Professional growth in times of change

Abstract

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted schooling around the world and highlighted how critical it is for teachers to quickly learn, improve and adapt their practice to changing conditions. Continuing professional learning is vital to support teachers in refreshing, developing and broadening their knowledge and to help them keep up with changing research, practices and student needs throughout their careers. However, there is growing concern in many countries that traditional forms of professional development in the form of one-off courses or seminars have failed to live up to that promise. Reorienting professional development towards the most effective forms of continuing learning and fostering teachers’ collaboration in schools are critical to support high-quality teaching. This Policy Brief draws on evidence from the OECD’s School Resources Review and beyond to explore the following questions: How to improve teachers’ access to professional learning opportunities? How to make professional development systems more effective? How to foster professional collaboration and learning in schools? How to sustain professional growth in remote and hybrid learning contexts?