Teacher educators’ perceptions of Teacher Quality Standards: Any congruence between local and global standards?

Abstract

This study examined English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher educators’ perceptions of teacher quality and determine the similarities and differences between such qualities and global standards. To this aim, 130 teacher educators were asked to fill a Teacher Quality questionnaire, there was a semi-structured interview with 13 teacher educators, and 10 teacher educators were involved in writing narratives regarding the quality standards they applied in their training sessions. Based on the results, teacher educators found teacher qualities like patience, voice quality, and versatility as the most crucial ones. Besides, there was a significant difference between global teacher quality standards and local ones in Iran. The value of qualities such as personal and professional conduct and knowledge of the disciplines was in line with global standards. From the teachers’ perspective, these qualities relate to EFL teachers' achievement, performance, motivation, and professional development and should have recognition in salaries as well.

Keywords

• global standards
• teacher educators’ perceptions
• teacher quality (tq)
• teacher standards