Outcomes of professional development in primary science: developing a conceptual framework

In a climate of continuing change, the continuing professional development of science teachers is an important issue, but one which is subject to resource constraints. It is vital that professional development is as effective as possible. This paper describes an attempt to examine the outcomes of such activities and to try to apply an existing categorisation system for framing these outcomes in terms of their impact at different levels on pupils, teachers, and schools. Data come from a number of large professional development projects for teachers in primary schools, the projects were funded by an independent educational charitable trust over a period of six years. Analysis of the data confirms that many of the categories proposed in the early 1990s are still applicable today but that new ones are needed to extend the framework, perhaps to reflect a changed context for science in primary schools. An attempt is made to show the relationship between categories identified.