Action Research and Teacher Portfolio as Two Strong Teacher-Led Professional Development Designs

This chapter aims to describe two effective teacher-led professional development designs: action research and teacher portfolio. Research has shown that many professional development models and practices are ineffective while meeting teachers' professional needs and highlight the critical role of teachers during their professional development activities. Action research and teacher portfolio offers teachers the opportunity to conduct needs assessment, revisit and reflect on their practices, and evaluate their performances. This reflective, authentic, and evidence-based assessment procedure enables teachers search for resources that perfectly meets their professional needs. This chapter examines features of action research and teacher portfolio implementations as two meaningful teacher-led professional development models and offer rich descriptions of these models to inform practitioners and stakeholders.