ABSTRACT
The chapter introduces the book’s central premise that the shortcomings and problems of teacher professional development, which are seen as widespread, stem from how we think about how teachers learn rather than what we do in designing and researching it. The argument examines the conventional ways in which teacher professional development has been framed, primarily as addressing deficits in teachers’ practices that are to be repaired through professional development interventions. Guskey’s model as an archetypal representation is contrasted with teacher sensemaking. Conventional thinking, it is argued, creates a “calculus” in which professional development is meant to repair problems in teaching. Alternatively, teacher professional development is defined as organizing opportunities for teacher learning.
