How School Leaders can Promote Teachers' Professional Development. An Account from the Field

It is generally accepted that school leaders play a crucial role in teachers' professional development. Even though the literature offers ample examples of workplace conditions that school leaders can create in this respect, it remains often unclear which processes behind these conditions explain their impact on teachers' professional development. In this paper it is demonstrated on the basis of qualitative research that two important concepts can clarify these processes. If school leaders succeed in creating workplace conditions that offer learning opportunities and learning space, learning experiences - the milestones for professional development - will originate. This thesis is demonstrated for the workplace condition collegiality.