Collaborative inquiry as a tool to change the reality of teacher's professional development in Saudi Arabia

The study aimed at exploring teachers' opinions of the concept of collaborative inquiry as a tool for teacher professional development, and knowing the possibility of its implementation in the kingdom. It included a group of the kingdom teachers of primary school teachers in one of the schools of the north of the Kingdom. The participants are 16 distributed as the following, 13 teachers, 2 administrators, and a headmistress. 8 of the participants are Saudis and 5 are not Saudis. The study used the descriptive survey approach. It applied the questionnaire, and personal interview, and the results showed that the professional development of teachers in its current form does not the professional practices. The teachers pointed out the effect of the obstacles that may prevent its implementation such as many teachers' lack of knowledge of this concept, individualism domination over practices in the school environment, and lack of time required for the implementation of collaborative inquiries inside the school. The results of the personal interviews showed that teachers are aware of the importance of the need for the implementation of collaborative inquiry, and willingness to implementing it for the sake of studying and understanding the problems they face in school. On the other hand, there were different opinions of futility of the current professional development efforts. Therefore, the study recommended to study the concept of collaborative inquiry deeply, and within more time in order to discover its implementation benefits, support cooperation between sectors of higher and public education to provide teachers with inquiry skills, exchange experiences between schools, and improving inquiry skill for teachers through implementing induction programs and development workshops inside the school.