Going Beyond the Classical Dichotomy Related to the Content of Teacher Training and Professional Development

Abstract

In this chapter, we draw conclusions on the strengths and weaknesses of the two dominant approaches to teacher training and professional development described in Chaps. 2 and 3. It is shown that none of them has been sufficiently validated, and questions can be raised about the impact of each of these two approaches on the quality of teaching. It is argued that reflection and critical thinking are or should be important elements in all aspects of learning and performance. However, critical thinking is necessary, but not sufficient for improving teaching and student learning. There need to be both knowledge and bodies of intellectual and performance skills that form the basis for critical analysis. Without these, and the ability to translate the critical analysis into action in order to improve performance, there is little overt social benefit to be gained from engagement in critical analysis and reflection approaches more generally. In this context, the rationale for merging the two main approaches to teacher training is presented in the second part of this chapter. A critical review of research on teacher training helps us to identify six main characteristics of effective teacher training and professional development programmes, which are also discussed in this chapter. Finally, a summary is provided of the main issues raised in the first part of this book. There is support for the view that teacher training and professional development should take into account the main findings of teacher effectiveness research, which are concerned with the characteristics of effective teaching practices. For this reason, the next part of this book is concerned with the main foundations of research into teacher effectiveness.