TEACHERS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT :

A THEORETICAL REVIEW

Abstract :
Background and purpose: The article reviews studies that focus on the
professional development of teachers after they have completed their basic
teacher training. Teacher professional development is defined as teachers’
learning: how they learn to learn and how they apply their knowledge in practice
to support pupils’ learning. The research question addressed in the article is:
How do experienced teachers learn?
Main argument: The review is framed by theories within the constructivist
paradigm. From this perspective, knowledge is perceived as the construction of
meaning and understanding within social interaction. The social surroundings are
seen as decisive for how the individual learns and develops. It is argued that
courses and lectures, or ‘times for telling’, and teachers’ development of a
metacognitive attitude are decisive factors for teachers’ learning within a
constructivist frame of reference

Keywords : teacher professional development; teacher learning; further

development; continuous learning; continuous development

Introduction
This article focuses on the professional development of teachers after they
have completed their basic teacher training. Teacher professional development
means teachers’ learning, how they learn to learn and how they apply their
knowledge in practice to support pupil learning (Avalos 2011). Teachers can
learn through participation in various courses, in school when they reflect on their
own teaching and in observation of and reflection on others’ teaching in co-
operation with colleagues. Learning can occur in planned reflection meetings
between teachers, or teachers can learn from unplanned conversations with other
colleagues before or after teaching, or in parent–teacher meetings. Thus, learning
may occur in various ways, both formally and informally.
Learning can be defined in different ways. In this paper, learning is connected
to the cognitivist – and mainly the constructivist – paradigm. In these two
paradigms, the learner is perceived as active in the learning process. In the
cognitivist paradigm, learning takes place when an individual is taught or is
mentally stimulated in other ways, and in the constructivist paradigm, knowledge
is perceived as the construction of meaning and understanding within social
interaction. The social surroundings play a role in how a human develops within
the cognitivist paradigm, but the individual is in the foreground from this
perspective. Within the constructivist paradigm, the social surroundings are seen
as decisive for how the individual learns and develops. Individuals construct
knowledge and learn through mediated acts in the encounter with one or more
persons and the surroundings in which they live and act. From this perspective,
Vygotsky’s thoughts and ideas on learning are central. The cognitivist and
constructivist paradigms reject the positivist approach, which describes a human as
an empty vessel, a ‘tabula rasa’, who is passive in the learning process (Prawat
1996). Theories of metacognition (Flavell 1979, 1987), which will be presented
later in this paper, are traditionally defined as belonging within the cognitivist
paradigm.
The research question that is pursued in this article is: How do experienced
teachers learn? First, theories on learning are presented, followed by a description
of how the articles were selected and analysed. After the methodological section,
international research findings on teachers’ learning over a period of three years
from 2009 to 2011 are presented. Following a summary, the final conclusion
discusses how the continuing education of teachers could be organised in the future.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
Socio-cultural theory and learning
In applying socio-cultural theory and Vygotsky's thoughts and ideas, Warford
(2011) claims that teachers' learning is situated. Facts are not transferred to the
learners, but the learners appropriate their own meaning relating to the content by
means of cultural artefacts. Cultural artefacts may, in this context, be language used
in conversation, or the learner may be in dialogue with a text.
'A time for telling'
According to Schwartz and Bransford (1998), there is also 'a time for telling' within
a constructivist paradigm. Bakhtin (1981) has presented two constructs that might
be useful thinking tools in this context. He speaks about the 'authoritarian' and
'authoritative' word. The authoritarian word stands for what can be defined as a
direct transfer of new knowledge, while the authoritative word invites dialogue. In
a lecture, many dialogues may arise between listeners and lecturers without any
exchange of words.

Metacognitive processes and learning

Metacognition is part of what is called self-regulated learning. In our context, it
means teachers learning to learn. Dewey (1916) believed that people who
continually participate in development situations also learn to learn. Metacognition
is a common denominator for metacognitive strategies and metacognitive
knowledge (Flavell 1979, 1987).

METHOD
Literature search rationale
To attempt to answer the research question, a search was conducted of the subject
of pedagogy in the ISI WEB of Science (search undertaken 9 August 2011) using
the search strings 'teacher learning', 'teacher development' and 'teacher professional
development', and covering the period from 2009 to 2011 to probe the most recent
decade of research. The intention was to obtain an overview of previous research
published in international periodicals relating to teachers' learning.

