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Professional Development in Education

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Professional development needs

of primary school English-language
teachers in Malaysia
a b
Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan & Kasthuri Veratharaju
a
Basic Educational Research Unit, School of Educational Studies,
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, 11800, Malaysia
b
Language Department, Institut Pendidikan Guru Pulau Pinang,
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
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development needs of primary school English-language teachers in Malaysia, Professional
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 Professional Development in Education, 2013
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.762418

Professional development needs of primary school

English-language teachers in Malaysia
Muhammad Kamarul Kabilana* and Kasthuri Veratharajub
a
Basic Educational Research Unit, School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains
Malaysia, Minden 11800, Malaysia; bLanguage Department, Institut Pendidikan Guru Pulau
Pinang, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Downloaded by [Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan] at 07:45 05 March 2013

(Received 30 June 2012; final version received 21 November 2012)

Professional development (PD) is not only an ongoing process that contributes

towards personal growth of teachers, but also an integral element in improving
the quality of schools. Hence, educational authorities have invested significantly
– in terms of money, time, effort and energy – in PD programmes/activities with
the aim of enhancing teachers’ competencies so that they become professionally
competent. However, effective PD should be based on the actual needs and
existing practices of teachers. This paper reports the PD needs of Malaysian
English-language teachers teaching in the primary schools using quantitative
and qualitative data. The study, which was carried out in 2010 for six months
(January to June), concludes that the Malaysian teachers prefer, mainly, PD
programmes/activities that emphasise their pupils’ needs as well as their own
professional needs and interests. It is thus suggested that the Ministry of
Education assists the schools and teachers to take more responsibility to plan,
develop, implement and assess their own PD programmes/activities.
Keywords: professional development needs; needs analysis; teacher’s needs;
pupils’ needs; school community; teacher effectiveness

1. Introduction
Professional development (PD) is not only an ongoing process that contributes
towards personal growth of teachers, but also an integral element in improving the
quality of schools (Thompson and Zeuli 1999, Smith et al. 2005, Desimone et al.
2007). Research indicates that teachers’ personal and professional growth bring
positive changes in pupils’ performances, and progress concurrently with pupils’
academic achievement (Garet et al. 2001, Carey 2004). For this to happen, ‘sus-
tained investment in developing the knowledge and skills of classroom teachers and
of personnel who provide instructional leadership’ must be planned and made
(Anderson and Roshni 2009, p. 290).
The literature of PD and school change suggests that PD is most effective when
it is planned and reformed at the school level (Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin
1995, Lieberman 1995, Fullan 2003). Hence, educational authorities and institutions
in many countries have invested significantly – in terms of money, time, effort and
energy – in PD programmes/activities with the aim of enhancing teachers’ PD. It is

*Corresponding author. Email: kabilan@usm.my

Ó 2013 International Professional Development Association (IPDA)

 2 M.K. Kabilan and K. Veratharaju

hoped that the teachers will become professionally competent (see Anderson and
Roshni 2009, Garet et al. 2001, Peacock and Rawson 2001), and thus contribute to
the desired educational changes and reform at the school level.
Aspects of teachers’ PD needs have been continuously debated for decades but
little empirical data area are available to specify what teachers really require to
build effective PD practices (Loucks-Horsley et al. 2003, Kennedy 2005). This is
mainly because new ideas, knowledge and technological advancement and practices
proliferate rapidly over time, and it is almost impossible to keep track of the result-
ing educational changes that occur. In other words, PD and its related aspects
should be a continuous process (see Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin 1995,
Black and Wiliam 1998, Kabilan 2006), and not a one-off effort or initiative. This
means that planning, identifying needs and assessing effectiveness of teacher PD
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should be done frequently, consistently and constantly over time. Black and Wiliam
offer further analysis by arguing that, ‘teachers need to know about their pupils’
progress and difficulties with learning so that they can adapt their own work to
meet pupils’ needs that are often unpredictable and that vary from one pupil to
another’ (1998, p. 140). Black and Wiliam (1998) also believe that these teaching
challenges could be overcome by implementing PD programmes/activities and sup-
port systems that are built on good practices. Therefore, the identification of teach-
ers’ professional needs should be done regularly, taking into account new and
current developments and ideas in education and other areas of studies such as
information and communications technologies (ICT), social sciences, pure and
applied sciences and economics.
Quite frequently, teachers’ needs of PD activities are neglected, and their needs
are rarely given the attention they deserve (Guskey 2000). This is mainly because
the teachers are not given opportunities to voice their needs for relevant and mean-
ingful PD programmes/activities. In many contexts around the world, particularly in
developing and Third World countries, teachers voice their frustrations at not getting
PD programmes/activities that fulfil their interests and needs. For example, in the
1990s, Castro (1991) and Davini (1995) claimed that the content of PD programmes/
activities in Latin America did not fulfil teachers’ needs, and that ‘teachers do not
have a systematic way of communicating to administrators (who are in charge of
developing these courses) that which they need’ (in Villegas-Reimers 2003, p. 62).
Ethiopian teachers lament about their ‘employer’s unresponsiveness in providing on-
the-job training’ but are expected to perform at a very high standard (Tekleselassie
2005, p. 624). In Ghana, Osei (2006) identifies many negative factors, especially
political turmoils, diminishing training funds, lack of appropriately trained staff and
teachers, scarce resources, large class size and poor salary scale that seriously impact
‘the future education and training needs of the nation’ (p. 50). In some contexts,
such as Namibia, teachers may not even know how to assess their PD needs, as they
are not given the freedom to do so or ‘were not sufficiently empowered to assess
their own specific needs’ (O’Sullivan 2001, p. 114). Sometimes, local culture, way
of life and geographical boundaries do not permit teachers to be involved in PD
programmes/activities, as exemplified by Sales of Pakistani women teachers:

The long hours after school create a problem for the women who are expected to spend
their afternoons on household and agricultural work, and especially for the many work-
ing mothers … Equally, the geography of the area means that teachers in the most
remote areas may find even ‘local’ training centres inaccessible. (1999, p. 414)
 Professional Development in Education 3

