Teacher Development: An overview of relevant theories and research projects (Part 2)

This article is the second of two (the first - Lukas 2007) parts of an overview study concerned with the development of the teacher and using the broader concepts of development that may also be termed educational psychological. The introduction looks at the possibilities of the application of systems theory to the theme of the teacher development, with one important finding be-ing the characterisation of the school as a plurality system, which pursues various different, sometimes conflicting goals. The study then analyses the theme of the „broader“ professional and life cycles of the teacher, taking into account not only the development of the teacher as a professional but also the social and psychological contexts that contribute to that development. Attention is also devoted to approaches to illuminating teacher development that are based on the concept of critical (breakthrough) events, i.e. mo-ments in the development of a teacher that are fundamental for the teacher‘s perception not just of his/her own career but of his/her own life as well. The article further consid-ers ways of looking at teacher development that are based on educational psychological research on the identity of the teacher, and are methodologically anchored in quantita-tive, narrative research designs. The author goes on to give a more concrete account of one fruitful form of investigating teacher development - through the specific and very extensively elaborated method known as the life story. At the end of the article there is a diagram showing the possible basic views of the theme (and form of investigation) of teacher development, and a brief summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the approaches discussed in both parts of the overview study.