Challenges to Teacher Evaluation at Saudi Universities and Suggestions for Solutions: A Perspective of English Language Teachers

Abstract

This thesis explores EFL teachers’ views concerning teacher evaluation practices and policies at five public universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The research is informed by the interpretive paradigm due to its exploratory nature. With relativism as the ontological stance and constructionism as the epistemological stance, a mixed method sequential design was utilized to collect the required data. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied consecutively with more emphasis on the qualitative phase. The study utilised an online questionnaire in the quantitative stage in addition to one-to-one semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions in the qualitative stage. The numbers of participants were 249 for the questionnaire, 21 for the one-to-one interviews and 9 for the focus group discussions. Descriptive statistics were conducted for quantitative strands, and thematic analysis for the qualitative data. Both types of data were analysed with the help of SPSS and NVivo, respectively. The analysis of both sets of data culminated in the emergence of three main themes, 10 categories, and 33 subcategories. The three emergent themes are the importance of EFL teacher evaluation, challenges to EFL teacher evaluation, and suggested solutions for better teacher evaluation. Following the abundance of ideas grounded in the data, a suggested participatory teacher evaluation model informed by EFL teachers’ voice is proposed. Based on the findings which provided evidence of challenges facing the current teacher evaluation in the Saudi higher education context, this study concludes by presenting recommendations for policymakers, administrators and teachers. For instance, a comprehensive framework needs to be developed for the professional development of teacher evaluators including initial training and continuous training programmes. Also, the management of higher education institutions needs to add a formative lens to the scheme of teacher evaluation at their workplace to help EFL teachers develop their instructional practice. Finally, suggestions for further research are also mentioned towards the end of the study.