Teachers’ Professional Learning in the Sultanate of Oman: The Measurement Model and the Reality of Practice
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Mar 28, 2022
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which a four-dimensional measurement model of teachers' professional learning matches field data in the Sultanate of Oman. It also sought to identify the most frequently practiced professional learning activities and determine the extent to which teachers’ perceived practice of such activities varies according to their gender and years of experience. The study adopted a quantitative research approach whereby data was collected from (315) teachers from the Governorate of Muscat, using the teacher professional learning scale which included four dimensions: reflection, experimentation, collaboration, and knowledge inquiry. The results revealed that the model of measuring the professional learning of teachers was well matched with the educational context in Oman with minor modifications. The results also showed that "experimentation" emerged as the most practiced professional learning activity, followed by "reflection", "collaboration", and finally "Reach out to the knowledge base" from its human and material sources. In addition, the study found no statistically significant differences in the practice of the dimensions of professional learning between male and female teachers, except for the dimension of “experimentation” where significant differences were found to be in favour of female teachers. Years of experience did not have any impact on the teachers’ perceived practice of professional learning. Finally, the study came up with a set of recommendations, including adopting clear and structured programs to promote and follow up the professional learning practices of teachers in Omani schools, and establishing professional links between teachers of different schools; in order to raise the level of professional learning.
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Keywords
Professional learningTeachersOmanConfirmatory factor analysis
References
Al Mahdy, Y., Hallinger, P., Emam, M., Hammad, W., Al Abri, K., & Al Harthi, K. (in press). Supporting teacher professional learning in Oman: The effects of principal leadership, teacher trust, and teacher agency. Educational Management Administration & Leadership. DOI: 10.1177/17411432211064428.
Al Jabri, M., Silvennoinen, H., & Griffiths, D. (2018). Teachers’ professional development in Oman: Challenges, efforts and solutions. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 17(5), 82–103.
Attard Tonna, M., & Shanks, R. (2017). The importance of environment for teacher professional learning
Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications and programming. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Camburn, E., & Han, S. (2017). Teachers’ professional learning experiences and their engagement in reflective practice: A replication study. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 28(4), 527–554.
Dotlich, D. L., & Noel, J. L. (1999). Action learning: How the world's top companies are re-creating their leaders and themselves. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Durksen, T., Klassen, R., & Daniels, L. (2017). Motivation and collaboration: The keys to a developmental framework for teachers’ professional learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 53–66.
Evers, A. T., Kreijns, K., & Van der Heijden, B. I. J. M. (2016). The design and validation of an instrument to measure teachers’ professional development at work. Studies in Continuing Education, 38(2), 162–178.
Garet, M. S., Porter, A. C., Desimone, L., Birman, B. F., & Yoon, K. S. (2001). What makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 915–945.
Grosemans, I., Boon, A., Verclairen, C., Dochy, F., & Kyndt, E. (2015). Informal learning of primary school teachers: Considering the role of teaching experience and school culture. Teaching and Teacher Education, 47, 151–161.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2010). Multivariate data analysis. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Haiyan, Q., Walker, A., & Xiaowei, Y. (2017). Building and leading a learning culture among teachers: A case study of a Shanghai primary school. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 45(1), 101–122.
Hallinger, P., & Liu, S. (2016). Leadership and teacher learning in urban and rural schools in China: Meeting the dual challenges of equity and effectiveness. International Journal of Educational Development, 51, 163–173.
Hallinger, P., Liu, S., & Piyaman, P. (2017). Does principal leadership make a difference in teacher professional learning? A comparative study China and Thailand. Compare, 1–17.
Huh, Y., & Lee, D. (2015). Proposing an effective action learning process model: Introducing the PAIR model. Performance Improvement, 54(10), 22–29.
King, F. (2016). Teacher Professional Development to support teacher professional learning: Systemic factors from Irish case studies. Teacher Development, 20(4), 574–594.
