Teachers' learning: Experiences of professional learning in a West Australian government secondary school

The purpose of this research is to explore teachers’ perceptions of professional learning. For the purposes of this study the terms professional learning and professional development are synonymous. They go hand in hand in describing the processes that occur which include deliberate learning activities undertaken by individual teachers or groups of teachers to improve policy, curriculum or their own professional knowledge and skills with a view to improving the learning outcomes of students. This study aims to reveal that professional learning of teachers is a process of continuing personal and professional growth. \n \nThis study reviews a professional learning module offered by the West Australian Department of Education in 2005 in terms of its relevance to teachers; its effectiveness; its usefulness to teachers’ professional practice and its impact on teachers’ personal and their professional lives. The study was conducted in a metropolitan West Australian Government Secondary School. The findings of this study seek to add to the existing body of knowledge surrounding professional learning of teachers in particular to the knowledge surrounding the ‘traditional’ approach to professional development and in particular, professional development offered by the Department of Education.