THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MODELS OF TEACHERS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TEACHERS’ INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES IN THE CLASSROOMS IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF SELANGOR, MALAYSIA

Abstract

Teachers` instructional practices in the classroom can be enhanced through increasing their knowledge and skills an effective school-based professional development. Hence, teachers must constantly deepen their knowledge and skills to remain effective throughout their careers. The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between school-based professional learning models and teachers` instructional practices. The sample consists of 1180 teachers from sixty-three daily primary school in the state of Selangor in Malaysia who are chosen through stratified sampling. This quantitative research used descriptive-correlational survey method to answer the research questions. A set of questionnaire used in this research has been developed and refined by Amin (2005) and Guskey (2000) for teachers` instructional practices. Descriptive statistical analysis such as mean, standard deviation and inferential statistic such as correlation and multiple regression have been carried out to answer the research questions. Overall, the findings show that there is a positive significant relationship (r = .0.645, p<.05) between school-based professional development models and teachers` instructional practices. Furthermore, the findings also show that training model (ß= .0.554, t = 11.378, p<.05) is the main predictor of professional learning models against teachers` instructional practices.