Teachers' professional development

There are four key stages of a teacher's professional development: initial; induction (the first year of teaching); early professional development (EPD) (the second and third years of teaching); and continuing professional development (CPD).

Guidance on professional development

Guidance on the initial, induction and EPD stages of teacher education can be found in the Teacher Education Partnership Handbook (August 2010 Edition).

CPD and teacher education

CPD, and teacher education in general, is currently under review.  Further information can be found under Teacher Education Review.  Leadership is an important aspect of CPD, and a review of leadership programmes entitled Preparing School Principals to be Effective Leaders has been published by the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) (March 2013).

Teacher Education Review

As part of the wider Teacher Education Review, the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) produced, on behalf of the Department, a publication entitled Teaching:  the Reflective Profession, which was launched by the Education Minister, Caitríona Ruane, on 15 June 2007. The publication sets out the 27 teacher competences (which supersede the previous model of 92 competences) that have been developed in consultation with a range of education partners, as listed in the Teacher Education Partnership Handbook (August 2010 Edition).

Locally the Northern Ireland Centre for Information on Language Teaching (NICILT) provides courses and seminars for teachers of modern languages.

Back to top