Continuing Professional Development: The Case of a Young Teacher

Abstract

This chapter examines the necessity of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers and explores the challenges and opportunities in the process of updating themselves continuously. It also reveals how CPD is an imperative for the teaching profession, compared to other professions, and lists the available resources and benefits for teachers. Moreover, this chapter shows how the present century demands an altogether different teaching and learning environment, and highlights the precocity of contemporary learners. It cautions teachers to become aware of learner needs and adopt a fruitful and comprehensive framework to acknowledge the competence of learners on par with the intelligence of teachers. Further, it shows how authorities have made CPD mandatory, thereby indicating its move from the hands of teachers to the government and the governing body of institutions, which proves CPD as indispensable to the globalized and digitized world today. This chapter relies on the ideas of various established theorists to discuss the holistic view of CPD and explains its further scope to customize it for varied levels of teachers, depending upon the learning environment. To give a practical touch, the author incorporates a brief report on his developmental journey at the end of the chapter.