Teachers' experiences with school improvement projects: The case of Bahraini public schools

For any school improvement (SI) initiative to succeed, teachers' buy-in is a must. Usually, such a commitment is weak when the needed resources, training, know-how, and support are lacking. Bahraini public schools require teachers' buy-in and commitment. The twofold question though is this: (1) What are the experiences of teachers in Bahraini public schools with respect to SI project implementation and (2) what are some suggestions they have, to possibly make such an implementation more successful? This is the research question that this mixed-methods study addressed by collecting data from (1) teachers in Bahrain, through their completion of a questionnaire containing closed and open-ended items; and (2) feedback sheets of in-service teachers who were involved in the training and implementation of one of the SI projects in Bahraini schools. The data analysis yielded interesting results, which can help enlighten policy-makers in Bahrain regarding the way forward with SI.