Kwakman, K. (2003). Factors affecting teachers’ participation in professional learning activities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(2), 149–170.
Li, L., Hallinger, P., & Walker, A. (2016). Exploring the mediating effects of trust on principal leadership and teacher professional learning in Hong Kong primary schools. Educational Management
Liu, S., Hallinger, P., & Feng, D. (2016a). Learning-centered leadership and teacher learning in China:
Liu, S., Hallinger, P., & Feng, D. (2016b). Supporting the professional learning of teachers in China: Does principal leadership make a difference? Teaching and Teacher Education, 59, 79–91.
Louws, M. L., Meirink, J. A., van Veen, K., & van Driel, J. H. (2018). Understanding teachers' professional learning goals from their current professional concerns. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 24(1), 63–80.
Melville, W., & Yaxley, B. (2009). Contextual opportunities for teacher professional learning: The experience of one science department. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 5(4), 357–368.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). The assessment of reliability. Psychometric Theory, 3, 248–292.
Opfer, V. D., & Pedder. D. (2011). Conceptualizing teacher professional learning. Review of Educational Research, 81(3), 376–407.
Piyaman, P., Hallinger, P., & Viseshsiri, P., (2017). Addressing the achievement gap: Exploring principal leadership and teacher professional learning in urban and rural primary schools in Thailand. Journal of Educational Administration, 55(6), 717–734.
Prenger, R., Poortman, C. L., & Handelzalts, A. (2017). Factors influencing teachers' professional development in networked professional learning communities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 77.
Schechter, C., & Qadach, M. (2012). Toward an organizational model of change in elementary schools: The contribution of organizational learning mechanisms. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(1), 116–153.
Thoonen, E. J., Sleegers, P. C., Oort, F. J., Peetsma, T. D., & Geijsel, F. P. (2011). How to improve teaching practices: The role of teacher motivation, organizational factors, and leadership
Timperley, H. (2011). Realizing the power of professional learning. Berkshire, England: McGraw-Hill Education.
Tran, N. H., Hallinger, P., & Truong, T. (2018). The heart of school improvement: A multi-site case study of leadership for teacher learning in Vietnam. School Leadership & Management, 38(1), 80–101.
Wal, J. J., den Brok, P. J., Hooijer, J. G., Martens, R. L., & van den Beemt, A. (2014). Teachers’ engagement in professional learning: Exploring motivational profiles. Learning and Individual Differences, 36, 27–36.
*****************************************************************************************************
Abū Khuḍīr, Īmān b. Suʻūd. (2016). Asāseyyāt al-ta‘allum bil-mumārasah: Madkhal li-taṭwīr al-qiyādāt wa al-mūnaẓzamāt wa binā’ firaq al-‘amal al-nājiḥah (in Arabic). Al-Rīyāḍ: Ma‘ahad al-Idārah al-‘āmmah.
Al-Harthi, K., Al-Mahdy, Y.F.H., & Omara, E. (2021). Modeling the Influence of Principal’s Leadership on Teachers’ Professional Learning in Governmental Schools in the Sultanate of Oman (in Arabic), International Journal for Research in Education, 45(3), https://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/ijre/vol45/iss3/5
Ministry of Education (2019). The annual educational statistics book for the academic year 2018/2019 (in Arabic). MOE, Oman.
Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Education Consortium (2017). Evaluation of the Sultanate of Oman education system: Grades 1–12 (in Arabic). MOE, Oman.
