نوع المستند : المقالة الأصلية
المؤلف
السعودية
المستخلص
الموضوعات الرئيسية
کلیة التربیة
کلیة معتمدة من الهیئة القومیة لضمان جودة التعلیم
إدارة: البحوث والنشر العلمی ( المجلة العلمیة)
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Title: Challenges facing the training and development of teachers in KSA: Study of Primary Schools in Shaqra City in KSA.
By
WADHA ASHETWEY
} المجلد الخامس والثلاثون– العدد السابع – جزء ثانی-یولیو2019م {
http://www.aun.edu.eg/faculty_education/arabic
Abstract
This thesis is based on the finding of challenges faced by the training and development of teachers in primary schools of Saudi Arabia. Researcher is reviewed the barriers to staff development and collect the data in order to evaluate the problems faced by school’s management. In this study, researcher used positivist philosophy to indicate the challenges and collected data is analyzed through ethnography strategy which includes surveys and interviews. Researcher is used convenience sampling for surveying the selected teachers and admin staff of 10 different schools in Shaqra city. The study found that there is an extensive need of teacher training in KSA primary schools that helps teachers as well as the students. However, trainings initiatives are being taken by the management but they are not up to mark. This thesis study helps the management to overcome the lacks in teacher training.
Acknowledgement
My thesis would be impossible without the guidance of my teachers and my parents. I am grateful to my advisor and professor who command me in an efficient manner. I owe my deep thanks to all staff for their cooperation and support. It is honor for me to thank my parents who brings me in this world and believes in me. Their everlasting prayers and wishes help me in the completion of my research. Besides this, I would like to thank all my friends to encourages me and motivates me in every step. I also appreciate my colleagues to give me moral support. I also like to show my deepest gratitude to my university who fulfills all my requirements and needs. Last but not the least, I thank to all who have made available their support and concern in a number of ways.
1 Chapter One: Introduction
Academic institutions play an important role in establishing effective teaching methodologies. The most important role in setting effective strategies is that of the management. Academic institutions, therefore, pay special attention to the administrative staff and seek to ensure that they gain a good reputation. According to Newton (2003), the teaching staff and management work in accordance with the requirements of the educational institution.
In the development of an effective teaching approach, it is critical that the school management plays an effective role in managing its resources. The management should be sufficiently competent and skilled to develop strategies and measures that can help promote improvement (Newton, 2003). One most important responsibilities of a school’s management are to ensure an effective system to consistently monitor the performance and skills of the teachers (Lynch, 2007). Nevertheless, the management of an institution faces barriers in training and developing staff, which needs to be solved by monitoring and improving the education and skills levels of its teachers.
Globalisation has had a major impact on the changes in educational methods and approaches. Similarly, technology integration has further resulted in changing teaching methods and approaches. Education nowadays is changing rapidly, particularly due to changing technology (Lynch, 2007). New domains and methods of teaching are being created that have major implications for teachers. Here again, therefore, it can be said that the role of the school management is critical as it comes across with different barriers that disrupt training and staff development.
The research will be conducted in primary schools, Shaqra in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Little research on this area of KSA exists, and the country generally has been subject to criticism for its level of education. Furthermore, the existing curriculum in KSA has been changed recently to adapt to modern standards, and this change has also been facing acceptance issues in poorly developed regions of the country. In this context, the proposed research will aim to suggest measures for school management s to improve teachers and teaching. Gengler and Lambert (2016) discussed that It is well known that Saudi Arabia is an oil exporter country and it mainly focuses on devising strategies regarding the petroleum industry due to which the government is not focusing on any other sector. The education sector of the region is drastically neglected in all aspects. Khayri et, al (2016) enlightened that primary schools are the foundation of the nation and it is their priority that they should fabricate the strong base of students. But the management of the primary schools is facing many problems in this region. The major threatening segments for the management are the maintaining of school, hiring of teacher, language barrier, literacy rate and the training and development sector of the teachers. The literacy rate of the Saudi Arabia is very low and the financing to the education sector is also very less from the government. Almuntasheri et, al (2016) stated that the management has no hiring criteria, they did not hire the course expertise but they only hire the teacher because they need a teacher to teach the student. The training and development segment is not efficiently working because the management have no financing for the training of the teachers so teachers only pertain the traditional style of teaching and all the material are obsolete that needs to be changed but unfortunately the students in the primary schools are not facilitating by new strategies and the philosophies of study. English is thought to be the second language of the Saudi Arabia but it is the drawback that English book is not the part of the curriculum until the fifth grade. The teachers are not playing their role with dedication and the environment for the students is not comfortable because of the teacher and student communicational gap (Alothman et, al. 2017).
This research will seek to identify barriers to improving academic and teaching methodologies faced by the management s in schools in KSA.
In this context, the research objectives are as follows:
This research has five parts, the first section of the research is an introduction, and the main theme of the first chapter is to pioneer the topic and the back ground study for choosing this topic. As in case of this research, the topic is surrounding the hurdles that are visage by the educational industry on the primary level. Other constituents include the research objective and the research question that is required to conclude the result. The research needs the support of the precedent studies so the second chapter is literature review that is pedestal on the supported studies that have been researched in past.
Furthermore, the next step is the research methodology that elucidated the research onion model, research philosophy that has been applied by the researcher. Other features of this chapter are research strategy, research type, research design and the approaches used for the research. Data sources, population selection, sampling techniques and data analysis are also included in this chapter. Chapter four consists of the data analysis that contains reliability test and interpretation of the SPSS outputs, interviews analysis and the discussions in the light of literature review. Chapter five contains conclusion of study summary of the findings, recommendation, and future research.
Management of any school should be efficient for fulfilling their responsibilities because they are the main body to provide the successful future by giving the meaningful education to the students. In Saudi Arabia management s are facing different challenges for the management of primary sections and this study is based on the critical analysis supported by the past literature. Empirical studies of obstacles for management in primary school for improving academics and teaching enlightened the major hurdles that affect the role of management. Different theories relating to the challenges that are countenanced by the Saudi Arabia education sector has been highlighted in this chapter. Furthermore, the main focus is on the primary schools because it has been analysed that the primary schools perform as the backbone of future of students and this study highlighted the effects of resolving the issues.
The core emphasis of education depends on learning and development of students. They mainly depend on the conceptual skills that involve the ability to analyse, acquire and interpret information logically. According to Yaman (2006), educators would be able to understand the internal and external environments in which they are able to operate. They are also required to understand the influence of changes across the environments on the organization for which they work. It is essential that supervisors must be able to improve their supervisory efficiency and effectiveness by the acquisition of emerging techniques and concepts within supervision.
This could be acquired by the means of further training and development and staff seminars. The core emphasis on teaching-learning methods does make sure that learners are able to have active participation. According to Wößmann (2003), active participation of learners can help towards the improvement of motivation and can also help to minimize disruptive behavior integrated with a curriculum that is filled with innovative educational concepts. Active participation could be facilitated by making use of essential resources and instructional materials.
