Teacher professional development is a 'black box'

Innovative forms of teacher professional development - especially those in the workplace - are not better than 'old-fashioned' courses and workshops. Despite prevailing ideas on the subject, NWO researchers found no evidence for the superiority of new types of learning. Employing a range of learning methods was more important. Therefore the innovative professional development of teachers is not by definition better.

At school pupils learn and teachers teach. Yet wouldn't it be better if schools were also a training ground for teachers? After all, teachers need to keep on developing as well. A working environment focused on learning is one of the success factors for this, concluded NWO researchers. With a literature study they assessed how effective the professional development of teachers can be.

Many forms of professional development for teachers - courses, study days, workshops - are not focused on the teacher's own needs in the class and that is a missed opportunity say the researchers. The professional development of teachers appears to be most effective if the content of a training is subject-related and properly embedded in the teacher's own practice. On top of this, professional development is more effective if teachers actively learn by investigating things themselves together with colleagues. Moreover pupils benefit from that if elements such as subject matter, teaching methods and the learning process of pupils are tackled in a single course for teachers.

'Traditional' forms of professional development such as courses and workshops are often regarded as being ineffective. However the researchers found no evidence for the proposition that more innovative forms of professional development (in the classroom) actually work better. On the contrary, the research revealed the importance of employing a variety of working methods.

Right knowledge missing

Effective professional development is still a black box for many training companies conclude the researchers. Furthermore, little research has been done into the Dutch situation even though teachers are undergoing a lot of professional development. The people who design, implement and supervise the professional development often lack the appropriate qualities to do so.

Klaas van Veen (ICLON, Leiden University), Rosanne Zwart (Education Centre, VU University Amsterdam) and Jacobiene Meirink (ICLON, Leiden University) carried out the review study entitled 'Professional development of teachers'. The research was financed by the Dutch Programme Council for Educational Research, part of NWO. The three researchers are also attached to the Expertise Centre Teacher Learning. The complete research report can be downloaded in Dutch from the NWO site via www.nwo.nl/proo

Provided by NWO