TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF PROFESSIONALISM: A CASE OF A PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOL IN CENTRAL KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate how secondary school teachers perceive and understand teacher professionalism and how their perceptions influence their practices of professionalism in a private secondary school in central Kazakhstan. The study explored teachers’ views, beliefs, and understanding of what teacher professionalism is in the context of their school and how they demonstrate professionalism in their day-to-day work at the school. The main research question of this study is: How do teachers understand and demonstrate ‘teacher professionalism’ in their day-to-day work at a private secondary school in central Kazakhstan? Subsidiary research questions were addressed to reach the purpose of the study: What are the teachers’ perceptions about teacher professionalism? To what extent do teachers’ perceptions about professionalism influence their practices at the school? What are the factors that shape, support or hinder teacher professionalism? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten participants and analysed with the help of thematic coding and interpretation. The researcher used purposeful sampling. The importance of this study is that it explores how teacher professionalism is defined and interpreted in the education field, especially by the teachers themselves. It also explores teachers’ voices and the factors that support or hinder teacher professionalism. The research findings revealed that teacher professionalism in Kazakhstan is a broad notion consisting of various aspects of teaching and learning, including in-depth knowledge of subject matter, pedagogy, assessment, and child psychology, teacher emotional intelligence, ongoing professional and personal development, integrity, and strong moral and ethical disposition. The study also identified that an enabling school culture, charismatic leadership, collegiality and collaboration, values and norms help promote teacher professionalism. On the other hand, factors such as irrationally assigned workload, treating all teachers unequally, and lacking awareness of teacher rights can negatively affect teacher professionalism.

Key words: teacher professionalism, teacher competencies, teacher professional development, effective teacher