ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an optimistic view of the support and the positive opportunities for staff development of all kinds which are currently available for teachers and schools. The author leads the reader on a ‘Cooks tour’ of school-based staff development, short and long course opportunities and those presented within the national specific grant training scheme; IT-INSET work; and action research (a theme which is developed in the next chapter). He calls on schools to make use of external consultancy where appropriate, and describes flexible programmes of secondment on which course content and structure is negotiated between teachers, local authority and higher education institutions. Throughout the chapter, the teachers’ own perception of need and ability to manage their own learning are taken as the twin starting points for effective staff development.
