Continuous Professional Development: Perceptions and Practices of Government College English Department Teachers in Bangladesh

Continuous professional development is thought to be among one of the cornerstones of professionalism and quality of a teacher which ensures effective and sustainable teaching and learning experience. Without ensuring continuous professional development, it is impossible for an educator to update themselves according to the requirements of teaching English. In Bangladesh government college teachers are recruited through Bangladesh Civil Service examination with no requirement of pedagogical training or experience. However, to teach English as a second language, teachers need a set of skills and particular language teaching knowledge which requires them to be trained and develop them continuously. To explore the attitude of government college English teachers towards CPD, provided opportunities and to identify the barriers, a survey was conducted. The sample consisted of 112 English department teachers, from Lecturer to Professor from government colleges of 36 districts from all 8 divisions. The survey questionnaire comprised items regarding interest and efforts to CPD activities, availability, quality and relevance of the provided opportunities and the barriers to participation in those activities. Findings indicate that government college English teachers are highly interested in CPD activities but they find fewer availability of quality and relevant opportunities. Personal, institutional and administrative barriers play as significant obstacles to their participation. Participants shared that if barriers are removed, CPD participation will increase which will ensure the professional growth of government college English teachers as well as improve the quality of education. Spectrum, Volume 19, June 2024: 98-110