Teacher Professional Development That Works: Why Teachers Need Time to Think, Not More Information
Effective teacher professional development is a sustained, practice-centred process in which teachers examine their own classroom work, receive meaningful feedback, experiment with new approaches and learn from colleagues. Its goal is lasting change in classroom practice and student learning, not the transfer of information.
Schools often assume teachers need more information. Research and experience show they need time to think, observe, discuss, experiment and receive feedback. We explore what effective teacher development looks like and how schools can build it.In this article, we explain why teachers need time more than content, what the research says, what effective development looks like in practice, and how school leaders can build it.
