The importance and value of professional learning and development

Catherine Carden and Virginia Bower

In this blog, Catherine Carden and Virginia Bower explore the importance of teacher development and professional learning. They highlight the barriers to engagement and suggest that teachers need to take ownership of their own learning and development in order to make the most out of their careers.

Teaching can be the most exciting and rewarding profession; each day is different and the interactions between you and the children are inspiring. Teaching is also incredibly demanding – physically, mentally and emotionally – and at times the workload can seem insurmountable. On top of this, we can, as teachers, be asked to enact and endorse practices, pedagogies and principles that are not our own; enforced through a top-down hierarchy emanating from often unseen powers. This can have the effect of diminishing our sense of autonomy and agency, leading to a feeling of disempowerment, ultimately affecting motivation.