Attitudes of Secondary School Teachers Towards Professional Development and Innovation

Abstract

Being a teacher in vocational education is a challenging profession. The demands on teachers' personal and professional qualities are increasing. Maintaining constant positive motivation to work and further professional development is not easy. In secondary vocational schools in the Czech Republic, teachers of practical teaching and theoretical vocational subjects often work side by side. This paper aims to report the results of a survey conducted at a secondary vocational school focused on gastronomic technology that focused on teachers' attitudes to professional development, preferences in further education and attitudes to innovation. The survey was completed through a questionnaire in the spring of 2022, and 117 teachers responded. This paper will present the results of the survey aimed explicitly at comparing the attitudes and opinions of above defined two different groups of teachers, as well as comparing the results according to professional-demographic characteristics.