Professional Development of Teachers in Vocational Education

Abstract

This chapter adheres to a broad definition of professional development including pre-service education and in-service lifelong formal and informal learning. Thus far the professional development of teachers in vocational education has not gained overwhelming attention, but there are signs this issue is becoming highly prioritized on the vocational education agenda. Characteristic of the Netherlands is that specialized teacher education programs preparing new teachers for a career in vocational education hardly exist. As a consequence, many new teachers do not possess any teaching certificate when they are entering vocational education. Learning the ropes of the teaching profession is blended in with the first years of working for newly hired teachers, since it is mandatory for them to participate in a program that provides them the basic instructional and pedagogical competencies. Afterwards, they are obliged to continue to work on their professional development, since it is established in collective labor agreements (higher professional education) and legal acts (regional colleges) that a percentage of the working hours needs to be reserved for professional development purposes. Thus far human resource policies have been acknowledged as important for safeguarding teachers’ employability and professional growth, but institutional policy plans have not been implemented fully in practice. As a consequence, it remains unclear, also due to a lack of research, what teachers actually do and what the effects of their professional development activities are on their performance and identity as teacher, and on their careers. Research is needed for further insights into, for example, the contribution of informal learning and the integration of professional development with school innovation strategies.