Managing Teacher Development: The Changing Role of the Head of Department in England

Abstract

Teacher development is not something to be done solely in private behind closed doors, at least not if it is to be effective in changing teachers’ practice ( Joyce & Showers, 1988). The skills and knowledge required for effective teaching develop and grow in a range of settings and are constrained by a wide variety of factors ranging from personal circumstances to systemwide features such as the curriculum or assessment policies. In England, which has undergone substantial education reform, particularly since the mid-1980s, there have been many attempts to provide professional development opportunities for individuals, for groups of teachers, and for the whole teaching cohort. One feature that characterizes the climate in which teachers work is the focus on standards and outcomes rather than on processes. A governmentfunded body, the Teacher Training Agency, has produced a normative set of standards that are meant to guide teachers and professional development “deliverers.” These standards are already the subject of interest of a range of countries around the world.