Effectiveness of professional development training on reflective practice and action research: a case study from Ecuador

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a case study involving 31 English language teacher-learners who took part in a three-week professional development (PD) project at a state university in Ecuador. The purpose of this case study was twofold. It attempted to measure the extent to which the participants were able to increase their understanding of (1) reflective practice (RP) and (2) action research (AR) by attending the PD project. The data were gathered quantitatively and qualitatively using four instruments: a pre-/post-training questionnaire on the participants’ understanding of RP and AR, a pre/post-training task on types of reflection, and an action research poster reflection form. The findings revealed that the teacher-learners deepened their knowledge and understanding of RP through the project; however, they did not increase their knowledge of AR. The article discusses the possible reasons for these results and provides implications for future teacher-training provision.