The effective utilization of resources within the educational system does bring along with it productive learning outcomes as resources can help in learning to stimulate learning and development of students and can also help in motivating them (Uludag & Odaci, 2002). A common way for evaluating the utilization of educational resources is to analyze school investment. Expenditures in school programs are essential to be examined as they can constitute the core of all resources that would be devoted to schooling as they are essential instruments of educational policy. Availability of school resources can help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of schools as they are the things that can help to bring along academic performance in students.
The impact of educational resources towards the academic performance of student primarily relies on a country’s level of development. To account for a student’s academic achievement, factors that relate to school could be highly effective across the social background of students as well as developing countries would be highly beneficial for the developed countries (Tomul & Savasci, 2012). The research of illustrates that there found a positive association between an academic achievement of students with financial, physical and material resources. The fact can’t be denied that insufficient physical resources do have a negative impact on students and it could also have a detrimental impact on learning and development of students. Across developing countries, the core relationship between teacher’s education level, student achievement, student-teacher ratio and facilities of the school facilities would be highly apparent when compared with developed countries. According to the research of Sama & Tarim (2007), teaching can be highly effective only when adequate and relevant educational materials have been used. Several researchers and educators have been able to report the significance of instructional materials for teaching. The availability of instructional materials could have an essential determinant of educational outcomes. Educators are able to learn in a better manner if they have been provided the opportunity for making observations of what they have been taught. Moreover, productive instructional/educational materials could prove to be a substitute for real life objects within a classroom when compared with the use of exploratory objects.
AlHaqwi (2014) analyzed that different factors are involved in running the school efficiently and one of them is the curriculum planning by the main body or management of the school. Curriculum planning and the selection of teachers is the main responsibility of the principal for the successful outcomes of the schools. Welsh et, al (2014) said that implementation of the curriculum is not an easy task management face many problems for the functioning of the planned curriculum such as the curriculum development according to the standard of the class. The most important problem for making the curriculum is the selection of education that should be taught and it should be a representation of the objective. Abulhamail et, al (2014) suggested that the selection of theories and the philosophies should be based on the past and the present philosophies. Main assets of the schools are the students of that school so the head teacher should focus to prepare the curriculum, the curriculum should reflect the picture of learner’s future. All theories should be approved by the higher authorities like the ministry of education. Sheikh et, al (2014) emphasised that time table, study schemes prepared by the teachers and the work plans and the lesson plans that are required material for achieving the objective should be strictly followed by the management because the schools are making the future leaders of the region. For giving the profitable outcomes the teachers should be trained and polished to teach the students. Finance is the main problems for managing the training and development of the teachers and or the resources of good materials. Due to lack of financing schools sometimes cannot pay attention to the resources that student needs to fulfill the study and the teachers cannot prepare them accurately according to the requirements of the present time to lead and compete with the international students (Mehrdad et, al 2014).
Schooling of the students is based on the teaching standards and the staff that have been selected to teach them and the required material to fulfill the teaching objective. The Saudi government is not focusing on the educational system and the primary schools are neglected drastically (Humaid et.al 2014). For hiring the teachers, management s have no hiring standards, they hire a teacher on the basis of teaching requirements, not on the basis of course requirements. The teacher hiring and the curriculum selected should focus on the need of standard or the class. There should be variation in the curriculum so that students should be aware of all new changes that are occurring around them. Due to the outdated course, the students are not able to think about the environment and they are forced to learn the old theories (Al-Seghayer et, al. 2014).
Alabdulaziz and Higgins (2017) focused that the government of Saudi Arabia did not allow the females to work outside their houses and firms or organisations are not allowed to hire female employees. Aburizaizah et, al (2016) said that the gender discrimination is one of the main obstacles in schools of the Saudi Arabia. Because students and teacher both needs the assistance of female management but due to this law they are not able to communicate openly with each other .Alqahtani (2016) expressed that innovative ideas are the need of today’s teaching style but it is not being focused on KSA and teachers are applying the old and outdated style for teaching the students of this era. New talent needs new ways and new schemes of studies but school management is failed to provide quality education according to the need of time. Dubis and Bernadowski (2015) said that the students and teacher interaction is very low in KSA. Teachers are not friendly with students so students cannot ask more queries and from the teacher because of teacher student gap. The teacher did not plan the different learning strategies nor do they apply those strategies for students. Alharbi (2015) said that for the growth of student mind and for giving them new doors for success it is important that management should focus on making the new ideas in teaching style of teachers and they need to invest in their teachers for the prosperity of the future nation. Alrabai (2015) focused that the good educational features not only involve the curriculum designing and the timetable management of management it also involves the administrative responsibilities towards the physical education of the students. Abulhamail et, al. (2015) said that in Saudi Arabian schools due to lack of resources the physical education has been neglected that left the worst image on students mind. The main problem for the arrangement of the physical education is the finance that is not available to the management. The managements are facing limited financing so unable to arrange all the required equipment and especially trainers that could train the students for the physical activities. Technical advancement is an essential step that will lead the students towards success but the school management s are not focusing on the availability of the advance technology in schools and this proves that the management in the primary schools is not performing efficiently their roles (Al‐Zahrani, 2015).
Motivation is the important factor for the people because it encourages the people for the growth and it is a step towards the positive thinking. Students always become happy when they are encouraged by the outclass performance but the management of the schools in KSA are not able to create the motivational teaching style for the students (Albugarni and Ahmed 2015). Motivation facilitates the students with high growth and causing the outlier performance of teachers and students. It is management ’s first priority that they should create the relaxing environment among teacher and the student but in theses school, this element is eliminated or neglected badly. The management should focus on the computer or new technology advancement and students should be taught about the new technology and its utilisation to develop the interest for further studies (Alenezi, 2015).
It happens that in the school some students are a slow learner and some are a fast learner, the teachers should maintain the complete class at the specific time period instead of scolding the slow learner teachers should motivate them according to their learning skill and behavior. The management of the Saudi Arabian schools did not focus on this exercise. The lack of efficient management may create the loss of student’s abilities that should be furnished in schools. The teachers should fulfill their social responsibility by providing the best resources of study to their students. Management should motivate their employees so that the teachers should perform duties with devotions by fulfilling their commitment (Almuntasheri, 2016).
The teachers of any school or any standard should be equipped with all the helping material that could be needed by the students to understand the course of the lesson taught by the teachers. The management is imposed to fulfill their duties by creating all the relevant sources that are requirements of teacher and the student (Cornell et, al 2016). The management should be given priority to set the syllabus for the students and they should guide the teacher in the selection of appropriate planning and the teaching style so that all students should understand it easily. It will positively affect the student’s morale and confidence level but if but the material is not able to comprehend by the students and teachers are not trained to transfer the knowledge in a meaningful way so the selection of curriculum will be of no means. The management should provide all the necessary tools to the teachers regarding lesson and the syllabus of all the classes. Inappropriate target curriculum will destroy the time of alumni and teacher and it will be the injustice with the students (Allehyani et, al 2016).
