Barriers to Elementary School Teachers’ Professional Practice: Teachers’ Voice

Abstract

Professional practice is a crucial factor for teachers to be able to do their profession well. Its development has to be sustainable to achieve educational quality. However, the process cannot run optimally caused by various barriers faced by the teachers in the field. The objective of this study was to explore the phenomenon of the barriers to public elementary school teachers, in developing their professional practice. In order to achieve these goals, this study used qualitative descriptive design. Data collection used the triangulation methods. The data analysis was thematic analysis. There are seven barriers found to the teachers’ professional practice. The barriers are too much work, teachers’ commitments and support from their colleagues, principal’s leadership, effectiveness of involvement in professional development activities, effectiveness of teachers’ work groups as a forum for teachers’ professional development, discrepancies between curriculum requirements and demands in the field, and weak teacher-parent partnership.