This book makes a major contribution to knowledge and theory by drawing
implications of teacher effectiveness research for the field of teacher
training and professional development. The first part of the book
provides a critical review of research on teacher training and
professional development and illustrates the limitations of the main
approaches to teacher development such as the competence-based and the
holistic approach. A dynamic perspective to policy and practice in
teacher training and professional development is advocated. The second
part of the book provides a critical review of research on teacher
effectiveness. The main phases of this field of research are analysed.
It is pointed out that teacher factors are presented as being in
opposition to one another. An integrated approach in defining quality of
teaching is adopted. The importance of taking into account findings of
studies investigating differential teacher effectiveness is argued.
Another significant limitation of this field of research is that the
whole process of searching for teacher effectiveness factor was not able
to have a significant impact upon teacher training and professional
development. For this reason it is advocated that teacher training and
professional development should be focused on how to address grouping of
specific teacher factors associated with student learning and on how to
help teachers improve their teaching skills by moving from using skills
associated with direct teaching only to more advanced skills concerned
with new teaching approaches and differentiation of teaching. The book
refers to studies conducted in different countries illustrating how the
proposed approach can be used by policy and practice in teacher
education. Specifically, the book provides evidence supporting the
validity of the theoretical framework upon which this approach is based.
Moreover, experimental and longitudinal studies supporting the use of
this approach for improvement purposes are presented and suggestions for
further research utilising and expanding the Dynamic Approach for
teacher training and professional development are provided.