Hameed (2016) discussed that the primary section is the initial stage of learning and it is the time when the students learn about the facts and figures that will help them in the future. The source of learning, relevant learning materials the perfect guidance are the important elements required by the students for the growth of their mind. The primary and initial age is the base of students and if the base will be accurate the future building will be strong but if the students are not able to understand the basic concepts of learning so it is possible for the students to make the strong building of concepts. Madani et, al (2016) negotiated that teacher should teach and equip the students with all the tools that will help them to make the strong concepts that will help them in the future studies. The students should be able to think beyond the lines. Conceptual studies are the basic need of the students. It will only possible when the management will provide the material and the sources to the teachers for the students. Tayeh et, al (2016) argued that management should arrange different campaigns and programs that help the students for the application of their learning. Admin should train their teachers about the building of conceptual framework by utilizing the sources available to them. The primary stage is the backbone of students whole future educational structure so management need to fulfill all the required elements for making the better future of the students for what they are being paid by the parents.
Al-Asfour et, al (2017) said that teacher is very important and essential element for the students and they are the highly influential personality for the students. Teacher’s role in marinating the future of students should be clearly defined, the teacher should motivate their students for the efficient performance by fulfilling their commitment with dedication (Alyami, 2014).
Bandura presented a theory that focuses on the significance of examining and molding the emotions, reactions, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals. The theory is known as social learning theory which also indicates that one individual adopts traits from another by observing them. Initially, the concept illustrated that people observe to learn actions done by others whereas Bandura evaluated and draw a comprehensive conclusion that people observe but rather than learning, they evaluate the consequences of the actions that occur or may happen by the respective action (Rendell et al 2010). In this regard, people expand their understanding of doing a particular action and its reaction. Mckenna (2006) observed that behavior of an individual is affected by the interval cognitive processes in social learning theory. Moreover, the effects are influenced by the expected results by the individual about a particular reaction. Merniam & Cafferella (1991) explained the important steps to learning through observation such as to observe, memorize and practice the actions. Furthermore, Merniam & Cafferella (1991) highlighted television commercials as one of the regular social learning examples. The behaviour and the reaction of a person in the commercial influence the behaviour of the person watching it. For instance, a commercial for a particular shampoo indicates the social norms to become popular impacts the behavior of the audience to attract towards it.
Usually, the observation quality of students is commendable as they learn many things through observing individuals (Wenger, 2010). In order to facilitate the learning and motivation of the trainees, some of the major factors from the learning theories help them to implement the theories of the learning in the respective process. The following section concentrates on the understanding of the individuals and their approach towards learning. Additionally, it also focuses on the impact of these approaches and the learning. As per the view of Ahmad et al (2012) the social learning theory indicates significant factors that are involved in the learning process of an individual. Likewise, the students of the primary school in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will learn through the actions performed by the teachers. Additionally their actions and the result of the action will help them to develop the understanding of the particular action. In the same context, management will also observe the actions of the students and they will assist them to avoid the particular actions. Due to this, the academic result of the student may improvise as they will learn from the actions that benefitted them and similarly, which hinder their process of learning. This can be referred as the social learning process for the students as well as the teachers in order to adapt various behaviours.
Biological theorists provide an inclined view over social learning theory on the basis of the biological state. They state that the theory ignores the biological symptoms like heartbeat rate, fainting, brain, learning differences, nausea and blood pressure of a person in different situations. According to them, it partially depends on their genetics of inheritance from parents. For instance, if a person directly witnesses a crime scene of the murder, then his/her symptoms will be most probably according to biological structure. Such scenarios that include brain processing of information with respect to the social environment are ignored by the social learning theory. (Worthman and Loftus, p.45)
Learning could be defined as a process where knowledge could be created by experiential transformation (Hanushek & Luque, 2003). This theory provides a cyclical model of learning that comprises of four essential stages shown below.
Abstract conceptualization (AC) is where a learner can conceptualize a theory or model with regards to what could be observed.
Active experimentation (AE) is when a learner plans how a theory can be tested or considers planning for prospective experience.
Concrete experience (CE) is where a learner is able to experience an activity that includes field work and lab session.
Reflective observation (RO) could be defined as when a learner reflects back on that experience.
Kolb has been able to successfully identify four pivotal learning styles that can correlate to these stages. The styles highlight certain conditions under which learners are able to learn in a better manner. These learning styles are:
Constructivism is primarily based on the premise that one is able to construct our perspective of the world. This could be related to internal knowledge and individual experiences. Learning would be based on how an individual is able to create and interpret the core meaning of their experiences (Hakkinen et al. 2003). Knowledge is primarily constructed by the learner and because everyone has a varying set of perceptions and experiences, the process of learning would be different for each and every individual. Educators can focus on making connections between facts as well as developing new understanding among students. Instructors are able to create their teaching strategies for the purpose of student responses and encourage students to interpret, analyze and predict data. Teachers may depend heavily on promoting extensive dialogues and open-ended questions (Guclu, 2002). Constructivism requires the elimination of a specifically designed standardized curriculum. On the contrary, it promotes using curricula that have been customized to the prior knowledge of a student.
Social constructivism comes under a span of long critical debate. Critics have opinion that it ignores biological and cultural influences on the behavior of a person. They state that understanding of these influences greatly affects their response in various situations. Renounced psychologists and social scientists, who possess an in depth understanding of human behavior also support the same opinion about this theory, linking the response of an individual to their genetic and cultural background. Therefore, the theory of constructivism possesses quite limitations that have room for a further deep study (Lesh et al, 2003).
The framework of cognitive information processing is mainly based on the thought process that is related to the behaviour. Cognitive theory is based on the notion that humans are able to process the information they receive and don’t respond to stimuli. According to the research of Hoxby (2000), cognitive learning theorists emphasize on the fact that learning occurs by the means of internal processing of information. When compared with behaviorism, cognitive information processing can be governed through an internal process and not by the means of external circumstances. The cognitive approach towards learning theory tends to pay more attention to what goes on within the head of the learner and emphasizes on cognitive processes rather than a behavior that could be observed. Changes in behavior could be observed and used as indicators regarding what is happening within the mind of the learner. Learning involves the experience of reorganization either through attainment of new insights or by modifying old ideas. As a result, learning is a modification in the knowledge that would be stored within an individual’s memory and not merely a behavioral change.
