Teachers' professional lives and continuing professional development in changing times

摘要

This paper presents a qualitative study about how teachers entering the professionnat different times over the last five decades made sense of their professional livesnand continuing professional development (CPD) experiences against the back-ndrop of the CPD policy infrastructure and wider educational context in HongnKong. The life history method was used. The findings of the study show thatnteachers’ self-directed professional development was driven by a commitment tonthe moral purposes of teaching, characterized by their active agency innprofessional knowledge construction, and supported by facilitating organiza-ntional conditions in schools. The study also reveals that fierce competition amongnindividuals and schools, intensification of work, stress, uncertainty and alienationnon the part of teachers evidenced the de-humanizing effects of an increasinglynmanagerialist and market-oriented approach to school education. Implicationsnfor educational leaders at policy and school levels and teachers will be discussed.