Primary School Teachers' Opinions on the Expert Teacher Training Program Seminar

The process of becoming an expert teacher, which is one of the career steps of teachers, and the evaluation of this process are important and necessary in terms of education. The general purpose of this study is to obtain the opinions of primary school teachers about the Expert Teacher Training Program Seminar (ETTPS). In the study, a qualitative research approach was adopted, and a case study design was preferred. The data were collected from the primary school teachers who received the aforementioned seminar at the beginning of the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. The research group consisted of 24 primary school teachers who were identified by the maximum diversity sampling method among the primary school teachers working in public primary schools in a province of Turkey. The research data were analyzed using content analysis. Primary school teachers listed the concepts related to expert teaching as experience, seniority, educational status, professional development, presentation skills, and competence. While the primary school teachers stated that the training was both necessary and not necessary, they also stated that the training they received did not contribute to their professional development. Most of the primary school teachers stated that the training they received did not meet their expectations. In addition, it was revealed that the online delivery of the ETTPS caused some problems in terms of time, internet, and devices in terms of follow-up. Primary school teachers offered some suggestions for changing the prerequisites for the current career ladder. In particular, they suggested that the trainings should be long-term, interactive, and face-to-face, and that examples with active participation should be provided for the implementation of different education systems. It is thought that this research will benefit all stakeholders, especially program developers, in terms of the career ladder of the teaching profession.