Summary
TEACHERS’ OPINIONS ABOUT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS
The purpose of the current study is to determine teachers’ opinions about professional development schools. In the current study; one of the mixed methods, the convergent design was employed. The sampling of the quantitative dimension of the study is comprised of 256 teachers working in 21 elementary and secondary schools in the city of Muğla. The teachers participated in the study on a volunteer basis. The sampling of the qualitative dimension of the study consists of 26 teachers selected from among the 256 teachers. The data of the study were collected through the Professional Development Schools Scale and an interview form. The quantitative data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data were analyzed by using the inductive content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers have positive opinions about professional development school applications, they want more developed school-university cooperation, and they think that teacher-academician and teacher-teacher relationships need to be developed. The opinions of academicians working in education faculties about professional development schools can be elicited. A pilot study of professional development school can be conducted in Turkey.
Keywords
in-service training, professional development schools, teacher training