The Perceptions and Experiences of English Foreign Language (EFL) Primary School Teachers from the Gharian district of Libya towards their Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the perception and experiences of English foreign language (EFL) teachers towards continuing professional development (CPD) in primary schools in the Gharian district of Libya. This study makes use of Community of Practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) and Institutional Theory (Scott, 2008) as its lenses for understanding the phenomena under investigation and the possible factors that influence it. The phenomenological research orientation,specifically the subjectivist paradigm, was selected for this study. The research design used semi-structure interviews with a small sample of the population of EFL teachers from seven primary schools in the Gharian district of Libya. The study found three key themes: (1) personal development (2) academic adaptability (3) teacher training show a positive influence on EFL teachers’ perception and experiences of participation in CPD. The study extends existing knowledge in Community of Practice, CoP (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) by postulating a Situational Community of Practice model using key themes from this study, which is currently lacking in literature. Also, it suggests ways that existing knowledge of Institutional Theory (Scott 2008) might be extended based on the findings of these teachers’ perception and experiences toward CPD continuing professional development programmes which are influenced positively and negatively by external forces outside their control (government -primary schools). Further, it strengthens conceptual knowledge in the field of continuing professional development [CPD] as these teachers felt their personal development goals to be the critical factor in applying the knowledge acquired from continuing professional development. Finally, the overall finding from this study provides contribution that could help policy makers in the Gharian district primary education sector to meet the aspirations and expectations of EFL teachers.