Organisational and task factors influencing teachers’ professional development at work

The purpose of this paper is to investigate organisational (cultural and relational) and task factors which potentially enhance teachers’ professional development at work (TPD at Work). The development of lifelong learning competencies and, consequently, the careers of teachers, has become a permanent issue on the agenda of schools worldwide. The workplace is also increasingly regarded as the place to develop these competencies.

A model incorporating the relationships between organisational and task factors as predictor variables and TPD at Work as the dependent variable, is presented and empirically tested by a quantitative (survey research) method.

The study results indicated that learning climate, social support from one’s immediate supervisor, social support from close colleagues and learning value of the function can act as important job resources for TPD at Work. Work pressure and emotional demands, on the other hand, appeared to act as job demands for TPD at Work, but also have the potential to enhance TPD at Work.

The most important limitations of the study were the cross-sectional nature of the study and the use of self-ratings only, which may imply common method bias.

To enhance TPD at Work, it is vital for actors inside and outside schools to focus on the right working conditions (as mentioned under findings) in schools, so that teachers can learn from their job.

Knowledge in schools and empirical research about which factors at the organisational and task level are important to enhance TPD at Work seems scarce. This research contributes to this knowledge gap.