TEACHER TRAINING & TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

Penny Ur

Teacher training refers to the preparation of teachers for professional practice through formal courses, usually university or college based, and usually resulting in accreditation (BATEFL, PGCE, RSA Dip.TEFLA, etc). Teacher development, on the other hand, is learning carried out by practitioners already working in the classroom, and implies informal learning either individually or in collaboration with colleagues.

The distinction has developed further than this. The term 'teacher development' (hereafter TD) was coined in the 1980s as something separate and different from 'teacher training' (TT), and in reaction against over-rigid, over-behaviouristic models of teacher training. The distinction is not just one of initial pre-service (training) versus continuing in-service (development). Today, the two terms are often used with more specific, contrasting meanings, implying differing approaches to the nature of professional learning, and carrying socio-political connotations.

Pre-set structure versus developmental process

TT is based on a set syllabus and has a course structure and system of assessment. In TD there is no pre-set syllabus, time-structure or external assessment. The teachers themselves decide what and how they want to learn, get together to do research and share experience and knowledge, and they evaluate the results themselves.

Transmission versus personal processing of knowledge

In TT, teaching/learning is based on a transmission model: the trainer informs, models and advises, and t

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