Inquiries into Teacher Professional Development- What matters?

Abstract

The present paper addresses the aspects which influence Teacher Professional Development (TPD) concerning change and collaboration in teaching when reviewing literature in the field of TPD . The main research question to be answered is: How can collaborative inquiry between teachers influence teachers` professional development (TPD)? Research in the field of TPD has a responsibility to allocate what works or not in order to invest in the development of teachers so that all students can have high quality instruction. TPD must be of high quality to be attractive and perceived as valuable. Yet, professional development initiatives are rarely evaluated in a constructive manner. This general lack of evaluation and liability not only contributes to a lack of information about the usefulness or effectiveness of TPD, it gives teachers no incentive to take professional development seriously. The present literature review aims to seek an understanding of what makes TPD effective. Keywords: Teacher Professional Development, teacher learning, collaborative inquiry