Organizational Conditions for Teacher Professional Development: School Principals' Beliefs and Practices

• In Event: Park Central Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Principals' Problem-Solving and Decision-Making in Teams and Organizations

Abstract

Research has increasingly indicated that school principals exercise a significant influence on teacher professional development (TPD), however, without going into detail. This study investigated what principals consider important organizational conditions for TPD and which leadership practices they enact for realizing these conditions in schools. A multiple case study, including 20 semi-structured interviews with Dutch primary school principals, showed that principals consider both structural (e.g., sufficient time and evaluation of TPD-interventions) and cultural conditions (e.g., an open work climate and collaboration) to be important for TPD. Additionally, principals emphasized the importance of teachers’ learning attitude, differentiation in TPD efforts, and knowledge sharing. However, the results showed that principals experienced several difficulties in realizing the organizational conditions for TPD in their schools.

Authors

• Lisa Gaikhorst, University of Amsterdam

• Virginie Marz, Université Catholique de Louvain

• Rosa du Pre

• Femke Geijsel, Radboud University Nijmegen