The methods of cognitive theory allow students to amalgamate new information for current knowledge and allow them to make relevant modifications for their intellectual framework and information accommodation (Dincer et al. 2009). While researchers on cognitive theory do promote the use of “skill and drill” exercises for the purpose of fact memorization, lists, formulae, they also place massive importance on strategies that would allow students for accommodating and assimilating new material (Ehrenberg et al. 2001). They could ask students for providing new material from their personal assumption and can assist them to gather it by allowing them to explain their new ideas for their existing vocabulary. Moreover, providing students with a comprehensive set of questions to structure their reading would make it effective for them to be able to relate it to the previous material by effectively highlighting certain parts and to accommodate the required material by providing a vivid organizational structure.
The most major criticism on social-cognitive theory is that it is not a unified theory, with a loss of connection to different aspects of the theory. For instance, a researcher cannot find a connection between an observational learning and self-efficacy in the theory. The subject of the theory is very broad, making it difficult to fully understand all parts into a single explanation of learning and personality (Schwarzer and Luszczynska, 2005).
The results of this theory are still, at a wide span preliminary. It does not provide a full explanation or description of how cognition, environment, behavior and personality are related.
It is evident that very limited research has been carried out on the obstacles for management in primary school for teaching and academic improvement. The fact can’t be denied that there are obstacles for management in primary school for improving academics and teaching. Supervision and effective school management requires clear vision that could be collectively arrived at by the staff, worker condition, open school culture and conditions of workers that would help to encourage reflection, professional scrutiny of feelings and probability of learning on the job/acceptance of professional accountability and strong belief that could encourage commitment for the purpose of student learning and consistent improvements.
Within the context of KSA, very limited research has been done on the importance of educational and instructional resources within the teaching-learning process and facilitating learning and development of abstract ideas and concepts; This also helps to depict the concepts in an evident and comprehensive manner for students; It also helps to overcome classroom limitations by helping students to access essential information; Emphasis should also be led towards level of understanding of students and eradicating rote-learning. This helps in stimulating and motivating learners.
This study is based primarily on the concept that relates to obstacles for management in primary school to improve teaching and academics. The practices of instructional supervision comprise of decision making, motivation, program development, evaluation, and communication. Such practices can be carried out in a much better manner when teachers possess technical skill, conceptual and human relations. When such practices have been carried out, they can lead towards effective methods of teaching that can encourage students and teachers. They can also be improved by the means of in-servicing and training inspectors that can help to motivate them. The end result could be improved through the help of school performance and attainment of core academic objectives. Before this study, very limited research had been carried out related to the obstacles for Obstacles for Management in Primary School for Improving Academics and Teaching in KSA. As a result, a research gap did exist that the researcher wanted to fill in his research.
This chapter of the investigation finds out and evaluates the major strategy and tactics of the exploration; which is helpful in developing the basis of research. By the use of having a proper strategy for the research methodology, it becomes easy for the investigator to have the foundation for collecting data and specifying the approaches for selection of the investigation time.
This research is intended to have a clear discussion and extended view upon Challenges facing the training and development of teachers in KSA: Study of Primary Schools in Shaqra City in KSA by decided research approach. This chapter will incorporate the research strategies along with the procedures and techniques of data sampling which are extremely helpful for data collection. Moreover, the chapter also incorporates the definition of the sample which is targeted towards a certain population which is linked with the research topic in one way or the other (Dawson, 2002). The major reasons and purposes also have to be highlighted to select a certain segment and to conduct this research.
Figure 1: Research Onion Model Source: (Creswell, 2013)
Research philosophy is usually used and considered by investigators for carrying out their exploration. These philosophies are three and incorporate interpretivism, realism as well as positivism. The interpretivism philosophy can be utilized to interpret a certain topic in the form of a qualitative based study. However, the philosophy of positivism has utilized investigators to find out the data on the basis of quantity and intensity for explaining the already existing variables through selecting a great size of a sample (Creswell, 2013).
To carry out the research on the topic mentioned above, the philosophy of positivism is highly relatable for an investigator in order to do an examination on the highlighted issue by utilizing the questionnaires and analyzing quantitative data. In order to find out about the Challenges facing the training and development of teachers in KSA, this approach is best suited, since a lot of teachers, who comprise of the major sample can be interrogated to carry out the research (Curwin & Slater, 2008).
The strategy of research helps the investigator to find out the ways for approaching the highlighted issue and checking population or target audience which comprises the major portion of exploration. The strategy of research frequently incorporate the case studies, ethnography, surveys, archival research and much more which are selected on the basis of the nature and type of the subject which is under consideration. For approaching a large size of a sample, the survey is the best approach and it is done in order to gain insights from the sample size which comprises of 100 above individuals and research is more focused on gaining letters from various people. Moreover, utilization of ethnography is most appropriate for the analysis of collected data by investigator through conducting and carrying out formal interviews from concerned authorities and managers. Similarly, the other strategy of the research comprises of case studies which are most commonly used to do research for the selected organization and so the complete exploration has to revolve around the selected case study (Punch, 2013).
For the current study, the strategy of ethnography, as well as surveys, are utilized due to the fact that the managers/teachers of Schools in Shaqra City will be effectively interrogated through face to face interviews and survey will be done. The interviews from teachers will enable the researcher to have great insights and profile knowledge about the role of management within the primary schools and its associated obstacles.
The research type utilized for this topic’s understanding comprises a combination of the primary method of research as well as secondary. The data is going to be collected from the concerned managers through the method of primary research.[This exploration has incorporated the utilization of empirical study for evaluating the major part of information. It also helps in finding out the current scenario and situation at Saudi Arab.
The important and significant part of the data is going to be collected by interviewing teachers of the Primary Schools in Shaqra City as they are much aware of the situation going on inside and the active/inactive role of the management. The teachers are also very much well-informed about what can go well in the schools and how the obstacles can be resolved for gaining the benefits and offering quality academic learning to the students. The primary research will bedone for utilizing the survey questionnaire for collecting data which will incorporate numerous statements related to the topic (Marczyk, 2005). The questionnaire is designed in such a manner that it also highlights the notions of present and past concepts and theories in the manner of investigative interrogation.
The design of research helps in finding out the reasons behind conducting research. One of the research designs comprises of ‘explanatory research’ where the major aim is to explain and expand the realms of the topic which is under serious discussion. The other research design is ‘exploratory’ where the new notions of the research are explored by highlighting various factors and finding out the relationship among one another. The design selected for this particular research is ‘explanatory’ as the research has to be conducted on the basis of the current scenario and present contexts. Along with different perspectives of research, the studies and theories of the past have also been utilized for proceeding by the help of already existing philosophies and theories of research. So the research design is utilized as it supports the study for determining the major issue under the current situation or scenario (Thyer, 2009).
In order to check out the Challenges facing the training and development of teachers in KSA in the Schools of Shaqra City, explanatory research can prove greatly helpful in order to find out about the data by gathering the sheer amount of knowledge and building the draft on them.
