02506nab a22002777a 4500 OSt 20250331015310.0 250214t2024 |||uu||oo|||| 00| 0 eng d 1308-9501 JMCFI - Learning Resource Center Turner, Alison 11492 Opportunities and challenges of U.S.-based professional development for English language teachers in Azerbaijan / Alison Turner and Becky Cibulskis. s.l. : International Journal of Educational Researchers, 2025. Abstract : The purpose of this study is to highlight the experiences of teachers during the third iteration of a U.S.-based professional development (PD) program (Kennedy, 2016) for English language teachers (ELTs) in Azerbaijan and explore necessary factors when designing PD for another country or cultural/linguistic context. Designed with the conceptual framework of situated learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991), the PD program centered learning in the context of real lived experieccnces and focused on developing leaders in local communities of practice. We utilize the intrinsic case study methodology (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2003) to explore the experiences of five focal Azerbaijani ELTs during the PD program. We found that participants of the PD course are dedicated practitioners who seek opportunities to grow in their profession; the PD course strengthened their communities of practice, growing confidence among teachers in speaking English; and it promoted limited pedagogical learning and applications in the classroom. However, teachers faced environmental and policy challenges that largely hindered changes to their teaching practices. This study points to implications for future PD programs designed for cross-cultural contexts by building on Desimone's (2009) framework for effective PD by adding core features and essential contextual factors that must be considered. Teachers Azerbaijan. 11493 English language teachers Azerbaijan. 11494 Professional learning and development. 11495 English language Study and teaching. 1769 Research. 146 Education Research. 11496 Journal articles (Open access). 11480 Cibulskis, Becky 11497 , volume 15, number 4, pages 1 - 19 (December 2024). International Journal of Educational Research https://ijer.inased.org/makale/5712 OAER 0 4427 4427 0 0 0 0 DL DL 2025-02-14 0 2025-02-14 https://ijer.inased.org/makale/5712 2025-02-14 OAER