Contextualising Teacher Professional Learning in Practice and Policy

Abstract

This chapter foregrounds the nature and scope of teacher professional learning in Australia and similar countries worldwide. Specifically, Larsen and Allen explore the types of contexts in which teachers work and the contextual features that influence the development of beginning teacher professional learner identities. They also discuss education policy, which has increased its focus on teacher professional learning in recent decades. They outline the connection between teacher standards and professional learning and consider the ever-increasing policy discourse positioning professional learning as a performance task.