Analysis strategy
When examining the articles, the intention was to pinpoint the main findings from
the studies presented in the articles. The contents of the articles were also structured
and reduced by coding and categorising the texts in open and axial analysis
processes (Strauss and Corbin 1990, 1998) so that their essence was made
reportable (Garfinkel 1967; Sachs 1992). The open analysis process, gave rise to
categories on the same horizontal level, and led to the following two main
categories: (1) 'formal continuing education' and (2) 'learning in school'.
Theoretical framework in relation to the developed categories
This review indicates, however, that research has emphasised learning as situated
(Vygotsky 1978, 2000; Warford 2011), which implies learning actually taking place
in the schools where the teachers are working. Theories on situated learning
emphasise that learners are active in their learning processes (Lempert-Shepell
1995; Postholm 2008), and that learners have to be metacognitive in these processes
(Flavell 1979, 1987). Furthermore, a person's thoughts, emotions and will are
closely linked to actions, and the context in which learning takes place has
consequences for the learning process (Vygotsky 1978, 2000). The categories also
focus on such contextual factors as individual and organisational features, teacher
co-operation and a positive atmosphere. This shows that the surroundings are very
important elements in the individual's learning and development, as is also the
stance within the constructivist paradigm (Prawat 1996).

FINDINGS
Teachers' learning: formal continuing education
In Norway, formal competence development among teachers in lower and higher
secondary schools has changed over the last five or six years (Hagen and Nyen
2009). Hagen and Nyen refer to how teachers have high formal competence.
Compared with the rest of the national workforce - including other professional
groups with higher education - teachers participate to a high degree in training and
education. This applies not least to formal further education, even if there has been
no increase in recent years.

Teachers' learning: learning in school

The action researcher Tiller (2006) speaks of a new wave of teacher learning and
the teacher's ability to learn and, thus, be metacognitive. According to Tiller, this
self-learning should take place in the day-to-day teaching. The experiences gained
must be processed and thus lead to development of new and deeper knowledge,
which in the next instance will contribute to developing one's own performance in
the job.
An international meta-study
Based on 97 studies conducted in primary and secondary school, Timperley et al.
(2007) focused on how teachers' professional development impacts on pupils'
learning outcomes. The activity that the studies are based on was carried out with a
view to satisfying the political objectives in force, and the studies were carried out
over a period of six months to two years. Pupil learning outcome was related to
personal, social and academic outcome. Seven elements in a professional learning
context were found. These were:
• Providing sufficient time for extended opportunities to learn and using the
time effectively;
• Engaging external expertise;
• Focusing on engaging teachers in the learning process rather than being
concerned about whether they volunteered or not;
• Challenging problematic discourses;
• Providing opportunities to interact in a community of professionals;
• Ensuring content was consistent with wider policy trends;
• In school-based initiatives, having leaders actively leading
professional learning opportunities (p. xxvi).

Summary and concluding reflections

The research question that has been pursued throughout this article is: How
do experienced teachers learn? In this section, the most relevant themes and points
from the presented articles and their findings are brought together. These findings
provide evidence for the conclusion drawn at the end of the text.
Researchers emphasise that formal further education with practice-oriented
exploratory work, which includes testing in one's own teaching, appears to be
particularly fertile for the development of teachers' classroom practices and pupil
learning (McMahon et al. 2007; Parise and Spillane 2010; TALIS 2009). The
teachers' reflections of their own practice in their further education are, thus,
allowed to continue into the practice during and after the education, particularly
when several teachers from the same school participate in further education
together.
In addition, the studies indicate the importance of both individual and inter-
connected factors in development activities that elaborate on Desimone's (2009)
characteristics. For example, the teachers must have a will to learn, and there must
be more than merely adequate time and resources. It is important that teachers
experience expectations for improvement, and that the whole person is considered.
This means that cognitive, actional, emotional and motivational aspects are
important factors in the professional development of teachers (Hoekstra and
Korthagen 2011; Vygotsky 2000).
There is not necessarily a conflict between teachers' learning in practice and
participation in traditional further education courses, but research suggests that
courses teachers participate in should be connected to development processes they
are already participating in at their school (McMahon et al. 2007; Parise and
Spillane 2010). In this way, the knowledge they acquire from the course may benefit
the school as a whole, and there may then also be 'a time for telling' (Schwartz and
Bransford 1998). Ideally, all teachers in the same school, or at least a number of
them, should receive the same course training as a stage in the practice development
(Buczynski and Hansen 2010). Teacher trainers have much knowledge, but this
knowledge needs to be out in the practice and shared with the teachers. Research
suggests that the best way of doing this is to have teacher trainers contributing their
knowledge in interaction processes in the teachers' arenas.

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