Ministry of Education and the World Bank (2012). Education in the Sultanate of Oman, the way forward in achieving quality (in Arabic). Oman Printing and Library Ltd.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2006). Qarār wizārī raqam (19/2006) be-damj al-mashrū‘ al-takāmulī lil'inmā 'almīhnī wa mashrū‘ al-mu‘allim al-awwal mushrifan muqīman wa mashrū‘ taqwīm al-adāa al-madrasī wa taṭwīrih fī mashrū‘ wāḥid be-musamma niẓām taṭwīr al-adāa al-madrasī (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2008). Qarār wizārī raqam (69/2008) be-i‘timād al-taqsīmāt al-idārīyyah li-wizārat al-tarbiyah wa al-ta‘alīm wa taḥdīd Ikhtiṣāṣāteha (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2011). Dalīl al-multaqayāt al-sanawiyyah lil-mu‘allimīn (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2014). Bayānāt ‘an al-markaz al-takhaṣuṣī lil-tadrīb al-mihanī lil-mu‘allimīn (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2018). Anẓimat wa taṭbīqāt bawābat Salṭanat ‘umān al-ta‘alīmiyyah (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
****************************************************************************************************
أبو خضير، إيمان بنت سعود. (2016). أساسيات التعلم بالممارسة: مدخل لتطوير القيادات والمنظمات وبناء فرق العمل الناجحة. الرياض: معهد الإدارة العامة.
الحارثية، خالصة؛ المهدي، ياسر؛ عمارة، إيهاب. (2021). نمذجة تأثير قيادة المدير في التعلم المهني للمعلمين بالمدارس الحكومية بسلطنة عمان. المجلة الدولية للأبحاث التربوية بجامعة الإمارات، 45(3)، 132-157.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2006). قرار وزاري رقم (19/2006) بدمج المشروع التكاملي للإنماء المهني ومشروع المعلم الأول مشرفًا مقيمًا ومشروع تقويم الأداء المدرسي وتطويره في مشروع واحد بمسمى نظام تطوير الأداء المدرسي. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2008). قرار وزاري رقم (69/2008) باعتماد التقسيمات الإدارية لوزارة التربية والتعليم وتحديد اختصاصاتها. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2011). دليل الملتقيات السنوية للمعلمين. سلطنة عمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2014). بيانات عن المركز التخصصي للتدريب المهني للمعلمين. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2018). أنظمة وتطبيقات بوابة سلطنة عمان التعليمية: دليل تعريفي. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2019). الكتاب السنوي للإحصاءات التعليمية للعام الدراسي 2018/2019م. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم والبنك الدولي. (2012). التعليم في سلطنة عُمان: المضي قدمًا في تحقيق الجودة. سلطنة عمان: مطبعة عمان ومكتبتها المحدودة.
وزارة التربية والتعليم واتحاد المنظمات التربوية النيوزلندية. (2017). تقييم النظام التعليمي لسلطنة عُمان: الصفوف 1-12. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
Al Jabri, M., Silvennoinen, H., & Griffiths, D. (2018). Teachers’ professional development in Oman: Challenges, efforts and solutions. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 17(5), 82–103.
Attard Tonna, M., & Shanks, R. (2017). The importance of environment for teacher professional learning
Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications and programming. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Camburn, E., & Han, S. (2017). Teachers’ professional learning experiences and their engagement in reflective practice: A replication study. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 28(4), 527–554.
Dotlich, D. L., & Noel, J. L. (1999). Action learning: How the world's top companies are re-creating their leaders and themselves. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Durksen, T., Klassen, R., & Daniels, L. (2017). Motivation and collaboration: The keys to a developmental framework for teachers’ professional learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 53–66.
Evers, A. T., Kreijns, K., & Van der Heijden, B. I. J. M. (2016). The design and validation of an instrument to measure teachers’ professional development at work. Studies in Continuing Education, 38(2), 162–178.
Garet, M. S., Porter, A. C., Desimone, L., Birman, B. F., & Yoon, K. S. (2001). What makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 915–945.
Grosemans, I., Boon, A., Verclairen, C., Dochy, F., & Kyndt, E. (2015). Informal learning of primary school teachers: Considering the role of teaching experience and school culture. Teaching and Teacher Education, 47, 151–161.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2010). Multivariate data analysis. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Haiyan, Q., Walker, A., & Xiaowei, Y. (2017). Building and leading a learning culture among teachers: A case study of a Shanghai primary school. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 45(1), 101–122.
