Indonesian Primary School Teacher’s Perception of Professional Development Programs: A Case Study

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a study carried out in Indonesia to investigate teachers’ perception of the impact of professional development programs on their teaching quality in classroom. A case-study method was used to explore the principal question for the study: How do Indonesian primary school teachers develop professionally? Participants for the study were chosen using a sampling method; three of the participants taught in public primary schools and three of the participants in private primary schools. The in-depth interviews were conducted with the participants. The findings show that these teachers were learned from various in-service training experiences and opportunities. These findings have two thought-provoking implications for school and for teacher education in Indonesia. First, that school should think carefully of developing sustained professional development programs and second, teacher educators, policy-makers and other decision-making bodies should consider long-term ongoing professional development for primary school teachers