Teacher professional development: an umbrella term or a new meaning to the teacher education?

Abstract

The concept of teacher professional development (TPD) was coined to emphasize the process of learning and teacher development rather than its formation process. TPD appears, therefore, to delimit a distinction through the idea of teaching based on training courses that do not establish a relationship with the professional routine and practice. However, in practice the term TPD has received multiple meanings and has been used and associated with different processes and activities that do not break off the traditional concept of training and do not contribute to the questioning and to the transformation of school practices and empowerment of teachers. In face of such issue, this article aims to develop a theoretical discussion about the TPD concept related to the teacher profession, based on the uses and meanings that have been established in the literature and in research. In this regard, a review of studies and documents on the subject was conducted, remarking, on one hand the conflicting aspects about the use and the meaning of this concept in the Brazilian context and, on the other hand, some contexts and practices that are TPD inducers or catalysts, such as the teacher’s research and their participation in investigative communities.