In the Malaysian context, English-language teachers urge and demand far more
effective PD programmes/activities that are tailored to their needs (Kabilan et al.
2008). Issues related to the teaching and learning of English in Malaysia receive
considerable serious attention from various stakeholders – including politicians,
who have debated it numerous times in the Malaysian Parliament (Kabilan 2007).
The main reason behind this attention is that the Malaysian Government wants
pupils to master the English language so that the demands of a knowledge-based
society (k-economy) can be met. For this to happen, the teachers should be compe-
tent and skilled in terms of pedagogical knowledge and language proficiency. How-
ever, teachers would not have acquired, in their initial education, all the knowledge
and competencies that are essential in their future years of teaching (Mulkeen and
Tetenbaum 1987). This would mean that they need time to prepare and equip them-
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selves with the needed English-language knowledge and skills necessary to create
that ideal classroom atmosphere.
PD programmes/activities should therefore be relevant, meaningful and cater to
the professional needs of teachers. Unfortunately, much research done in Malaysia
highlights the fact that teachers are not satisfied with their PD (see Kabilan 2004,
Kabilan et al. 2008). The authors firmly believe that this is so because of the way
PD is planned and conducted in Malaysia, which is very centralised, dominated by
cascade-type programmes (top-down) that neglect teachers’ interests and needs.
Teachers in the Malaysian urban schools in some ways benefit from such PD
programmes, as they have easy access to information and the programme. However,
the teachers teaching in rural schools, who are usually ‘left out’ from the PD pro-
grammes for reasons such as financial constraints and distance, do not enjoy the
same ‘luxury’ as their urban counterparts. In many cases, the elite and established
schools, which are mostly located in the urban areas, are allocated bigger funds
compared with other schools, and this further widens the PD gap between teachers
teaching in urban and rural schools. This situation is not helped by the constant
change of teaching and learning policies. For example, in 2005/06, the Malaysian
Ministry of Education (MOE) introduced the teaching of mathematics and science
using the English language, replacing the old policy of teaching the subjects in
Bahasa Malaysia. But in 2010 the decision to teach mathematics and science in
English was reversed, as it is felt that this policy is not the right way to encourage
the learning of English. Thus, in 2012 a new English-language curriculum was
introduced to all Malaysian schools. However, this introduction will have its weak-
nesses if teachers’ professional needs are not identified and determined. The new
curriculum should take into consideration, among other factors: what the teachers
are able to do (and not able to do); strengths and weaknesses of teachers in terms
of teaching methods, orientations and perspectives/philosophy; and the new knowl-
edge and skills (including readiness and adaptability) that are required of teachers
to successfully implement the curriculum.
This study is therefore carried out with the aim of identifying primary school
English-language teachers’ current PD needs. The research question for this study
is: ‘What kind of PD programmes/activities would the primary school English-lan-
guage teachers like to participate in and experience, and which will fulfil the teach-
ers’ needs?’ Answering this research question will provide valuable insights to
other countries and contexts in a similar vein since PD and identifying teachers’
needs are important elements of educational planning and development of a nation.
More importantly, listening to teachers’ voices would contribute to a more positive
 4 M.K. Kabilan and K. Veratharaju

atmosphere, where the teachers would be able to function better in attaining educa-
tional success. Ignoring the teachers’ voices would cause more serious repercussions
as teachers may feel neglected and resist any reforms introduced (Villegas-Reimers
2003). Findings from this study would enable PD planners to develop a framework
as well as create and propose policies that would facilitate effective planning,
organising (and organisation) and delivery of effective PD programmes/activities
that will provide meaningful experiences for teachers.

2. Literature review
In the 1980s and 1990s, teachers’ acquisition of knowledge and skills had always
been lacking in most teachers’ PD practices (Jackson and Davis 2000). The main
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cause, as identified and scrutinised by Darling-Hammond (2007) and Hollins and

Guzman (2005), is the providers’ reluctance and failure to design suitable pro-
grammes that are in accordance with the learners’ performance and achievement. It
is not only that PD programmes/activities have failed to produce successful learners;
teacher education programmes are also partly blamed. Teacher education
programmes are held responsible for failing to produce efficient teachers (Cheng
et al. 2002, Thomas 2009), whereby their initial needs as pre-service teachers were
not clearly identified and addressed in the teacher education programmes, especially
the curriculum and instructional components (Could 2003). Failure of teacher edu-
cation programmes in this respect would have a damaging effect on the quality of
teachers placed in the educational system, particularly in the early childhood and
primary education levels. Literature also draws attention to how teachers themselves
contribute negatively to their own career – teachers often do not take responsibility
and ownership towards their professionalism (Chase 1998, Lee 2004/2005) to
improve themselves (Kent 2004).
It is strongly acknowledged by researchers that effective and meaningful PD
programmes/activities are the ones that fulfil the needs and interests of the partici-
pating teachers (see Darling-Hammond 1997, Garet et al. 2001), and that engage
them meaningfully and actively (Sikora and Alexander 2004, Lee 2011). More
importantly, these programmes should concentrate on the development and improve-
ment of teaching and learning in the classroom (Garet et al. 2001). Garet et al.
termed these as ‘high-quality PD’ (2001, p. 915) by illustrating Hiebert’s (1999)
several core features that describe effective PD in the form of teacher learning:

… (a) ongoing (measured in years) collaboration of teachers for purposes of planning

with (b) the explicit goal of improving pupils’ achievement of clear learning goals, (c)
anchored by attention to pupils’ thinking, the curriculum, and pedagogy, with (d)
access to alternative ideas and methods and opportunities to observe these in action
and to reflect on the reasons for their effectiveness … (Hiebert 1999, p. 15)

