Promoting professional development

Abstract

EVERY company, entity or organisation has a continuing development / training programme. This must be applied also for teachers. One important way of improving schools, increasing teacher quality and improving the quality of student learning is to invest in the professional development of teachers. Teachers want training, they want to fit in, and they want their students to learn, perform and achieve. Training matters - especially of the systematic, sustained type. The nature of teacher learning is complex. There are three overlapping systems involved - the individual teacher, the school and the activity. When designing appropriate learning environments one must not focus on the micro context - like the individual teachers, individual activities or programmes, and ignore influences from the contexts of the institutions or the school system. A holistic approach needs to be adopted and all the relevant components must be addressed. The nature of learning depends on the uniqueness of the different factors making it up, so one cannot analyse teacher learning in a linear or generic fashion. It is a complex system involving many processes, mechanisms, actions and elements, and it is often difficult to specify the exact outcomes in every instance.