Teachers' continuing professional development: rooting practice in the classroom

Ownership and relevance to practice are key to successful teacher professional development. As part of a pilot project to develop evidence-based professional development, teachers were trained in the use of a classroom observation system, and used it as a basis for peer observation and discussion to enable them to decide on an area to focus on within their Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Feedback from teachers, through focus groups and individual interviews, was largely positive and most felt that the process of structured, non-hierarchical peer observation and discussion was successful in determining a personal CPD focus, and as an exercise in its own right.