By not focusing on the above cores, it would be difficult to achieve the aims
and objectives of a programme, and to sustain the teachers’ motivation level to
learn further and deeper. For instance, Atay (2007) finds that persistent boredom
leads to participants becoming unreceptive learners, and at some stage of the PD
activity they become totally withdrawn. Hence, Anderson (2007) suggests that PD
programmes should focus on equipping teachers with knowledge and skills so as to
develop and enrich their competency levels. Also, the knowledge and skills gained
 Professional Development in Education 5

and learned must be practised, as implied by Daloglu’s (2004) study of Turkish

primary English-language teachers, who evaluated a PD programme. The Turkish
teachers found the PD programme to be effective because the focus of the
programme identified by them addressed a specific need, and ‘the materials
developed through the program were put into use immediately, providing a concrete
benefit to the teachers’ (2004, p. 687). Villegas-Reimers (2003) explains that identi-
fying and evaluating professional needs are crucial in deciding which ‘PD model
would be the most beneficial to their particular situation’ (p. 15); and by doing so,
teachers can be selective of their PD programmes/activities. Kabilan et al. (2008)
discover that teachers are ‘wrongly’ sent to PD programmes/activities because of
the, ‘failure of the organisers and planners of the programmes to carry out proper
needs analysis of the teachers and ensure that the contents are suitable, appropriate
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and most crucially, are what they actually need in practice’ (2008, p. 89). Therefore,
it is vital that teachers are included as ‘an integral part of the planning process, both
in decision making and in identifying needs and beliefs’ as findings on teachers’
needs of PD must be deliberated in establishing a fluid PD framework (Haney and
Lumpe 1995, p. 191).
From the above literature review, we can conclude that identifying teachers’
professional needs is an important concern for educators and the authorities. It is
also interesting to note that different research contexts present different challenges
and difficulties. These challenges and difficulties include government educational
policies, teachers’ cultural sensitivity and teachers’ personal issues. Also, in differ-
ent epochs, countries were concerned with different issues and problems. For exam-
ple, in Turkey, according to Daloglu (2004) in the study reviewed above, the
concern was towards providing training (in the form of workshops) to teachers as
their PD. In Ghana in the 1990s, the concern was to provide adequate teachers,
regardless of whether they were qualified or not, to schools especially in the rural
areas (Villegas-Reimers 2003). However, Osei (2006) quite recently examined the
issues of remuneration and salary as a form of enhancing Ghanaian teacher PD.
These examples re-emphasise and support the argument that teachers’ needs ought
to be frequently and consistently investigated and identified because the teachers’
needs may change over time as their needs are dependent on other variables. These
variables include: learners’ interests, ability and variability; government and minis-
try policy changes; new technological development and advancement; curriculum
changes and restructuring; and introduction of new teaching–learning methods.

3. Methods
3.1. Population, sampling procedures and sample size
The target population of this survey was English-language teachers in primary
schools in Malaysia. Only full-time teachers were accepted to participate in this
study. Part-time teachers or replacement teachers and pre-service teachers were not
included as respondents to the survey, which was carried out for six months
(January–June 2010). The teachers’ qualification as participants for the survey was
indicated in the letter that was sent to the headmasters of the selected schools.
There are 7695 primary schools in Malaysia and 2,899,228 primary school children
with 230,499 full-time teachers (MOE 2010). The teachers in this study were
trained and certified as English-language teachers and they hold a variety of posts
such as heads of departments, senior administrators and headmasters. In terms of
 6 M.K. Kabilan and K. Veratharaju

PD, the teachers involved in this study, like all Malaysian teachers, are required by
the Ministry to engage in PD programmes that are school based, with the aim of
enhancing teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical skills, soft skills and classroom
practices (MOE 2009). Each teacher has to fulfil (and document) at least 42 hours
of PD (equivalent to 7 days) per year that may encompass all types of PD
programmes and activities (such as workshops, conference, expert teachers’ meet-
ings, training, seminars and talks, etc.). Although the MOE propagates that the PD
are now school based, the truth is that the operationalisation of PD programmes is
still very much a cascade type of programmes (top-down). This is because the
MOE still dictates and organises PD courses, and hence teachers are still dependent
on the MOE for their PD.
The sampling technique used for the survey was stratified random sampling.
This sampling technique was used because it could ‘produce more accurate esti-
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mates of population characteristics’ (Peck et al. 2001, p. 44). For this study, dispro-
portionate stratified random sampling was selected as the sampling technique
because the number of samples chosen according to the size of the population
would result in, at times, a number of samples in the strata that was too small, and
was not representative of the population of the strata (Sekaran 1992). A single stra-
tum was used as the basis for the sampling techniques – location of schools (urban/
rural). This sampling approach ensured that English-language teachers in both the
urban and rural schools were represented in proportion to their appearance in the
population (Black 1999). Also, it promised an equal representation of rural and
urban schools in the study, as this approach enabled the researcher to randomly
choose the same number of rural and urban schools. The status of the schools –
whether they were urban or rural schools – was determined using the status that
was assigned by the Ministry. In order to obtain a sufficient sample size, 5000 ques-
tionnaires were sent to randomly selected primary schools (both urban and rural)
throughout the country, with a response rate of 31.22% (n = 1561).

3.2. Instruments and data analysis

The instrument used in this survey was a self-administered questionnaire that
consisted of two sections – Section A and Section B. Section A is a construct with
13 items pertaining to teachers’ needs for future PD programmes (see Table 2 later).
The 13 items were included in this construct based on literature pertaining to PD
needs of English-language teachers, particularly Kabilan (2006), Bailey et al.
(2001) and Kabilan et al. (2001). The teachers were given a five-level Likert scale
– ‘Not at all important’ (Level 1) to ‘Extremely Important’ (Level 5) – to rate
teachers’ needs of PD activities. This construct was tested for its reliability (with n
= 71) and a Cronbach alpha score of 0.843 was obtained, indicating the construct’s
strong internal consistency. Frequencies, percentages and mean scores were
employed to determine and describe teachers’ needs of their PD activities.
Section B consisted of a single open-ended structure item that sought to
explicate in detail the teachers’ notion and ideas of effective and meaningful PD
that would fulfil their needs. The specific question was:

In your opinion, what are the effective and meaningful professional development
programmes/activities that would fulfil the needs of an English-language teacher
teaching in a primary school in Malaysia?
 Professional Development in Education 7

The teachers’ responses were identified by the codes given to them (T1, Teacher
1; T2, Teacher 2; etc.). The data from the open-ended item were categorised into
thematic constructs using coding strategies (Bogdan and Biklen 1992) that
included two types of codes – activity codes and situation codes. Activity codes
are units of data that described the teachers’ regularly occurring behaviour and
activities in terms of their PD, whereby questions such as ‘What did the teachers
do in order to enhance their PD?’ and ‘How did the teachers carry out their PD?’
were pertinent. On the other hand, the situation codes described the teachers’ defi-
nition, understandings and perceptions of their own PD. Questions such as ‘What
were the teachers’ concerns of their PD?’ and ‘How did the teachers value their
PD?’ were some of the relevant questions for the researchers. These questions
guided the researchers to understand, reflect and categorise data into specific
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themes that led to the thematic constructs (see Table 1 for sample coding
strategies).
This strategy enabled the researchers to direct the recurring themes, and
physically separated the different types of PD needs of the teachers. By grouping
these types of PD programmes and activities, the researchers were well aware of
the teachers’ views and how they defined effective and meaningful PD activities
that fulfilled their needs (Bogdan and Biklen 1992). Readers should be aware that
some data collected from the open-ended item indicated or enclosed more than
one theme at times; and as such, the themes may be intertwined with one another.
The qualitative data were mainly used to support and give meaning to the
quantitative data.

