Teacher’s Professional Development

Globalization, rapid technological developments, and transformation of social environments call for many facets of education to keep pace with changes and play a catalytic role to equip students with global competencies. Innovations in curriculum and pedagogy, changing trend and profile of learners, diversity in the classroom and new cultural phenomena make it imperative for teachers to function differently and take on new roles as designers of learning. How can teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, or their understanding of learners be enhanced? What are the best practices to ensure teacher development as a continuum development, to have a knowledge-rich profession, and to strengthen teacher skillfulness? How do we encourage the values of professionalism, integrity, and excellence? How do best-performing systems encourage professional learning networks and learning circles, structure and facilitate mentoring and facilitate selfdirected learning opportunities? In the light of education for sustainable development, it is imperative that teachers consistently and continuously keep up-to-date with new knowledge, skills, and teaching practices. This keynote will attempt to address these issues and how we can enhance the professional development of teachers to meet the 21-century challenges. Keywords—teacher professional development, professionalism, professional learning.