Educational Leadership - October 2009

informal opportunities provided by the school. ; The intensity of participation. In some countries, teachers participate in a handful of days each year, whereas Korea offers 30 days of professional development annually. ; Equity issues raised by the partici- pation of various groups within coun- tries. For example, older teachers tend to be underrepresented, and within-country variation in participation rates between younger and older teachers is large, most notably in Korea, Spain,

Italy, Poland, and Mexico.

; The type of professional development activities.

Survey data show that teachers’ participation in professional development goes hand in hand with their mastery of a wider array of pedagogical methods. However, school systems need to do a better job of matching the costs and benefits of programs as well as

responding to teachers’ specific professional development needs. Relatively few teachers participate in two kinds of programs they find most beneficial— namely, qualification programs and individual and collaborative research. Conversely, the types of activities teachers consider less effective—such as one-time education conferences and seminars—show comparatively high participation rates (see fig. 1).

Nearly one-half of respondents reported that the most common obstacle to engaging in professional

development is conflict with their work schedule. Almost as many cite the lack of suitable professional development, which is the main obstacle noted in the three countries in which participation in professional development is lowest— Denmark, the Slovak Republic, and Turkey.

Quite consistently across countries, teachers reported the greatest need for professional development in three areas: dealing with differences in student learning styles and backgrounds, effectively using information and communication technologies, and improving student behavior. This finding provides clear directions on where future professional development efforts should focus.

That a sizeable proportion of teachers underwrite the cost for their professional development is evidence that many teachers are willing to contribute their share to advancing their careers. In fact, teachers who paid for their own

FIGURE 1. Valued Professional Development vs. Actual Participation

; Teachers reporting moderate or high level of impact ; Teachers participating in professional development

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Individual

and
collaborative
research
Informal
dialogue to
improve
teaching
Education
conferences
and
seminars

Data from the OECD survey show a discrepancy between the kinds of professional development activities teachers believe have high impact (indicated in blue) and the kinds of activities they actually engage in (indicated in tan).