Table 1. Sample schema for activity and situation codes.

Thematic
Example excerpts (teachers) Analyses (note/comment) constructs
‘Research should be made to Research is an integral component Pupils’ needs &
identify the major problem in identifying teachers’ as well as teachers’ needs/
among teachers and students in pupils’ needs. However, identifying interests
the real world. These activities teachers’ and pupils’ needs cannot
should be based on the result. It be separated or treated in isolation
should be based on pupils’ and
teachers’ needs’ (T451) [situation
code]
‘After 3 years being graduated from PD should be based on voluntary Voluntary basis
USM I feel very sad because I basis and the opportunity for PD
don’t have a chance to attend in must be given to each teacher
any course to improve myself
compare to when I’m in primary
school last time. Advertise the
course to each school so we can
take part’ (T64) [activity code]
‘Involve not only these who are
interested but also those who
often find excuse not to attend. In
short, should be made
compulsory’ (T158) [situation
code]
 8 M.K. Kabilan and K. Veratharaju

4. Results
4.1. Overall mean scores, frequencies and percentages
Data from the survey are presented in Table 2; that is, the mean scores of items and
the frequencies and percentages, respectively. There are two items that are consid-
ered important by the teachers; that is, PD activities that are based on pupils’ needs
(α = 4.11) and that are based on teachers’ professional needs (α = 4.05). The other
11 items are slightly important to the teachers. The items with low mean scores are:
attainment of higher education (α = 3.56); and considered as equivalent to Level 4
of PTK (α = 3.65).

4.2. Pupils’ needs

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The data indicate that teachers in this study identify pupils’ needs as the most
important factor that should be taken into consideration when a PD programme is
developed, planned and organised (α = 4.11). This is because, apart from the teach-
ers, what the pupils do in the classroom critically impacts their learning (Black and
Wiliam 1998). The teachers (f = 1273, 81.5%) feel it is important that PD activities
are based on pupils’ needs. T23 points out that PD activities should be tailored
according to ‘types of schools and pupils’ because, too often, the existing PD activ-
ities are geared to cater to teachers from one type of school when the activities are
attended by teachers from different types of schools. PD that is based on pupils’
needs will also ‘guide teachers to do more pupil-centred activities’ (T17) and thus
contribute to pupils’ learning (T26). These pupil-centred activities will ‘generate
pupils’ interests to learn English’ (T39). Therefore, T451 suggests that research
should be carried out to identify the major problems faced by teachers and students.
By doing so, as well as identifying pupils’ needs, the activities devised should be
able to enhance pupils’ proficiency levels at both urban and rural schools (T155)
and fulfil pupils’ needs in language learning (T52). Similarly, T23 suggests profes-
sional activities for teachers that will eventually benefit ‘all levels of pupils and for
all types of schools’.

4.3. Teachers’ professional needs and interests

With a mean score of 4.05, teachers in this study acknowledge that PD programmes
should be based on teachers’ professional needs as the second most important fac-
tor. In total, 1278 (89.1%) teachers agree that it is important for the professional
activities to be organised and planned according to the teachers’ professional needs,
and suggest that more related conferences and seminars are organised to ‘improve
and enhance the pedagogical aspects in teaching and learning’ (T24) as well as to
improve themselves and ‘be more alert to current teaching and learning practices’
(T96). T27 hopes that with such professional activities, ‘we would be able to
address genuine problems/issues at primary levels and get teachers and educators
from different fields to participate’. Similarly, the respondents also want PD activi-
ties to be based on their interests (α = 3.99), with 77.5% (f = 1210) of the teachers
stating its importance.
The primary teachers’ voices clearly demonstrate their need for activities that
interest them. According to T189, they ‘should be given room and the opportunity
to choose PD activities that they are interested in’. T246, however, believes that all
 Downloaded by [Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan] at 07:45 05 March 2013

Table 2. Mean score, frequency and percentages of teachers’ PD needs.

Not at all Less Slightly Extremely Mean

As a teacher, I want the PD programmes/activities to: important important important Important important score
Be based on pupils’ needs 7 (0.4) 23 (1.5) 230 (14.7) 809 (51.8) 464 (29.7) 4.11
Be based on teachers’ professional needs 10 (0.6) 16 (1.0) 229 (14.7) 910 (58.3) 368 (23.6) 4.05
Be based on teachers’ professional interests 7 (0.4) 35 (2.2) 279 (17.9) 853 (54.6) 357 (22.9) 3.99
Comprise various levels of knowledge 4 (0.3) 27 (1.7) 325 (20.8) 916 (58.7) 260 (16.7) 3.91
Be based on school needs 12 (0.8) 35 (2.2) 336 (21.5) 887 (56.8) 263 (16.8) 3.88
Be regularly evaluated for improved pupil academic 5 (0.3) 40 (2.6) 372 (23.8) 858 (55.0) 257 (16.5) 3.86
achievement
Comprise various levels of skills 5 (0.3) 25 (1.6) 372 (23.8) 912 (58.4) 219 (14.0) 3.86
Be regularly evaluated for their impact on increased teacher 8 (0.5) 40 (2.6) 374 (24.0) 881 (56.4) 230 (14.7) 3.84
effectiveness
Comprise various workshop themes 6 (0.4) 33 (2.1) 469 (30.0) 871 (55.8) 154 (9.9) 3.74
Be an integral part of a nationwide educational improvement 9 (0.6) 62 (4.0) 455 (29.1) 822 (52.7) 185 (11.9) 3.73
plan (e.g. ETEMS)a
Be on a voluntary basis 23 (1.5) 76 (4.9) 496 (31.8) 719 (46.1) 218 (14.0) 3.67
Be considered as equivalent to Level 4 of PTK (Pencapaian 32 (2.0) 118 (7.6) 477 (30.6) 640 (41.0) 266 (17.0) 3.65
Tahap Kecekapan)b
Include the attainment of higher degree (master’s/PhD) 23 (1.5) 111 (7.1) 554 (35.5) 675 (43.2) 169 (10.8) 3.56
Notes: This construct (with the above 13 items) is the main construct in the questionnaire. aTeaching of mathematics and science using English. bA course/training that
is compulsory for Malaysian teachers if they want to move to a higher post and/or salary scale.
Professional Development in Education
9
 10 M.K. Kabilan and K. Veratharaju

