The Professional Development (PD) Paradox: How Policy Shapes English Teacher Identity and Constrains Authentic Learning in Thailand

Better outcomes in English language learning through improving the quality of teaching is a policy objective in Thailand’s school system. Mandating continuing professional development aims to support the interaction of teachers’ practice, learning, and unique individual strengths and needs in development and refinement of their identities as professionals capable of optimising learning outcomes. The study reported in this paper used data obtained in interviews with five Thai English teachers to investigate how the teachers’ understanding of participation in PD influences their conceptions of professional identity in the Thai context. We found teachers view continuing learning and development as integral to their identities as effective teachers, yet they approach PD offerings/experiences with ideas about development as a teacher that are associated with linear relations between learning and practice and with teaching as technical activity. We conclude that policy prescribing mandated PD and association of PD participation with professional status and career structures shifts understanding of PD away from the needs of teachers and learners as unique individuals. Achieving quality English teaching and learning in Thailand through PD needs to focus on the complexity of negotiating identities in local contexts and engaging teachers in identification of their professional needs.