EFL Teachers’ Professional Development Program as Praxis: Merging Assessment for and of Learning in the Classroom

In Iran, a shift in educational policy was introduced 15 years ago, placing a stronger emphasis on assessment for learning (AfL). However, this shift has not been fully embraced by teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) because of various factors including limited training in assessment and exam-oriented practices. This study explores how a professional development program with a strong emphasis on integrating theory and practice and teacher co-construction of knowledge can support teacher development in assessing literacy and implementing AfL in the classroom. The one-month professional development program included four 90-minute online workshops and teacher interactions in the forum, where they responded to the intervention assignments and reacted to their colleagues’ responses. We traced changes in teachers’ understanding of classroom assessment and how they could merge AfL and assessment of learning (AoL) in their classroom. Data included pre- and post-intervention open-ended questionnaires and teachers’ forum interactions. We present the unique developmental trajectories of two EFL teacher participants to build an argument for praxis, a dialectical partnership between researchers/teacher educators and teachers, which allows these trajectories to emerge. The implications of the findings of this study are discussed with reference to teacher training programs and in-service teacher training.