English-language teachers should be given the ‘chance to participate in activities

which interest them’. T252 states that PD activities should be based on teachers’
professional needs and interests because this is connected to the issue of relevancy
of those activities to teachers, as exemplified by T9:

Before conducting any activities, ask the question ‘is it relevant?’ when and to whom?
Sometimes the content is interesting but the presentation can be such a bore … zzz …
both content and delivery should be interesting. Make it less formal, perhaps? Formal-
ity is not my forte … give me a chance to get my hands dirty instead of mutely letting
me ‘imagine’ the whole thing happening.

In addition, identifying teachers’ needs is imperative so that the PD experiences will

be meaningful and relevant to the teachers, and will be able to resolve other issues,
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particularly the effectiveness of the activities carried out. Some of the teachers claim
that ‘PD activities in school look like lecture session’ (T15) and are ‘too general to
benefit’ the teachers (T19).
Teachers in this study imply that there is a nexus between pupils’ needs and teach-
ers’ needs in terms of the kind of PD activities that should be carried out – they
should fulfil both teachers’ and pupils’ needs (T449, T451 and T454). Researching
and identifying teachers’ needs is crucial and should be the basis of developing,
planning and organising PD. This also shows how much the teachers are aware of the
significance of identifying their own needs, as well as their pupils’ needs:

Researchers/stakeholders should observe classroom teaching to find out English teach-

ers’ needs. The findings from the observations should be used to plan and provide
relevant activities. (T12)

KPM (MOE) should engage directly to school administrators in order to identify

teachers’ needs and requirement for PD courses. (T65)

In terms of researching and identifying teachers’ needs, T381 even suggests

assessment as a form of identifying teachers’ needs:

PD is very subjective and cannot be calibrated by the individual, teacher themselves.

The teacher needs to be observed and assessed by a panel to really know whether he/
she needs more activities to help him/herself. (T381)

T266 provides deeper insights into the connection between identifying teachers’
needs and assessment of the professional activities:

Prior to designing PD activities, a needs analysis must be conducted to ascertain the area
of PD needed for teachers in general and ELT teacher in specific, this may reduce teach-
ers’ anxiety in attending unnecessary courses because students would be left out. As we
come back from the courses nothing could be applied, [so] someone must monitor the
courses for the teacher, it’s faithful or just to fulfil the directive over the top. (T266)

Data presented in this section echo Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin’s (1995)

views on PD that emphasise the provision of an appropriate platform for teachers to
exchange and share knowledge, ideas and skills with others. The platform should
also facilitate the teachers’ learning and thus enable them to practise new ideas for
the benefits of their pupils’ learning.
 Professional Development in Education 11

4.4. Assessment
Assessment of PD activities is needed and emphasised by a number of teachers.
From the quantitative data, 71.5% of teachers in this study say it is important that
PD activities are regularly evaluated to improve pupils’ academic achievement
(α = 3.86). Quite similarly, 71.1% of teachers state that the activities should be reg-
ularly evaluated for their impact on increased teacher effectiveness (α = 3.84).
These statistics are well supported by the teachers’ qualitative voices, which high-
light regular follow-ups (T3, T14 and T18) and observations (T4 and T391), evalua-
tion of teachers’ performance (T360) and feedback on the effectiveness of the
activities (T3 and T8). These suggestions are given so that the PD activities and
programmes provided can be improved and meaningfully help the teachers via a
‘hands-on approach’ (T170) accompanied by ‘follow up activities and programmes’
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(T145). Guskey’s (2000) two forms of assessment of PD – formative and summa-

tive assessments – are mentioned by the teachers in this study. For formative assess-
ment, teachers in this study have indicated that continuous information and
feedback on the PD implemented and how the PD affect pupils’ learning and pro-
gress are crucial. As for summative assessment, the teachers have given accounts of
the extent of success (or failure) of the organised PD programmes/activities and
their overall value to the teachers.

4.5. Knowledge and skills

Teachers in this study identify that PD programmes/activities should comprise
various levels of knowledge and various levels of skills (α = 3.91 and α = 3.86,
respectively). This finding is in accordance with Craft’s (1996) theory of the need
of teachers to engage in PD, as well as Bell’s (1991) ideas and perspectives of an
effective PD. In the open-ended item, teachers accentuate that PD activities should
lead to the learning of new knowledge and therefore develop ‘further expertise in
pedagogy as well as content/subject matter’ (T113). The learning of new knowledge
is vital, and should be ‘regularly updated on issues/trends/developments in ELT’
(T104). Many other teachers underscore the importance of existing knowledge and
the learning of new knowledge that should enhance their effectiveness as an
English-language teacher. Ideally, the new knowledge learned should be shared so
that ‘participant engage actively in the development activities’ (T328).
Qualitative data indicate that there are two main skills that the primary teachers
would like to see incorporated into PD activities: pedagogical skills and language
skills. Most of the teachers stress teaching skills as one key area that needs to be
focused on during PD activities: to improve teaching styles/methods/skills; ‘to stim-
ulate the mind, maintain interest and prevent burn-out syndrome’ (T37); ‘to impro-
vise teaching skills/methods’ (T211); and ‘to enhance the quality of teaching and
learning process’ (T377 and T339). With improved and improvised teaching skills
and methods, it is hoped that the teachers will be more effective in ‘teaching
students of different level of capabilities (especially the low achievers)’ (T199) and
‘to teach weak students and how to make literature more fun’ (T336). Naturally, as
English-language teachers, they are very much concerned with students’ language
skills, and thus advocate teaching methods/skills that are related to reading, writing,
listening and speaking. T203, for example, emphasises more content-based PD of
‘teaching of essay writing and summary writing which are skills hard for students
to acquire’.
 12 M.K. Kabilan and K. Veratharaju

