Effects of Intercultural Sensitivity and Critical Thinking Trainings on Teachers’ Professional Development

ABSTRACT The present study aims to explore the role of intercultural sensitivity (IS) and critical thinking (CT) trainings in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ professional development (PD). To do so, 30 EFL teachers and 150 of their students in different high schools filled out the validated questionnaires as the pre-test. Then, the teachers received in-service trainings for IS and CT in separate phases with specified syllabi. At the end of each treatment, the students completed the teachers’ PD survey. In the final step, the teachers filled out the IS and CT questionnaires again as the post-test. It can be concluded that inclusion of IS and CT trainings in EFL curriculum could contribute to the improvement of EFL education programs as an effective step towards teachers’ PD.