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This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive view of critical pedagogy-informed collaborative professional development practices in English language teaching. Using four databases and relevant keywords, we found 67 studies conducted in Asia, South/Central/North America, Europe, Australia, and the Gulf countries and systematically analyzed them. Results show that critical collaborative practices enabled teachers to develop a critical stance, implement pedagogically critical actions, and initiate social change regarding social awareness and power distribution. However, these changes, visible in teachers’ pedagogical practices, have not expanded onto a macro-social level. Implications for language teacher development program planners and policymakers are discussed.

Even though various professional development practices are provided for language teachers worldwide, these practices are still considered ineffective in addressing teachers’ needs in their classrooms. The effectiveness of these practices is stalled when teachers do not actively engage in their professional development processes. When language teachers are not involved as active decision makers regarding their own professional development practices, the outcomes may not be as desirable as policymakers plan. Considering the deficiencies of the current language teacher professional development practices in Turkey, this paper provides a systematic review of lesson study as a professional development model for language teachers which promotes agency and reflective practice. Comparing the current practice of lesson study in Turkey to the international practices reported in the literature, this review suggests that lesson study has potential to support teacher professional development in the country in alignment with the educational visions of decision makers. Given the empowering dimension of lesson study model both in terms of content and form, it can be adopted as a model for effective and sustainable language teacher professional development.

Contemporary approaches to professional development (PD) involve investigating ways of bottom-up, self-directed practices while addressing various needs of teachers. Yet, utilized as a tool in such practices, classroom observation (CO) is not considered to promote teacher professional learning since it is generally regarded as part of the appraisal process. Thus, this exploratory case study aims to explore the insights of four EFL teachers about CO tailored by teachers themselves for their professional growth in a higher education context in Türkiye. Focusing on a bottom-up practice, the teachers pursued a collaborative act on their PD in this specific context. Based on the participants’ previous and current experiences of CO, the data were collected through semi-structured interviews and teacher educator notes. The inductive thematic analysis of the data revealed three major interconnected themes providing pathways toward CO as a PD tool with special emphasis on the generic features of the teacher-tailored CO process. The discussion of findings highlights the importance of empowering, collaborative, and sustainable practices in teachers’ professional growth. Implications are included for English language teacher development programs.

This qualitative cross-case study explores and reflects on the insights of six English language teachers working at one secondary school and one tertiary level institution in Turkey regarding the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) practices offered by their institutions respectively. It also investigates what contextual factors interact with these teachers’ insights and experiences about CPD as part of teacher education regarding within-case and cross-case differences. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, written reflections and program documents and analysed using a descriptive coding strategy. The findings reveal that the participant teachers consider CPD as a customized, practice-focused, collaborative and reflective endeavour. Implications for future continuous professional development programs are also discussed.