4.6. School needs

Bell’s (1991) approach to PD puts stress on the school’s needs as the focal point to
enhance teacher effectiveness. Similarly, in this study, an important criterion for PD
programmes or activities is that they should be based on school needs (α = 3.88),
with 1150 teachers (73.6%) claiming it to be important for them. The primary
school teachers stress that the focus of PD should be on school and its ‘real needs’
(T310), particularly the schools in the rural areas (T17, T130 and T443). By doing
so, the PD activities will ‘enable the teachers to work on a common problem area
and improve their teaching strategies more effectively’ (T156); and be a ‘practical
session with the real situation in schools where teachers can share ideas’ (T10) that
‘are relevant to the Malaysian pedagogy’ (T106) and culture (T132), particularly in
classroom contexts.
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4.7. Voluntary basis

Quite a number of teachers in this study agree that attending PD activities on a vol-
untary basis is slightly important (α = 3.67) compared with earlier items. More than
one-half of the teachers in this study (64.6%) believe that attending PD activities
and programmes on a voluntary basis is important, whereas 99 teachers (6.4%) indi-
cate this is less important or not at all important. It is interesting to note that 496
teachers (31.8%) concur that it is slightly important. However, the qualitative data
paint a different picture. Only T15 identifies that ‘in order to make PD activities
become meaningful, it has to be on a voluntary basis and based on teachers’ needs’.
Other teachers highlight the need for all English-language teachers to be actively
involved in PD activities and programmes. T158 is quite vocal and strong in her
response: ‘Involve not only those who are interested but also those who often find
excuses not to attend. In short, should be made compulsory’. However, a number
of teachers lament that they are not given the chance to participate in PD activities:

After 3 years being graduated from USM I feel very sad because I don’t have a
chance to attend in any course to improve myself compare to when I’m in primary
school last time. Advertise the course to each school so we can take part. (T64)

Rural school teachers have always been neglected from PD activities. Never been
invited to any professional courses and PD activities. (T387)

Problem – mainly given to teachers from selected schools only. Then, no proper in
house training is given to the rest of the teachers in other schools. Hence, ensure a
proper mechanism to spread/share PD activities. (T68)

Many teachers point out that all English-language teachers should participate in
at least one PD activity per year (for example, T81, T112, T217 and T24) so that
their teaching skills can be improved (T243). Some also want to include ‘teachers
from different parts of the country so that the activities provided are relevant to all
teachers’ (T95). Teachers also raise the issue of fairness and being given an equal
chance to participate in PD activities:

Course should also be attended by all English language teachers. It is rather burdening
to panel head to attend all the workshops and courses. All English teachers should
shoulder equal responsibilities. (T229)
 Professional Development in Education 13

Qualified teachers be given the chance without discrimination. (T341)

The teachers justify that their demand is reasonable as it leads to first-hand

experience and teacher effectiveness:

Send teachers for ‘first-hand’ seminar/workshops rather than choosing one teacher per
school and to expect that teacher to give an in-house training to other colleagues. Let
teachers choose their preferred ESL courses. (T331)

Provide first-hand experience when courses are conducted for teachers there is a
cascading effect, which needs to be rectified. A lot of information is watered down
and the end result is a lack of effectiveness, especially when the selected teacher
return to school to carry out in house training. A week long course is sometimes pre-
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sented in an hour or two. (T111)

5. Discussion
Teachers in this study engage in PD activities with the main aim of helping their
pupils develop proficiency in the target language (Diaz-Maggioli 2003). However,
in order to improve pupils’ learning of English, the pupils’ positive outcome or
learning must be sustainable and maintained at the highest level (Anderson and
Roshni 2009). Geijsel et al. explain it by taking the view of teacher learning and
development as a ‘constructive and socially and culturally situated process’ (2009,
p. 408). Hence, Geijsel et al. (2009) imply that teachers become responsible for
their ‘own professional functioning and acquire the necessary knowledge and reper-
toire of activities to participate critically in the social and cultural practices with
regard to education’ that will contribute to the overall development of the school.
Teachers in this study want PD programmes/activities that consider their profes-
sional needs and interests so that they would be able to fulfil their pupils’ needs in
terms of learning English, and this is very specific to the enhancement and improve-
ment of their teaching and gaining new content and pedagogical knowledge. This
quest towards continuous improvement of teachers, Hirsh (2009, p. 3) argues,
begins with ‘examining student data to determine the areas of greatest student need,
pinpointing areas where additional educator learning is necessary’. It is then
explicable as to why the teachers in this study emphasised research as an integral
component in identifying teachers’ as well as pupils’ needs. However, identifying
teachers’ and pupils’ needs cannot be separated or treated in isolation – both should
be analysed and determined in tandem with each other, mainly because the pupils’
needs influence and determine the teachers’ professional needs and interests, as
shown by the data in this study.
The teachers in this study demand far more effective, meaningful and relevant
PD programmes/activities that are regularly assessed for their effectiveness.
Constant assessment, evaluation, observation and follow-up activities will benefit
the teachers in determining future goals and objectives for future PD (Sikora and
Alexander 2004). As a result, future PD programmes/activities will be more mean-
ingful and engaging as the teachers are actively involved in designing them, and
determining the direction and implementation of change (see Hargreaves and
Hopkins 1991, Coombe 1997).
Teachers in this study prefer PD programmes/activities that enhance existing
knowledge and skills, and that allow the gaining of new knowledge and skills. This
would facilitate them to relate their prior knowledge to new experiences (Cohen
 14 M.K. Kabilan and K. Veratharaju

