Central, local and individual continuing professional development (CPD) priorities: changing policies of CPD in Wales

Abstract

Wales provides an interesting case study of the ways in which policies relating to continuing professional development (CPD) change over time. During the past three decades there has been a swing from central political influences on CPD policy to a focus on school priorities coupled with greater individual professional focus, then back again to politically-directed priorities. The path of these changes is tracked through time, and some of the contextual reasons (funding changes, ideological shifts or a performance imperative) are given. At the time of writing, the relatively poor performance of Welsh schools in the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment tests and a critical internal report from the Welsh inspection agency Estyn have led to government-directed changes in policy. Despite generally positive evaluations, funding was withdrawn from the General Teaching Council for Wales’ CPD scheme and a new professional development framework model has been put forward by the Welsh Government. These changes will have both an implicit and an explicit impact on defining the professional development priorities for teachers in Wales.