Professional development without professional teachers: Why maintaining and protecting teaching professionalism is integral to effective teacher development

HANNAH FOX, DEPUTY HEAD OF ENGLISH, SJWMS; ASSOCIATE LECTURER, CANTERBURY CHRIST CHURCH UNIVERSITY, UK Continuing professional development (CPD) is a crucial part of any educator’s life in the UK. Understood as practices to develop a teacher’s expertise and professional standards beyond their initial education, with a focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning (DfE, 2016), it is imperative to consider how to action these practices sustainably and effectively. In order to develop, teachers must be permitted to try out new techniques. Affording teachers the trust and autonomy to make educated judgements is innately what makes them professionals (Carr, 2003; Fox, 2020). As a profession is defined as a job requiring ethical considerations, a professional must have the agency to make educated, values-based judgements (Carr, 2003; Fox, 2020). Teachers must be able see themselves as professionals with the autonomy to innovate and make educated judgements, in order for effect