1990, Lieberman 1994). The teachers state that the knowledge and skills should be
in the areas of pedagogy, content and linguistics, which are important to them ‘as
part of the professional knowledge base underlying their work’ (Geijsel et al. 2009,
p. 408) that can be used to, among other things, achieve classroom efficacy
(Mushayikwa and Lubben 2009), equip pupils with higher-order thinking
skills (Hunt 2009) and address changes needed in teaching and learning (Darling-
Hammond et al. 2009).
The teachers’ insistence on PD programmes/activities that are based on the
schools’ needs denotes a multifaceted approach that is needed to manage and con-
duct meaningful PD programmes/activities, as ascertained by the teachers. Pupils’
needs and teachers’ needs are the other main important elements that should be
deliberated and considered for PD programmes/activities. Hence, PD planners and
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providers should consider both the institution’s needs (school) as well as the indi-
viduals’ needs (teachers and pupils). According to Mushayikwa and Lubben (2009),
such PD will engage the schools, teachers and pupils in ‘mutually supportive rela-
tionships’ and, as a result, ‘symbiosis occur’. Consequently, the teachers and pupils
will feel ‘empowered’ and would be able to identify and relate to the missions and
visions of the schools. In other words, the needs of the school are the needs of the
pupils and teachers because there exists ‘a shared vision and high delivery’
(Mushayikwa and Lubben 2009, p. 377).
While many teachers express their liking for PD that are based on a voluntary
basis in the survey, the teachers also strongly advocate the need to make PD pro-
grammes/activities ‘compulsory’ through the qualitative data. Although this appears
to be a contradiction, in reality there are perfectly logical explanations for such an
intricate trend. Foremost, the teachers do desire PD programmes/activities that are
based on volunteerism, their needs and interests, as indicated by the survey, but
their previous experiences of PD were most probably not meaningful due to various
factors such as the lack of proper planning; incompetent facilitators; the irrelevant
contents and lame methods/approach of conducting PD programmes/activities;
heavy school workload; and poor support and recognition, in monetary and funding
terms (see Pajak and Blase 1989, Sikora and Alexander 2004, Osei 2006, Kabilan
et al. 2008, Torff and Byrnes 2011, Wichadee 2011). As such, teachers’ participa-
tion in PD programmes/activities diminishes and they become non-committal or
sceptical towards PD programmes/activities. Previous studies have pointed out that
addressing some of the above issues and problems using certain transformational or
innovative practices will enable administrators to re-capture and augment teachers’
commitment for PD. For example, Geijsel et al. (2009) investigated ‘school organi-
zational conditions and leadership practices and teachers’ psychological states in
explaining variation in teachers’ professional learning’ (p. 407), and found that
transformational leadership practices may lead to teachers’ commitment and partici-
pation in PD. Nelson (2008) examined teachers’ engagement in a professional learn-
ing community, and discovered that the teachers’ learning emerged from the
intellectual work they were involved in, teachers ‘undertook the difficult task of cre-
ating new ways to professionally interact’ (p. 578) and shared ideas and examined
teaching and learning ‘in ways uncommon in most schools’ (p. 579), eventually
resulting in the increase of teachers’ commitment to PD.
The exchanges of information, experiences and materials, as well as the sharing
of ideas and problems among teachers, are seen as valuable PD engagement and
experiences by the teachers. These are meaningful networking and collaborative
 Professional Development in Education 15

practices that would keep them updated with the latest knowledge in the field of
teaching English, particularly with the use of ICT and its tools. Such collaboration
and networking should, ‘contribute to the development of a positive culture in a
school, which is committed to change and creating better learning opportunities for
all students’ (Robinson and Carrington 2002, p. 240). Nevertheless, the networking
and collaborative efforts between teachers must be sustained so that teachers will be
able to expand on ‘their repertoire of methods to accommodate student diversity’
(Robinson and Carrington 2002, p. 245). As such, ICT platforms could be used to
further deepen their PD by keeping the teachers connected with an online commu-
nity of practices. By using ICT tools and platforms such as email, blogs and social
media networks, more opportunities for powerful and meaningful learning will be
presented to the teachers. Such learning eventually will become more profound as
these tools offer, ‘the reconstruction, reconfiguration and reuse of knowledge pro-
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duced from teachers’ existing practices in professional engagement’ (Kabilan and

Embi 2006, p. 101). As a result, teachers will have more opportunities ‘to learn
with and from one another’ (Mangin and Stoelinga 2011, p. 50) since networking
and collaboration via online platforms are most likely to occur in a community of
practice; that is, English-language teachers with similar interests, needs and shared
knowledge and practices.

6. Conclusion and implications

It is evident from the findings of this study that, in the process of identifying the
PD needs of English-language teachers, various essential elements have to be taken
into consideration. These elements, based on the analysis and understanding of the
data, could be constructed and assembled in the form of a fluid and dynamic model
that has the following stages of PD programmes/activities: planning and develop-
ment; implementing PD and engaging teachers; and evaluating and enriching teach-
ers’ experiences and professional growth.
These three stages, if well constructed and efficiently carried out, can lead to the
reification of meaningful and useful knowledge and practices of teachers, and
increase their professional culture, which in turn may considerably contribute to
school change, school reform and school improvement (see Figure 1). Literature
has concretely established these nexuses between PD and teacher learning to the
notions of school change (see Bullough Jr et al. 1997, Cohen and Hill 2001, Knapp
2003, Darling-Hammond et al. 2009), school reform (see Smylie 1995, Little 1999,
Darling-Hammond et al. 2009, Torff and Byrnes 2011) and school improvement
(see Geijsel et al. 2009, Darling-Hammond et al. 2009, Putnam and Borko 2000).
The biggest challenge in implementing the above model is ensuring the school
community’s (both teachers and school administrators) total commitment and con-
centrated effort. This is because, in the planning and developing stage, determining
the degree of importance of the seven considerations, establishing the relationship
of each consideration with each other and achieving a balance among the consider-
ations are vital tasks that must be examined critically. With careful analysis of
teachers’ needs in tandem with other considerations, then an equilibrium could be
attained among the seven considerations, which then would make it easier to
implement and engage teachers in meaningful PD programmes and activities. And
with proper evaluation and enrichment programmes in place (such as assessment
of effectiveness of PD programmes, provision of support and recognition and
 16 M.K. Kabilan and K. Veratharaju

Stage 1: Planning & Developing

Considerations
• Pupils’ Needs
• Teachers’ Professional Needs &
Interests
• Schools’ Needs
• Knowledge & Skills
• Time & Venue
• Facilitators
• Volunteerism
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Stage 2: Implementation & Engagement School Change

School Reform
Considerations School Improvement
• Content & Conduct
• Facilitators

Stage 3: Evaluation & Enrichment

Considerations
• Assessment
• Support & Recognition
• Networking & Collaboration

Figure 1. Elements of English-language teachers’ professional development needs.

facilitation of networking and collaboration), relevant, meaningful and sustainable

