The article reflects on teacher professional development as a continuum that starts during pre-service time, continues into the first years of newly qualified teachers\u2019 induction phase, and spans a career-long development throughout their teaching careers. Finnish teachers work in contexts that provide high professional autonomy and agency in their work. Pre-service teacher education prepares them for this responsible role. In earlier years, in-service training occurred on training days and through short courses.<\/p>\n
The new trend sees teachers as developers in the whole school community.<\/strong> Teachers have a research-based orientation in pre-service teacher education, which makes them capable to design school-based projects and their own development as it relates to school development. Four cases in which new trends have already been implemented, these best practices are examples of how to:<\/p>\n Finnish teachers play a role that is often described as \u201cteacher leadership\u201d. Lieberman (1992) and Hilti (2011) have outlined the knowledge base of this type of teacher. Teacher leadership means that teachers are goal-oriented, and they should have a clear vision of school development and high-quality teaching, and moreover, they are able to work collaboratively and in interaction with other teachers towards those goals. Teachers should be able to consume research-based knowledge and have a thorough understanding of the teaching and learning process needed to act as a curriculum specialist. Professional development needs high-quality pre-service education in which critical reflection and research orientation are important. But teachers\u2019 professional development also needs school-based structures that allow and encourage sharing and cooperation. School development cannot be separated from teachers\u2019 development.<\/p>\n\n