Emphasis on professionalisation of the childcare workforce internationally is associated with evidence that links education and experience of early years practitioners; quality of early education and care; and outcomes for children and families. In England, this has led to a proliferation of vocational undergraduate programmes. This article draws…

Attempts to measure the quality of teaching and learning have resulted in an overreliance on quantitative performance data and the normalisation of a set of reductionist practices in England's further education sector in recent years. Focusing on lesson observation as an illustrative example and drawing on data from a national study, this article…

This article focuses on the processes that come into play as part of a school development project and how these processes contribute to strengthening teacher professionalism. Through processes of consciousness raising and the development of learning cultures where tacit knowledge becomes explicit and shared, and new practices are tested out and…

In a larger study carried out by O'Sullivan "et al." to explore the perceptions and experiences of teachers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland who were engaged in continuing professional development (CPD), one of the significant findings to emerge was the key role of teacher motivation. The current study therefore focuses on…

In order to be effective, professional development efforts are most promising if they are context specific and focus on supporting collaboration. Increasingly, schools initiate professional development with small groups of teachers, with the intention that the effects of the initiatives will spill over to other school personnel. This study follows…

At a time of increasing public and government focus on the quality of teacher education, little is known about the professional development needs of those who teach teachers in further education (FE). Yet they are crucial players. Efforts are intensifying across a significant number of countries to promote the professional development of teacher…

This article presents the findings of a pilot professional development programme designed to support police community support officers (PCSOs) to become effective school link officers (SLOs) within urban secondary schools in the English West Midlands. Findings are presented via perceptions of key stakeholders: SLOs themselves; school-based mentors…

This ongoing longitudinal study examined the professional development of physical education teachers in an Irish physical education learning community where all teachers worked in inner-city disadvantaged schools. This research is framed within teacher empowerment. Four years of data collection included in-service seminar/workshop evaluations,…

Engagement in practitioner inquiry by classroom teachers is a promising mechanism for teacher professional learning. While much has been learned about the positive role inquiry can play in traditional professional development efforts, we know less about the impact of inquiry in a rapidly advancing technological age that includes the proliferation…

This paper considers the implications of UK policy approaches to ICT (Information Communication Technology) in education by exploring the views of early years (0-8 years) educators about their ICT CPD (continuing professional development) needs. UK policy approaches to ICT may be visualised as a "house that Jack built." The policies are…

This evaluation study examined a state-wide professional development program composed of two institutes, one for mathematics teachers and one for science teachers, each spanning two weeks. The program was designed to help teachers transform their practice to align with Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and Next Generation Science…

This article reports on a two-year study of a self-study research group facilitation. The research group was designed as a professional development project in which six experienced teacher educators investigated their practices using a self-study approach. The pedagogical rationale of the facilitation was based on four broadly shared theoretical…

This article examines how the training in and use of Drama in Education (DiE) affects the development of teachers' professional skills. The article draws on data from broader empirical qualitative research about the impact of DiE on personal, social and professional development of Greek secondary school teachers. The research was carried out using…

While studies have shown that mentoring is essential to the development of new teachers, fewer investigations have examined what mentors learn about themselves and about mentoring through this role. In this study, the conversations between 13 mentors and their mentees were analysed, along with mentor self-evaluations and focus group data, over two…

A range of studies has demonstrated that collaborative professional development and learning (PD&L) is effective in implementing curriculum reform. PD&L that is contextualised within a specific setting enables educators to explore new theoretical perspectives, review existing knowledge and beliefs, and examine their current practice. This…