PD programmes, activities and experiences that contribute to school improvement
could be provided to teachers. The strength of this model is that it could be adopted
by a school and its community of teachers. Teachers and school administrators are
required to be totally committed and immersed in planning, developing, implement-
ing, engaging, evaluating and enriching their own PD programmes at the school
level based on their own needs and interests. Hopefully, the teachers will be more
responsible towards the PD programmes, become independent learners and sustain
their PD. As for the school administrators, their exigent challenge is to motivate
and move their teachers collectively as a community to be responsible for their own
PD, and to be the personal owner of their professional journey. The central idea of
this model is to get teachers extensively and intensively involved in all the three
stages by researching, evaluating and identifying their own professional needs and
their pupils’ needs in relation to their school’s needs (note that teachers also need
to take into consideration other aspects identified in the model). These practices
 Professional Development in Education 17

should be part of the school culture and carried out as collegial activities. Such
involvement of teachers would intensify and accelerate any school change, school
reform or school improvement initiatives and plans.
This nationwide study has inadvertently aggrandised several discouraging
Malaysian teachers’ perceptions and views of PD, and patterns of PD practices. The
idea of volunteerism in PD is strongly supported by the teachers, but they simulta-
neously lament the perceived practice of favouritism in selecting participants for
PD, as well as highlighting the need to enforce a rule or policy that ensures each
teacher participates in at least one PD programme/activity per year. By analysing
the qualitative data, the researchers were also able to sense a dispiriting practice of
PD, whereby the teachers have the idea that it is very much a privilege or an
option, and not their professional obligation. The teachers’ responses reflect a
rudimentary understanding of PD that include ‘attending conferences or courses’,
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‘participating in workshops or seminars’ or ‘attending training’. These concepts in

relation to PD, as reviewed by Doyle (2003), are quite futile and do not improve
day-to-day teachers’ practices. These are also evidence that prove the teachers in
this study have a shallow understanding of the concept of PD and are very depen-
dent on the MOE and other stakeholders to provide PD programmes/activities.
On the contrary, the teachers do not voice concepts such as ‘self-directed PD’,
‘self-initiated PD’ or ‘teachers as experts’, which are concepts framed by the salient
features of constructivism. From the perspectives of constructivism, knowledge is
constructed and reconstructed by a community of practice that will result in the
meaningful learning of the members of the community (Wenger 1998). This process
is guided by the specific needs of teachers determined earlier by the members of
the community (individually or collaboratively) or the entire community. In other
words, English-language teachers should be involved in a more self-initiated/direc-
ted PD, which also means that, as an individual teacher, he/she should be engaged
in PD that is school based by collaborating with other teachers. By collaborating,
they would be able to satisfy the needs of the students and the needs of the school;
that is, fulfil the vision and mission of the school in achieving the desired school
change or reform for school improvement. We can facilitate this by assisting the
teachers to fit new ideas to improve existing practices (Doyle 2003) and concentrate
on daily classroom practices around a specific curriculum (see Ball and Cohen
1999, Elmore 2002, Gabriel et al. 2011).
An important contribution of the present study is that it underscores the impor-
tance of school administrators, PD providers and teachers consistently and
frequently researching and carrying out a series of continuous needs analyses of
teachers’ PD. This can decisively and critically pave the way for more sustainable,
meaningful teacher learning and professional growth. For this to happen, self-initi-
ated and school-based PD is vital and should be given the serious consideration it
deserves. Hence, it is suggested that courses on PD should be integrated into a
curriculum of teacher education in which the accurate ideas and concept of PD are
taught and disseminated. The course should be designed and developed using adult
learning principles so that it will accomplish the ‘introduction of a pedagogical
innovation’ and introduce to teachers the ‘experiences they need to practise, collab-
orate, and apply to their practice what they have learnt about the innovation’ (Greg-
son and Sturko 2007, p. 16). By doing so, Gregson and Sturko (2007) conclude
that the future teachers would be able to reflect on their practice, construct profes-
sional knowledge and skills with their peers, and develop collaborative professional
 18 M.K. Kabilan and K. Veratharaju

relationships with them. The aim of integrating such a PD programme is to

empower future teachers to ‘take the initiative in identifying and acting on their
own individual needs’ (Mushayikwa and Lubben 2009, p. 375) because teachers
who are confident and are able to view themselves as knowledgeable professionals
or have the ability to recognise the opportunities to grow professionally, ‘may
contribute more to the school as their commitment to the organization and to the
profession increase’ (Bogler and Somech 2004, p. 286).
Identifying the needs of teachers is significant, as this particular process is most
likely to determine the success of the planned PD programmes/activities. However,
in identifying teachers’ professional needs, pupils’ needs and schools’ needs should
be in sync and forge a symbiosis that would contribute meaningfully to initiatives
or programmes that are developed at the school-level related to school improve-
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ment. These needs of teachers, pupils and schools should take into account elements
that have been identified by the primary teachers in this study.
It is also important that teachers’ work and contributions towards school
progress and change are supported and recognised. Without strong support and
recognition, teachers are unable to immediately implement any reform or school
change or even engage in PD programmes/activities (Osei 2006). Teachers deprived
of support and recognition are expected to deliver good results although they have
high levels of ‘stress, anxiety and frustration’ (Mushayikwa and Lubben 2009,
p. 376). Eventually, this will lead to teacher burnout, teachers leaving the profession
or teachers transferring to another school (Ingersoll 2001). On the other hand, with
sturdy and continuous professional support, research indicates that teachers’ profes-
sional commitment is enhanced and their PD progress is enriched, and teachers
become more engaged in the schools’ change and reform endeavours (see Singh
and Billingsley 1998, Bogler and Somech 2004).
It would be interesting to discern whether the needs of primary school English-
language teachers of other countries are the same or different from those of the
Malaysian teachers. If they are the same (or different), then in which facets? What
kind of implications would these similarities or differences entail, particularly for
the planning, implementing and evaluating of PD programmes and activities? From
the outcomes of those studies involving other countries, can we develop an appro-
priate common framework that would be of great help to planners and providers in
organising PD programmes/activities? Future studies related to PD needs of Eng-
lish-language teachers should explore and examine these questions.

Acknowledgements
This paper was written based on data obtained from a larger research project, ‘Identification
and Development of an Essential Professional Development Matrix for English Language
Teachers’, funded by Universiti Sains Malaysia under the Malaysian Research University
Research Grant Scheme. Other research team members include Tan Kok Eng, Norlida
Ahmad, Leong Lai Mei, Aswati Hamzah and Abdul Jalil Ali. Their contributions were
immense in successfully completing the research.

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