The Professional Development of Teachers: Needs and Opportunities

Abstract

Teachers aim to use effective and adaptable methods with students. However, with so many training courses available, finding the right one for our needs takes time and effort. We have assumed that the demand for courses to develop personal and motor coordination will be outstanding. Our research aims to assess these needs to help professionals to help create a curriculum that meets them. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the target sample; our online questionnaire was completed by 42 primary school teachers in Spring 2024. The results were analysed using descriptive statistical indicators. 97% of the respondents felt the need to learn new methods. Most (71.4%) would like to know about managing learning and behavioural difficulties, and 69% would like to participate in online training. 40.5% found the theoretical content sound but needed help to put it into practice. Respondents' primary areas of interest were emotional competencies and methodologies for dealing with learning difficulties. Based on the results of our study, we can offer more effective and responsive in-service training for teachers; courses support knowledge acquisition, behaviour change (Winn et al., 2023), good practice (Lenoir et al., 2024), emotional resilience (Bagdžiūnienė et al., 2023).