ABSTRACT
Professional development is a concept widely recognized by teachers and administrators, whether in national systems or within the network of international schools and colleges around the world—even though the term ‘professional development’ itself may not necessarily be used in all contexts, and other terms such as in-service training, continuing professional development, staff development and lifelong learning all spring to mind. Likewise, the forms it takes will vary, from the heavily formalized, with detailed structure, prescribed outcomes and clearly specified consequences, to the very informal, where the learning or development occurs so gradually that it is barely observable on a day-to-day basis. It may be based on external input, or it may be internally driven in a way advocated by Powell (2000), which ‘pervades the entire life of the organisation… (building)… a culture of reflective teaching practice’.