There is usually a duo of approaches which is utilized for carrying out the research in an exploratory manner. The approaches incorporate deductive as well as inductive approach. The best approach has to be selected considering the study type and focus which is undertaking specific scenario. The utilization of inductive approach seems to be best in case if the interrogator has to conduct the study on the basis of qualitative data and none of the qualitative data has been made before. However, the deductive approach utilization is best for gathering the quantitative information of data and the researcher also has to make and test various hypotheses on the basis of perceived beliefs and judgments.
The purpose is to find out obstacles for Management in Primary School for Improving Academics and Teaching while considering Primary Schools in Shaqra City in KSA so, the study has incorporated the forms of relationships of variables among one another. Therefore, this study requires identification of a clear connection among these variables to carry out the research approach, the deductive investigation is favored since the quantitative data is involved and has to be well-examined by proper selection for shedding light upon the major topic (Terrell, 2012).
The three approaches to the research types have been highlighted in the field of social sciences and comprise of quantitative, qualitative as well as a blend of both research approaches. The qualitative research is helpful when the data is usually objective and requires attention to the analysis of quality, intelligence or logic of something.
The quantitative approach of research is more subjective and clear to be carried out by the researchers since the data is quantified and analysis is based on that. However, this particular study comprises of the utilization of research approach which is mixed and is a blend of both qualitative as well as quantitative type (Woods, 2006).
The quantitative approach of research incorporates the utilization of probabilities, statistics as well as mathematics to carry out the study under investigation. This requires the use of software and tools to calculate the data and quantify the relationship among hypothesis’ variables.
Approaches to research; be it qualitative or quantitative, incorporate the key highlights of history based data as well as empirical studies on the issue at hand. Moreover, the research approach which is based upon qualitative influence incorporates the utilization of theories and philosophies as they provide sufficient evidence in the form of well-acknowledged literature towards the researcher. In this research, the numeric data has been utilized for easier computation. The data gathered through questionnaires can be expressed and highlighted in numbers so the tools of statistics are easy to be applied in order to draw out the statements on the basis of the data structure.
The focus of this study is ‘primary research’ which requires the study of numerous variables that are related from the topic or its particular field. Various investigators incorporate data collection accurately from the ground location of the issue. It is important to collect data for confirming the issue so that in the following areas, the changes can be suggested along with future dimensions of the relatable field.
It is essential to select the correct population in order to carry out research to make it more authentic and viable. If the population is poorly selected, it makes the entire research invaluable and contaminated (Yilmaz, 2013). Since the topic is about the obstacles for Management in Primary School for Improving Academics and Teaching, therefore the teachers that are working at the schools in Shaqra city comprise of the population that can be used for conducting research. It is the teachers as well as staff and admin department officials. The sample size of the study is the 10 primary schools that are functioning in the Sharqa city of KSA. Moreover, the sample drawn from these schools will be 30 teachers and 20 will be the staff members working in the management department. Furthermore, the interviews will be done by interrogating 5 heads of management from the 10 selected schools.
The major focus of this study is on convenience sampling on the basis of non-probability. The sampling of the research comprises of either non-probability or probability and the reason of selecting the technique of non-probability is that authentic sources are looked for a collection of data and the sample size has been issued to maintain its cohesiveness by staying away from randomness. However, there are many kinds of the sampling on the basis of non-probability and convenience sampling comprises of one of them. This technique of non-probability sampling on the basis of convenience incorporated intentions and chances to select a sample from an unknown population.
The selected sampling technique for interviews and survey will be non-probability sampling technique. Out of this, snow ball sampling has been used for the interviews as the researcher will be considering a number of referrals given by the admin members during the interviews. Moreover, the convenience sampling has been used by the researcher for surveying the selected teachers and admin staff members of the selected 10 schools.
The research instrument utilized for gathering and compiling the major information to carry out research is utilizing the ‘questionnaire’ through Likert scale. A survey based adequate questionnaire is going to be formulated which will have the scale from 5 to 1. It is essential for the respondents to choose from any of the five options and give their answer on the basis of their prior experiences or feelings.
The instrument of the questionnaire has been used as the best instrument for collecting data in the past and it continues to be effective currently also. The questionnaire serves as the best instrument of research for collecting data and gathering real insights of the current situation of the management staff members within the schools. Additionally, the interviews from the managers will be utilized in an open-ended manner in order to perceive the data on the basis of a thematic analysis.
There are various methods to assess and analyze the data. However, the research of this topic was effectively assessed by utilizing the qualitative data to follow the technique of thematic analysis. On the other hand, the examination of quantitative data was done through the easy methodology of calculating percentages in order to give the readers a clear and understandable view of the outcomes of exploration of the study (Silverman, 2016). For this, the use of excel has been made in order to calculate the percentages.
From the methodology, it has become easy to formulate the research strategy and to develop the instigating notions effectively. Additionally, it has been discussed that all elements are helpful in conducting research and none of them can be ignored in any way. It is easy to conclude on the basis of above discussion that the focus of this study will continue to be on the research approach which is quantitative, incorporating the primary as well as secondary research. The secondary research comprises of gathering the data by utilizing the studies and success stories. The primary research is also going to help in refining this research by having interviews from managers in the KSA, Sharqa city, 10 schools will be contemplated for gathering up the selected data. The teachers will be surveyed. Moreover, they are being approached by the help of non-probability technique.
The following chapter sheds light on analyzing the responses of teachers to know their review regarding Challenges facing the training and development of teachers in KSA. The sample size of 50 has been selected which includes 30 teachers and 20 staff members. Moreover, a total of 5 managers have been interviewed as well. The findings below support the objectives and are discussed as under:
Illustrated bar chart shows the percentage of Male and female teachers in Shaqra City, KSA, i.e. 22% male while 78% female. Children of primary classes tend to be more comfortable with female teachers, therefore more preference is given to female staff. Male teachers are preferred on other subjects like mathematics, computers, sports etc.
Teachers of schools vary in their age and experiences. According to respondents, the age group 28-37 carries the highest percentage of teachers, comprising of 34% of overall teacher population. This group age is ideal, as generally at this stage a teacher gets experienced and is also young to deliver his responsibilities efficiently.
Illustrated bar chart shows the level of years of experience of teachers in Shaqra city of KSA. Increased percentages of teachers reside in 5-8 years of experience category. This targets the teachers of age in early 30s with ample teaching experience and strength to deliver their responsibilities with optimum performance.
Respondents were asked about appropriate implementation of training sessions for boosting performance level. The results illustrated that only 33% of the respondents either strongly agreed or disagreed with the statement, while 4% remained neutral. 55% of the respondents either strongly disagreed or just disagreed with the statement. Disagreement by the respondents resembles the challenges that are prevailing in the schools of Shaqra city. It’s a serious issue that may further worsen the educational standards. Therefore, to counter it, strict steps should be taken by the school management, and government as a whole for a city wide improvement.
