Sekar Ayu Wardhani 1 , Endang Fauziati 2 , Dewi Rochsantiningsih 3
3.2 Is there any difficulties faced by in-service EFL teachers of self-initiated professional development
3.2.1 Teacher personal responsibility EFL-1
The key to successful teacher professional development is teacher personal responsibility, and teachers have a responsibility to themselves to always have achievements in all situations. The pandemic has forced teachers to have other ways or strategies that can be done to improve their professionalism in addition to participating in existing programs. EFL-1 chooses to self-initiate professional development as his responsibility in improving his knowledge, skills, and practice by reading books and web browsing to learn about learning media tools. EFL-1 expressed that during the pandemic, he chose to read books and web browsing as activities that could support his teaching skills. He also mentioned the books he read and the web he searched about learning media. Online learning makes him have to think of suitable media to teach the material.
EFL-2
EFL-22 also mentioned that during the pandemic, she must learn about new technologies used in online teaching because no program is held that requires her to learn on her own. She did self-initiation because, before the pandemic, she taught directly in class and now has to teach online, making her learn new things with the help of her child.
Both interviews were found from the results of the two interviews by EFL-1 and EFL-2 who did self-initiation as their responsibility as teachers to improve their professionalism in the pandemic era in line with research from Abbasi (2016); Alshaikh (2020); Priajana (2017); and Utami (2018); that self-initiated professional development activities as a comfort activity since the activities undertaken by teachers based on their interest.
3.2.2 Teachers’ digital literacy
Both in-service teachers have different problems in digital literacy; EFL-1, as a novice teacher, enjoyed following his self-initiated TPD. He chooses activities such as reading books and joining webinars. He is a young teacher familiar with social media, and digital literacy makes it easier
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to find sources of knowledge or webinars on the internet. In contrast, EFL-2 experienced some difficulties doing it. She faced the problem because she was unfamiliar and needed help from her son.
Another theme that has been identified from participants' collective stories was teachers' responsibility, teachers' digital literacy, and teachers' balancing of professional, social, and personal life and time. However, two in-service EFL teachers face a similar problem that they do not have time to do self-initiated TPD. EFL-1 is a new junior high school teacher who teaches and serves as library staff. The many tasks assigned to him by the school, such as managing administration, assessment, learning media, and learning materials, leave him with little time to improve his professional skills as a teacher. In the case of EFL-2, she did not have time to balance her professional, social, and personal life. She has much to do as a teacher, housewife, and grandmother. All of those things make it difficult to make professional self-improvement.
Related to previous studies, two in-service EFL teachers positively agreed with teacher self- initiation for their professional improvement. Research by Utami (2019) and Alshakhih (2020) says that some teachers preferred initiating TPD over the institution. However, in natural settings, there is a difference between new and senior teachers' preferences. New teachers like to self-initiate, while senior teachers prefer to follow the institution's schedule. However, in the implementation, they have difficulty initiating themselves for professional development; they tried to do TPD, one of which is reading or web-browsing.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Teachers' experiences when they undertook self-initiated professional development were relatively varied. Their experience in teaching may have influenced it, and this study reveals some similarities and differences between two in-service teachers. Novice and senior teachers shared their positive perceptions toward initiating professional development, but they responded differently when they viewed some difficulties. The finding implies that novice teachers might view the problems as challenges, while the opposite for senior teachers. This study also identified the factors in self-initiation that may affect the teacher: teacher responsibility, teachers' digital literacy, balancing professional, social, and personal life, and time management. Identification of these problems implies that novice and experienced teachers face different challenges. EFL-2 did not have time to do self-initiated professional development because of many tasks from school and her responsibility as a housewife. Both teachers have different ways of problem-solving, and they need an excellent support system and diverse kinds and techniques for self-initiated TPD. Therefore, teachers should take activities that they feel are not burdensome and based on their needs.
While this study has revealed teachers' positive perceptions and similarities and differences in the struggle for self-initiated professional development, the future investigation should thoroughly examine the aspect that this study has not adequately addressed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank EFL-1 and EFL-2 for their assistance and support in providing data and information for this research.
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