, Dr. Ebtesam Abdulhaleem
ABSTRACT:
The study emerged from the scarcity and educational organizations’ compromised attitude towards providing inclusive training sessions to teachers with a balanced approach to professional and emotional traits that ensure a healthy work environment and maintain motivation. Considering this situation, the current study aims to investigate the challenges faced by English teachers in Saudi Arabia in competencies and professional well-being during COVID-19. This exploration identified effective coping strategies teachers adopted to combat challenges. Using a convenient sampling method, 100 English teachers were approached to collect qualitative responses using open-ended questions aligned with a competencies model (TPACK) by Mishra and Koehler(2008) along with teachers’ Occupational Well-being dimensions 1) cognitive, 2) subjective, 3) Physical and Mental (Viac & Fraser, (OECD) 2021). Both models stood alongside to identify challenges in technological, pedagogical, and psychological areas and required support in all three areas. Collected responses were categorized under appropriate dimensions of well-being to classify data and answer research questions using frequency analysis. The results of three survey questions illustrated that well-being and competencies both got affected to the same extent; however, only developing competencies received attention. This highlighted an unbalanced approach towards teachers’ development and affected teachers’ motivation as motivation plays a key role to ensure sustainable performance within stable psychological conditions. Also, the collected data on competencies and professional well-being emphasized the need for a holistic framework for teachers’ professional development with a balanced approach to their competencies and professional well-being as a core requirement for teachers to stay motivated. Subsequently, these findings can determine teachers’ professional competencies and well-being needs for educational organizations/institutions to provide potential support and professional development training with a balanced approach to competencies and professional well-being.
keywords: Competencies, Covid-19, Challenges, Well-being, Strategies