Illustrated bar chart shows disagreement on the offering of separate training sessions for teachers. Out of 61% disagreed respondents, 40% strongly disagreed showing a negative scenario of schooling. While only 32% showed slight signs of agreement. If the training criteria are not up to the standard, then the teacher would not be able to attain the best teaching skills. This in return will affect the education standard of children, leading to a low performance in higher education. Therefore, for a bright academic future of students, steps should be taken to improve the quality of teaching standards.
Respondents were asked about lack of any issue in the offer of training and development in schools. The results illustrated that around 70% of the respondents either strongly agreed or disagreed with this statement, while 6% remained neutral. Only 24% of the remaining individuals either strongly disagreed or just disagreed. Lack of resources is a genuine issue and should be solved. Serious actions should be taken by senior management to supply the resources by proper state funding. The government should increase their budget and revise their policies on education for an instant growth.
Respondents were asked about lack of experienced teachers in schools. The results showcased that around 32% of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement, while 6% remained neutral. On the contrary, 12% of the respondents strongly disagreed. Overall result showed a deficit of experienced teachers in the schools. Some renounced schools may have good faculty, but overall population requires professional teaching skills. As a part of the solution, talented teachers from foreign countries can be hired by offering incentives, or training sessions should be organized to update the level of current teachers.
Illustrated bar chart resembles the result of respondents who were asked about their opinion on lack of financing options available in schools of KSA. The results showed that 65% of the respondents disagreed while only 29% agreed. This shows that KSA has enough options for financing in the education sector, but serious steps are not being taken to counter the problem. The government of KSA is quite rich in monetary reserves but is taking very less interest in policies regarding education. Government departments should be consulted and awareness should be brought to them about the hazards of the low level of education standards.
Respondents were asked whether the reason for the barrier in the development of teachers was the inappropriate curriculum. The results illustrated that around 72% of the respondents either strongly agreed or disagreed with the statement, while 6% remained neutral. Only 22% of the respondents disagreed. The curriculum is the base of the entire structure of schooling. If the syllabus is not up to the requirement modern educational scenarios, then the output will severely suffer. Students will not be able to comply with international standards and will always remain backward. Awareness should be made regarding this major issue for a good academic future of students.
The illustrated chart shows the result of respondents on the question of motivation focused learning need in schools of KSA. The result showcased an agreement on the need for motivational learning, comprising of 64% of overall percentage. 12% remained neutral, while only 24% disagreed with the statement. Motivation exotic benefits on work. It tends to contribute optimum performance, resulting in high efficiency of work. It is highly recommended, as this would uphold overall teaching standards, leading to intelligent and high academic results.
Respondents were asked about lack of skilled teachers in schools. The results showcased that around 51% of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement, while 6% remained neutral. On the contrary, only 14% of the respondents strongly disagreed. Overall result showed a shortage of skilled teachers in the schools. As a solution, high-quality training sessions should be organized under the leadership of foreign faculty. This will update the level of teachers to impart quality education in local schools. The government should also take steps to update their educational policies by increasing the budget for education.
Respondents were asked about rare training sessions organized in schools. The results show 72% agreement over total respondents. 6% remained neutral, while 22% either strongly disagree or just disagree. Result clearly show rare training sessions in schools leading to low level of primary education. It’s a major issue that should be addressed to senior management for teacher’s efficiency. Government departments should be consulted for an overall city wide improvement program. This will greatly improve professionalism in all teachers in the city, making them competitive and efficient in their skills.
Illustrated bar chart shows responses on a survey about lack of trained teachers, causing a barrier to learning. The results showed that 51% of the respondents strongly agreed, while 14% strongly disagreed. However, 6% remained neutral.
Respondents were asked about the separate employment of HR strategies for training and development of teachers. The results illustrated that 72% of the respondents either strongly agreed or disagreed with the statement, while 4% remained neutral. On the contrary, 22% of the remaining either strongly disagreed or just disagreed with the statement.
Respondents were asked about the implementation of on the job and off job training for employees. The results illustrated that 72% of the respondents either strongly agreed or disagreed with the statement, while 4% remained neutral. On the other hand, 22% of the remaining either strongly disagreed or just disagreed with the statement.
Illustrated bar chart shows responses on a survey about lack of proper HR policies in the department. The results illustrated that 51% of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement, while 6% remained neutral. On the contrary, only 14% strongly disagreed with the statement.
While conducting the research, the majority of the participants adopted the stance that the training and development situation in KSA is not up to the mark. However, a proportion of respondents stated there has been the commencement of such training and development at numerous schools of KSA to better equip the teacher to face the challenges arising in the education sector. In addition, some schools which claim to be providing world class education standards have already started the implementation of development and training sessions for its teachers and faculty members. It is a step towards developing professional teachers as there is a severe absence of local teachers. However, in many schools, the non residents of KSA professionals are employed as teachers as they have been trained in their countries. In this way, KSA has a diverse stock of professionally trained teachers from across the globe from various fields but the problems arise because of their insufficiency. They are not sufficient to cater the needs of KSA’s education sector wholly. Resultantly, many of the schools have taken up the strategy to hold training and developing sessions for their domestic teachers which will be trained by foreign professionally trained teachers who are available in KSA and are employed in schools.
In this aspect of the research, various diverse responses were observed as this phase of the research included questions that were subjective in nature. The responses stated that training and development are being provided to the teachers, however, the standard of the training and development sessions is not up to the required standard. In KSA the period of primary schooling comprises six years which is considered the building block of educational life and contributes to a greater extent in students’ educational as well as professional life. However, some responses stated that students’ proper learning is based on the experience of teachers, the knowledge that teachers possess and the methodologies they adapt to enhance the learning processes. In addition, as per the requirement of the profession, teachers are required to inculcate an aerial point of view to impart knowledge in wider perspectives; resultantly, their skills and the quality standards of education will rise. Few of the respondents agreed to result in oriented responses, as their viewpoint stated to draw a comparison of education and quality standards between the schools that are offering adequate training to its teachers and those which do not provide the training sessions and seminars for the development of their teachers. Although, some responses stated the teachers are already equipped with the essential skills and making them attend training sessions will only waste their time and the resources of the schools.
This aspect of research attracted differentiated responses as this question’s implications varied from person to person. However, the majority of the respondents agreed that training and development programs reserve crucial importance in the education field in KSA. Moreover, the attitude of teachers towards imparting knowledge at the primary level has significant value and has engendered numerous severe challenges for the schools. One of the significant challenges is financing such training and development programs. These training and development programs can be costly for schools which may bring about other problems for schools. In addition, it is also observed that teachers who are being trained on the expenditure of school are most likely to quit the school in the search for better opportunities. Such scenarios do not cultivate any benefits for schools instead raise costs for them. This aspect has great contribution in discouraging schools to promote such training and development programs. However, to prevent such happenings, schools usually make teachers sign contracts outlining the minimum period in which they have to serve the school. Such conditions demotivate teachers to show a positive attitude towards the participation in such training and development programs. This reduces the effectiveness of training and development sessions as demotivated teachers do not show intended and desired results. Moreover, training and development programs require teachers to devote extra and unpaid time. This also bothers teachers and they get less willing to welcome such developmental programs.
