The Linkage of Continuing Professional Development and the Classroom Experience of Pupils: barriers perceived by senior managers in some secondary schools

Abstract

The work reported in this article forms the first part of an extended study to elucidate linkages between continuing professional development and the classroom experience of pupils. It serves to place in context the current pressures and support offered by policy-makers to ensure firm linkage between professional development and the raising of standards and attainment in individual schools. The perceptions of senior managers from 15 secondary schools are explored with respect to such linkage, and their views concerning barriers to organisational translation of professional development into improved pupil performance are elucidated. In engaging the views of senior managers, possible sources of weakness in the transfer of teacher learning to classrooms are identified. Although senior managers represent only one group of stakeholders within individual schools, the work provides suggestions for possible actions as a basis for further study concerning the individual learning of teachers and its transmission into enhanced learning for all pupils.