Hallinger, P., & Liu, S. (2016). Leadership and teacher learning in urban and rural schools in China: Meeting the dual challenges of equity and effectiveness. International Journal of Educational Development, 51, 163–173.
Hallinger, P., Liu, S., & Piyaman, P. (2017). Does principal leadership make a difference in teacher professional learning? A comparative study China and Thailand. Compare, 1–17.
Huh, Y., & Lee, D. (2015). Proposing an effective action learning process model: Introducing the PAIR model. Performance Improvement, 54(10), 22–29.
King, F. (2016). Teacher Professional Development to support teacher professional learning: Systemic factors from Irish case studies. Teacher Development, 20(4), 574–594.
Kwakman, K. (2003). Factors affecting teachers’ participation in professional learning activities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(2), 149–170.
Li, L., Hallinger, P., & Walker, A. (2016). Exploring the mediating effects of trust on principal leadership and teacher professional learning in Hong Kong primary schools. Educational Management
Liu, S., Hallinger, P., & Feng, D. (2016a). Learning-centered leadership and teacher learning in China:
Liu, S., Hallinger, P., & Feng, D. (2016b). Supporting the professional learning of teachers in China: Does principal leadership make a difference? Teaching and Teacher Education, 59, 79–91.
Louws, M. L., Meirink, J. A., van Veen, K., & van Driel, J. H. (2018). Understanding teachers' professional learning goals from their current professional concerns. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 24(1), 63–80.
Melville, W., & Yaxley, B. (2009). Contextual opportunities for teacher professional learning: The experience of one science department. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 5(4), 357–368.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). The assessment of reliability. Psychometric Theory, 3, 248–292.
Opfer, V. D., & Pedder. D. (2011). Conceptualizing teacher professional learning. Review of Educational Research, 81(3), 376–407.
Piyaman, P., Hallinger, P., & Viseshsiri, P., (2017). Addressing the achievement gap: Exploring principal leadership and teacher professional learning in urban and rural primary schools in Thailand. Journal of Educational Administration, 55(6), 717–734.
Prenger, R., Poortman, C. L., & Handelzalts, A. (2017). Factors influencing teachers' professional development in networked professional learning communities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 77.
Schechter, C., & Qadach, M. (2012). Toward an organizational model of change in elementary schools: The contribution of organizational learning mechanisms. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(1), 116–153.
Thoonen, E. J., Sleegers, P. C., Oort, F. J., Peetsma, T. D., & Geijsel, F. P. (2011). How to improve teaching practices: The role of teacher motivation, organizational factors, and leadership
Timperley, H. (2011). Realizing the power of professional learning. Berkshire, England: McGraw-Hill Education.
Tran, N. H., Hallinger, P., & Truong, T. (2018). The heart of school improvement: A multi-site case study of leadership for teacher learning in Vietnam. School Leadership & Management, 38(1), 80–101.
Wal, J. J., den Brok, P. J., Hooijer, J. G., Martens, R. L., & van den Beemt, A. (2014). Teachers’ engagement in professional learning: Exploring motivational profiles. Learning and Individual Differences, 36, 27–36.
*****************************************************************************************************
Abū Khuḍīr, Īmān b. Suʻūd. (2016). Asāseyyāt al-ta‘allum bil-mumārasah: Madkhal li-taṭwīr al-qiyādāt wa al-mūnaẓzamāt wa binā’ firaq al-‘amal al-nājiḥah (in Arabic). Al-Rīyāḍ: Ma‘ahad al-Idārah al-‘āmmah.
Al-Harthi, K., Al-Mahdy, Y.F.H., & Omara, E. (2021). Modeling the Influence of Principal’s Leadership on Teachers’ Professional Learning in Governmental Schools in the Sultanate of Oman (in Arabic), International Journal for Research in Education, 45(3), https://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/ijre/vol45/iss3/5
Ministry of Education (2019). The annual educational statistics book for the academic year 2018/2019 (in Arabic). MOE, Oman.
Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Education Consortium (2017). Evaluation of the Sultanate of Oman education system: Grades 1–12 (in Arabic). MOE, Oman.
Ministry of Education and the World Bank (2012). Education in the Sultanate of Oman, the way forward in achieving quality (in Arabic). Oman Printing and Library Ltd.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2006). Qarār wizārī raqam (19/2006) be-damj al-mashrū‘ al-takāmulī lil'inmā 'almīhnī wa mashrū‘ al-mu‘allim al-awwal mushrifan muqīman wa mashrū‘ taqwīm al-adāa al-madrasī wa taṭwīrih fī mashrū‘ wāḥid be-musamma niẓām taṭwīr al-adāa al-madrasī (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2008). Qarār wizārī raqam (69/2008) be-i‘timād al-taqsīmāt al-idārīyyah li-wizārat al-tarbiyah wa al-ta‘alīm wa taḥdīd Ikhtiṣāṣāteha (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2011). Dalīl al-multaqayāt al-sanawiyyah lil-mu‘allimīn (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2014). Bayānāt ‘an al-markaz al-takhaṣuṣī lil-tadrīb al-mihanī lil-mu‘allimīn (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
Wizārat al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta‘alīm. (2018). Anẓimat wa taṭbīqāt bawābat Salṭanat ‘umān al-ta‘alīmiyyah (in Arabic). Salṭanat ‘umān.
****************************************************************************************************
أبو خضير، إيمان بنت سعود. (2016). أساسيات التعلم بالممارسة: مدخل لتطوير القيادات والمنظمات وبناء فرق العمل الناجحة. الرياض: معهد الإدارة العامة.
الحارثية، خالصة؛ المهدي، ياسر؛ عمارة، إيهاب. (2021). نمذجة تأثير قيادة المدير في التعلم المهني للمعلمين بالمدارس الحكومية بسلطنة عمان. المجلة الدولية للأبحاث التربوية بجامعة الإمارات، 45(3)، 132-157.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2006). قرار وزاري رقم (19/2006) بدمج المشروع التكاملي للإنماء المهني ومشروع المعلم الأول مشرفًا مقيمًا ومشروع تقويم الأداء المدرسي وتطويره في مشروع واحد بمسمى نظام تطوير الأداء المدرسي. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2008). قرار وزاري رقم (69/2008) باعتماد التقسيمات الإدارية لوزارة التربية والتعليم وتحديد اختصاصاتها. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2011). دليل الملتقيات السنوية للمعلمين. سلطنة عمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2014). بيانات عن المركز التخصصي للتدريب المهني للمعلمين. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2018). أنظمة وتطبيقات بوابة سلطنة عمان التعليمية: دليل تعريفي. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم. (2019). الكتاب السنوي للإحصاءات التعليمية للعام الدراسي 2018/2019م. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
وزارة التربية والتعليم والبنك الدولي. (2012). التعليم في سلطنة عُمان: المضي قدمًا في تحقيق الجودة. سلطنة عمان: مطبعة عمان ومكتبتها المحدودة.
وزارة التربية والتعليم واتحاد المنظمات التربوية النيوزلندية. (2017). تقييم النظام التعليمي لسلطنة عُمان: الصفوف 1-12. سلطنة عُمان: وزارة التربية والتعليم.
How to Cite
Al Harthi, Khalsa Salim Hamed, Yasser F. Hendawy Al Mahdy, Rashid Sulaiman Al Fahdi, and Waheed Shahbour Hammad. 2022. “Teachers’ Professional Learning in the Sultanate of Oman: The Measurement Model and the Reality of Practice”. Journal of Educational Sciences – Qatar University 18 (18). https://doi.org/10.29117/jes.2021.0060.
Section
Articles in Arabic