EFL Lecturers’ Professional Development And Shifts Of Identity: Strategies, Constraints And Prospects (A Case Study In Islamic Higher Education Institutions)

Professional development is a must activity that all lecturers need to pay attention. This is because professional development allows the lecturers to improve professional competence. This study seeks to understand lecturers’ professional development in four Islamic tertiary education in Indonesia. This qualitative research explores lecturers’ voices through in-depth interviews, FGDs and document analysis. The research findings suggest several ways of lecturers’ engagement in professional development. These include: upgrading qualification through further studies, improving competence through seminars, workshops, conferences, publication and research. These programs have indeed shifted their professional identity. They also restated that while institutional supports are limited, progress toward better supports has been made.