FROM TRAINING TO CLASSROOM: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF ENGLISH TEACHERS' CPD IMPLEMENTATION

Abstract

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) has become a central strategy for enhancing teacher professionalism worldwide, yet participation in CPD activities does not always translate into meaningful classroom change. This gap is especially underexamined in Indonesian Islamic educational institutions, where English teachers must reconcile national curriculum demands, communicative language pedagogy, and institutional religious values simultaneously. This study employed a qualitative phenomenological design to investigate how English teachers at MAN 1 Palembang perceive, implement, and negotiate CPD outcomes within their classroom practice. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and documentation with English teachers purposively selected for their recent participation in CPD activities, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings show that teachers viewed CPD not as an administrative requirement but as an ongoing, meaningful process supporting professional growth, instructional innovation, and collaborative learning through forums such as MGMP. In implementing CPD outcomes, teachers moved toward more student-centered, technology-integrated, and reflective teaching practices, while actively adapting professional knowledge to align with the institution's religious and moral educational values. Teachers nonetheless encountered substantial challenges, including heavy workloads, limited instructional time, technological constraints, curriculum and examination pressures, and, for some, initial uncertainty in adopting new pedagogical approaches. Despite these obstacles, teachers demonstrated sustained adaptability, relying on peer collaboration and iterative reflection to translate professional learning into classroom practice. The study concludes that effective CPD implementation depends not only on the quality of training programs but on teachers' contextual agency, collaborative professional culture, and institutional support, with direct implications for how CPD is designed and sustained in Indonesian madrasah settings.