Respondents reciprocated differently to this aspect. Majority of the respondents agreed that training greatly influences the effectiveness of the curriculum being followed at schools. Among one of the reasons demonstrated by respondents to favor their standpoint is that curriculum for primary schools is decentralized, this is a reason it is the role of the teacher that makes the curriculum effective or ineffective in making the students learn at their full potential at their ease. In such scenario, the expertise and skills of teachers have the main contribution in designing the curriculum and training and development programs will enhance the skills and expertise of teachers which develop a direct relation to training and development with the curriculum. On the contrary, some respondents stated that every school has a pre-decided curriculum and teachers just have to follow it which leaves no need to arrange such training and development programs for teachers.
This part of the research required the respondents to give their suggestions to school to increase the efficiency of the teachers so that they can better impart education. However, as a response to this, many significant recommendations were accentuated. The common recommendations outlined that schools should use latest techniques and methodologies to effectively train the teachers as the methodologies that are currently used are getting obsolete. In addition, the introduction of reward system needs to be brought in practice to increase the interest of teachers in training and development programs. Some recommendations highlighted the need to develop attractive and interactive activities so that teachers may tend to take interest in such programs.
On the other hand, some suggestions stated that schools should discourage such training and development programs as they merely generate desired outcomes and cause wastage of schools’ resources. Instead, schools should adopt the policy of employing already trained and professional teachers which would save the time of schools as well the resources that can be devoted to other purposes which may greatly assist the students in their learning processes.
As Allehyani et al. (2016) states, Schools are facing various challenges in imparting quality education at Shaqra, KSA. One of the reasons that are identified the research and is supported by Almuntasheri (2016), is the unavailability of domestic professionally trained teachers that can understand and cater the student needs in the learning environment. In addition, there is absence of such training and development programs which can greatly assist teachers to enhance their teaching capabilities and improve their teaching methodologies by getting awareness of latest teaching and learning practices and processes as majority of the respondents stated that their school does not provide them with training and development programs (Hameed, 2016). One of the significant reasons for the absence of such training and development programs that are supported by the research and by Alrabai (2015) is the expenditure that such initiatives require. Moreover, it is witnessed in many schools that schools devote plenty of their resources in training and development of their teachers and faculty members that after getting training on the cost of the schools, teachers leave the school for their personal benefits to get better opportunities elsewhere as training and development programs add to their strengths in their CVs and their eligibility to get employed in schools whose teachers are highly paid AlHaqwi (2014) states.
In addition, according to Alharbi (2015) and supported by the statistics in the research, another important aspect is the investment and resources of school to initiate such programs. The lack of investment in the education sector is a primary reason because of which is the absence of such training and development programs (Alqahtani, 2016). Furthermore, as the statistics in the research suggest, there is no other source to get training and development sessions other than schools. In such scenario, the role of schools reserves a significant contribution in the training of their teachers (Humaid et.al 2014). Lack of resources discourages the employers to provide such facilities and initiatives to their staff and teachers that are a reason foreign teachers are employed in KSA’s schools widely. From the point of view of schools, it is more economical for them to hire foreign professional teachers who may agree to work on the market competitive salaries which are offered to domestic non-trained staff (Merdad et, al 2014).
Secondly, the attitude of teachers towards such training and development programs is another barrier in the enforcement of such programs (Mahboob and Elyas, 2014). Teachers are required to spend extra time for training and development programs which are usually unpaid. This creates demotivation among the teachers and decreases their interest towards such programs as it creates conflicts in their schedule and with family responsibilities (Alenezi, 2015). Such attitude of teachers towards professional development make it less desirable for schools to provide them with training and development facilities as it does not engender the desired outcomes for the schools. Resultantly, such programs become merely a waste of time and resources which adds no value to the quality of education and doesn’t play any significant role in raising the education standards (Al‐Zahrani, 2015).
Additionally, one of a barrier identified in research and endorsed by a majority of the respondents and supported by Sheikh et, al (2014), was the inappropriate curriculum which restricts training and development of teachers. There is no standardized curriculum for primary schools; resultantly, teachers have to develop the curriculum according to the instructions of the schools’ management (Almuntasheri, 2016). This restricts the teachers to explore, utilize and develop their skills and introduce new and latest technologies in imparting education. The reason that teachers do not get sufficient chances to develop themselves restricts their chances to demonstrate their skills and abilities and further polishing them when there is no pecuniary cost being involved (Albugarni and Ahmed 2015).
According to the research, to overcome the challenges that are being faced, motivation focused learning is needed at the schools in KSA. In addition, schools have to introduce training and development sessions in such a schedule that it may not require the teachers to devote extra time for which they are not legally obliged and bound (Abulhamail et al. 2015). For this, short length training and developing programs can be scheduled during the school timings to utilize the spare time of teacher which does not cultivate significant benefits for teachers as well as the schools (Welsh et al. 2014). Moreover, according to Merdad et al. (2014), to increase the interest of teachers towards training and development programs, orientation sessions have to be scheduled so that teachers would get aware of the future implications and prospects of such programs that are being provided to teachers at school premises free of cost.
In addition, as research states professionally trained teachers need to be employed. Foreign professionally trained can easily be accessed in KSA who are willing to serve on the market competitive salaries, can be hired to cater the immediate need of professionally qualified teachers Abulhamail et, al (2014) states. Furthermore, foreign teachers are equipped with the latest teaching methodologies and techniques that are followed by their respective countries; this will bring new ideas and innovations in the teaching methodologies at KSA’s schools (Abulhamail et al., 2015). Moreover, foreign professional teachers may be required who can organize training sessions to train the other teachers. This way, the costs of the schools would be saved, a learning oriented and competitive culture would prevail and flourish and the schools’ objectives of training teachers to make them comply with the latest methodologies of teaching and raising the education standards high would be accomplished (Alqahtani, 2016).
As Alrabai (2015) states, on the national level, to push the education standards high, the government can put up curriculum’s outline that must be encompassed while designing the syllabus at every grade. This will create uniformity among the syllabuses of the schools and would greatly help teachers to equip themselves with the required skills and competencies for the essential methodologies (AlHaqwi, 2014). In addition, it will also greatly help teachers to design the curriculum for their schools as a basic guideline would be available in the form of outline provided by the government, this will boost their confidence as they could not directly be criticized for the poor standards of education at schools (Humaid et.al 2014).
