Teacher quality, professionalism and professional development: findings from a European project

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses findings from a European project concerning strengthening the teacher’s voice in defining professional quality. In the project tools were developed and evaluated to help teachers reflect on their professional quality. Twelve countries participated and twelve tools were tested with help of student teachers, teachers, teacher educators, school leaders and policy makers. Evaluations were completed by the tool testers and the test leaders through questionnaires and, in the case of the tool designers, through reflective journals on their experiences. Findings showed that the tool design was a success in aiding professional development via discussion about teacher quality amongst the participants. Even though the result was mainly positive, findings also showed that the tools can be further developed. Overall, the findings demonstrate that there are other ways of encouraging teachers to consider what constitutes good quality in teaching rather than imposing external standards.

Keywords:

• teacher quality
• reflective practice
• professional development
• teacher education

Notes

1. The representatives were all working in the education field as current or former teachers, teacher educators, administrators or consultants. The countries represented were: Belgium, England, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden. This paper draws from a European project (2006-2009) which involved 21 institutions and 12 European countries. For further details, please see http://www.teacherqualitytoolbox.eu/