Teacher Professional Development in the UAE: What Do Teachers Actually Want?

Elizabeth Buckner, Sonal Chedda, Justina Kindreich
June 06, 2016

Drawing on survey and interview data, this policy brief examines perceptions of professional development among public school teachers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It explores what types of professional development teachers have access to, the barriers to professional development they face, and teachers’ stated needs for additional professional development. We find that teachers in the UAE have high rates of participation in professional development. They benefit from both week-long professional development workshops and in-school teacher networks that cover subject matter material and pedagogical skills. However, concerns about existing professional development offerings include that they can be repetitive or irrelevant and that there are few incentives associated with attending training courses. Key areas for future support include offering training on 1) students with special needs; 2) information and communications technology; and 3) community engagement.