Awareness of the professional needs of secondary school teachers through self-directed professional development

The importance of teacher professional development has been extensively studied, with researchers agreeing that opportunities for professional development can improve both teacher education and student learning outcomes. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a new approach to professional development, known as self-directed professional development. It focused on the knowledge, participation, and effectiveness of voluntary professional development methods in secondary schools, with a specific emphasis on Almería's secondary school teachers. The study utilized the systematic sampling method to select 194 respondents from the sample group. These respondents were given a Likert scale questionnaire, and the data collected were analyzed using statistical methods such as percentage, mean, standard deviation, and chi-square test. The results showed that even though the secondary school teachers had limited knowledge about self-directed professional development and online resources, they still informally participated in self-directed professional development.