In addition, as Aburizaizah et,al (2016) states, another initiative that can be taken on national level is establishing training and development centers under the supervision of government which would provide free of cost training to the teachers so that they can increase their competency, efficiency, skills and teaching methodologies to enhance the learning environment and procedures. This would not only save the costs of schools to train their teachers but also boost the trend and culture of training and development programs Mahboob and Elyas (2014) states. Moreover, according to the suggestion of Alenezi (2015), these training and development centers may arrange international conferences and seminars in KSA to bring about the latest advancements in teaching methodologies and training and to increase the awareness about latest teaching and learning techniques so that they can be implemented by every school.
However, on organizational level schools can arrange workshops and training sessions with the collaboration of other reputable institutions worldwide where the experts of educational fields will enlighten the advancements in the field of education and the trends in the education sector (Allehyani et, al 2016). This will increase the tendency of teachers to attend such workshops and training sessions as they will enhance their skills at no cost. Moreover, Merdad et al. (2014) states, giving certificates of participations for attending such workshops will motivate teachers as it would bring about numerous benefits for their career.
As Alqahtani (2016) suggests, Human and Resource department can greatly facilitate training and development programs at schools of KSA. To cater the demotivation prevailed among teachers because of making them bound to attend training and development sessions, their participation may be rewarded (Humaid et.al 2014). This will increase the motivation levels of teachers and they would tend to increase their participation in such programs. Another human and resource department can play is to arrange workshops and training and development sessions in the premises of the school so that teachers would not have to go anywhere especially for the sake of attending such programs which might not attract their interest (Al-Seghayer et, al. 2014). However, this will require a strong coordination with the finance department, so that it can arrange sufficient funds to finance the training and development programs.
In addition, as per the suggestion of Alharbi (2015), to tackle the problem of teachers leaving the school after getting the certification of attending training and developing programs in the search for better opportunities, human resource department can take two steps which can be taken solely or their combination can be implemented. Firstly, teachers to be allowed to attend training and development programs arranged by the school after signing a contract in which they would agree to keep on serving the school; otherwise, legal action can be taken against them Sheikh et, al (2014) states. However, Aburizaizah et al. (2016) develop the argument that this step may discourage the teachers to attend training and development programs because of the unforeseen future. Secondly, teachers who attend such training and development programs may be given incentive by the means of getting increments in their salaries considering their performance Alabdulaziz and Higgins (2017) mentions. This will not only motivate the teachers to step ahead to attend such training and development programs but will also keep them away from leaving the school for better opportunities considering their future prospects in the school.
The aforementioned chapter enables the researcher in presenting the findings for accomplishing the goals of the study. It has been stated that there is an immense need for training the teachers in the KSA, as it is essential for teachers themselves and also for the students. However, training initiatives are also being taken within KSA but they are not up to the mark.
As the time is progressing, the challenges to the educational sector in KSA are also increasing. To promote learning globally, there have been numerous enrichments and enhancements in the teaching and learning processes. However, in KSA no such advancements have been introduced in the educational sector. This is one of the primary reasons schools are facing difficulties in maintaining the educational standards and pushing them higher. Among the numerous challenges, the education sector of KSA is facing, training and development of teachers carry significant value as the entire educational system of KSA stands on the teachers as there is no exposure of technology in the teaching processes. However, there are fewer prior past studies in this area related to KSA. The management of schools is now getting more conscious and taking more interest in enriching the teaching methodologies, for which training and development of teachers are the core aspect; resultantly, encountering challenges for which resources have to reallocated and managed so that effective measures can be taken.
To investigate the topic and to meet the objectives of the research, data was collected by both sources of field research: questionnaire surveys and interviews. In questionnaires, the relation of proposed factors was authenticated; however, interviews identified and enlightened some other factors that have a contribution towards the challenges faced by schools’ management in KSA. Survey delineated that most of the teachers are not provided with the essential training to boost their performance. However, a probable reason that was stressed stated that schools lack resources to provide training which can be arranged by utilizing sources of finance. Another challenge to schools’ management comprised insufficiency of professionally qualified teachers. All of the challenges can be settled if resources are arranged and training is provided to domestic teachers which can be done through utilizing various sources of finance.
Globally, numerous research and development centers are researching to bring innovation to the learning and teaching processes in both public sector and the private sector. Many research and development centers are supported and funded by the governments to stretch the literacy rates. However, in KSA there is no such concept of research and development to innovate the teaching and learning processes, the primary focus of the government is towards the oil industry. There is strong need to develop research and development centers as a very little research is available in KSA relating to this area; for this purpose and government of KSA needs to allocate sufficient resources to finance the expenditures of the centers to ensure their smooth functioning and operations.
In addition, another barrier in improving academic and teaching capacity is the availability of qualified and professional teachers. The literacy rate in Saudi Arabia is low, this is a reason there is a shortage of domestic qualified and professional teachers. As a result, many schools in KSA have to employ foreign qualified and professional teachers. However, this does not resolve the problem, as it engenders language barriers hindering effective communication between the students and the teachers isolating the teaching and learning processes and innovations.
The management of schools in KSA is going through numerous challenges to innovate and enhance the learning and teaching processes and methodologies among which the most significant one is the paucity of qualified and professional domestic teachers. To tackle this challenge, schools’ management of KSA adapts two diverse remedies. Firstly, employing foreign teachers who are highly qualified and professionally trained but it creates language barriers and restricts the effectiveness of teaching and learning processes because of communication malfunctions. The actual essence cannot be effectively transferred to the students. However, the other option to the management of KSA’s schools which is also sustainable in nature is the training and development of domestic teachers. Though, management of schools encounters a number of barriers in the training and the development of its teachers. The most significant barrier is the lack of resources which can be employed to initiate training and development programs for the teachers. However, sufficient financing is required to generate resources to train and professionally develop the teachers so that they can be equipped with the latest and advanced methodologies.
To cope up with the challenges, management of schools needs to arrange different on the job training and off the job training sessions to train them and develop their skills. Training and development programs may be scheduled within the school premises within the school timings as well as outside the school premises on either school timings or after that. Moreover, technology should have to be introduced to advance the teaching and learning processes and methodologies. In addition, the government of KSA also needs to concentrate on the challenges that are being faced by the schools and should address them with all the available resources. The government needs to boost the literacy rate so that qualified domestic teachers can get available. Research and development centers supported and funded by government need to be established which may introduce breakthroughs to the challenges that the schools are facing.
In this research, the researcher focused on the education and schools of the Saudi Arabia and analysed the impact of training and development of teachers in the educational institutes. The researcher has made the use of the questionnaire survey. In the research, only a few variables are included and the further study could be based on more research objectives and the questions. This is only based on the training and developments of Saudi region and the researcher can consider only one region and future analysts could perform a study on two or more regions. There is space for more research on this topic because of vast studies and the variables that could have more impact on the training and development and teachers attitude towards the motivational efforts of the management in the education sector. New and advanced learning style can also add as the new variable in the study.
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