Main Priorities of Quality Factors for Effective Female Teachers in Girls' Secondary Schools in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

In the past few years much has been written about quality teaching, but since quality is difficult to measure there has not been a clear set of criteria to quantify it satisfactorily (Cavanagh, Reynolds, MacNeill, & Romanoski, 2004). In relation to quality education, researchers agree that no factor is more powerful than the teacher. Therefore, ‘quality education’ is a contentious term and it is not determined by just one single factor, but rather a confluence of many factors affecting and influencing issues of quality such as teachers quality. Further, the importance of effective and quality teaching is deemed to be found in the way teachers support student learning. The qualities and practices effective teachers utilise in the classroom increase student learning opportunities, and there is a perceived nexus between quality, effectiveness and student achievement. Tucker (2012) indicates that stakeholders in developed countries agree that the quality of a country’s teachers is the key to high student achievement. Moreover, a Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study report (TIMSS), which compared Arabian Gulf countries to the international mean of USA student achievements in mathematics and science (Martin, Mullis, Foy, & Olson, 2007), indicated that student achievement in the Gulf countries was low and the report attributed this result to the quality of the teaching in the region. Therefore, educational policy makers in the Gulf States have responded to this low performance by focusing on teacher quality as the main factor for educational reform. As a result, the Gulf States have adopted global educational agendas for teacher standards and empirical measures of teacher quality. In the case of Saudi Arabia, much wealth is spent in the education sector but it is vital that these funds focus on the development of teachers. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia is currently experiencing vigorous debate on the quality of its teaching and learning which means that educational development still needs to pursued. Therefore, as a response to the low student achievement which was shown in the TIMSS, this study examined the qualities demonstrated by effective teachers in the Saudi Arabian context. This study is unique in Saudi Arabia as it is the first to focus on teacher quality in the classroom in order to help educational reform. The purpose of this study was to investigate and identify the most powerful and essential quality factors for effective female teachers in girls’ secondary schools in Saudi Arabia. Stronge's (2007) meta-review of the qualities of effective teachers served as the framework for the study. Based on this framework, two questionnaires were developed and distributed among female teachers (general and experts) in the capital city of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. General teachers validated the framework factors and expert teachers ranked those validated factors from the most important to the least important. The data were analysed in order to confirm and refine the identified structure of the model construct. The expert teacher questionnaire data was analysed using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) (Saaty in 1980). The findings of this study revealed 13 priority factors which perceived to enhance Saudi female teachers in girls’ secondary schools. The 13 factors that emerged were: Caring; Fairness and Respect; Interaction with Students; Enthusiasm and Motivation; Dedication to Teaching; Reflective Practice; Classroom Management; Classroom Organization; Disciplining Students; Time Allocation; Teachers’ Expectations; Planning for Instructional; and, Instructional Strategies. In addition, the two questionnaires had an open-ended question which provided two additional factors that the Saudi female teachers believed were an effective quality factors in the Saudi context. Those additional factors were Attending Teacher Workshops and Training, and Using a Variety of Technology in the classroom. Moreover, each factor was also supported from the perspective of the participants, which were written in the open-ended question or gathered during the questionnaire distribution as a verbal talking, to give this study more detailed and reliable information. In conclusion, this study provides some recommendations to the Ministry of Education, Saudi female teachers in the girls secondary schools, and for future research in chapter 8.