Where and how are educators rewarded on the basis of their professional advancement and how does your formal career path compare?

In reviewing this topic the focus will be on systems in the UK, the USA, New Zealand, Finland and the international school circuit. While the means vary from country to country, these Western countries value continual professional development as of core importance in the development of educational systems.

The UK education system rewards professional development with increase in salary. Prospective educators must complete a post graduate teaching course and then follow that up with an assessed year as an NQT or Newly Qualified Teacher. The classroom teacher can go through various thresholds with the acquirement of experience and continual career professional development (CPD). The importance of continual development is acknowledge the world over which is why educators are now encouraged to keep CPD files to record their development.

As well as general insets and courses, teachers are encouraged to undertake specialized courses of study. For example, this year I am moving on to my UEFA ‘B’ Course in football coaching in an effort to make myself more employable and give my skills more diversity with this prestigious football coaching qualification.

In the Finnish education system it has been recognized that while CPD is important, teachers can feel frustrated if learned things are not adopted by colleagues and institutions. Huberman (1995) developed his ‘Teacher career cycle model’. The model acknowledges and integrates the influence of personal and organizational environment conditions. As such CPD in Finland seeks to develop the organization as well as the individual. A disproportionate development of either entity can result in an ineffective working environment.

In the USA, Professional Development Schools (PDS) is an initiative by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teaching Education (NCATE). The NCATE state that early career development needs to by systematic rather than piecemeal. It is hoped that a defined systematic approach will help to maintain self motivation in the American education system. As Reiman and Thies-Sprinthall (1998, p.2) expressed ‘Teachers who are learning are becoming more adept in a broad range of instructional strategies…Teachers who are growing are becoming more tolerant of ambiguity; more human in their interactions with students, parents and professional colleagues; more principled when facing ethical dilemmas and more capable to solve complex human helping problems’. Thus the USA is also looking for continual professional development through individual growth akin to Maslow’s theory of the drive for Self-Actualization.

Furthermore, the New Zealand Education Board readily encourages professional development. For instance, they offer ‘Study Awards’ for secondary teachers. The award provides for study part time or full time in agreed educational priority areas. There is funding for such development. The purpose of the development is to improve existing qualifications, while helping educators develop understanding of new curriculum areas while obtaining practical knowledge and skill related experience in specific subject areas.

In a show of international links the NZ-UK Link foundation sponsor this initiative. Successful applicants enjoy two weeks in the UK to visit local authority schools and build up an understanding how the UK deals with their specialized subject or area.

Currently I work in an International School in Saudi Arabia. The school does offer external professional development support on a case by case basis. Recently the new Deputy Head of Academic Study is seeking to put in a program of in-service training in an effort to develop teaching practice. While this is encouraging for my current school, on the wider international circuit there is little call for CPD due to the relatively high turnover of staff.