An Insight into Professional Development Obstacles Facing Ethiopian Primary School EFL Teachers

This study was conducted to identify self-directed and external professional development obstacles facing primary school EFL teachers in Southern Zone of Tigray Region in Ethiopia. The participants of the study were 63 primary school EFL teachers, 10 school principals and 2 clusters of supervisors. School teachers were selected using random sampling technique whereas school principals and cluster supervisors were selected by using purposive sampling. To gather data for the study, questionnaires and semi-structured interview were used. The results of the study revealed that lack of interest, having dissatisfaction in their job, unattractive salary, lack of knowledge and skills in doing action research and misunderstanding of the concept of CPD and how to do it were the major self-directed obstacles of professional development activities. The study also revealed that in adequate in-service training, supervisors’ lack of knowledge, skills and expertise in teaching English as a foreign language, work load, and lack of support and recognition from stakeholders were the major external obstacles of professional development.