C.06. Rethinking Teacher Professional Development Impact: Conceptual, Methodological, and Policy Issues

Stream C. Teachers, School Leadership and Professional Cultures
Convenor(s) Laura Parigi (Indire, Italy); Maurizio Gentile (Crespi - Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca Educativa sulla Professionalità dell’Insegnante, Italy); Maria Elisabetta Cigognini (Indire, Italy); Elisa Truffelli (Crespi - Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca Educativa sulla Professionalità dell’Insegnante, Italy); Margherita Di Stasio (Indire, Italy); Alessandra Rosa (Crespi - Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca Educativa sulla Professionalità dell’Insegnante, Italy)
Keywords Teacher professional development, Teacher agency, educational policies

The concept of impact in Teacher Professional Development (TPD) has become a cornerstone of educational policies and evaluation frameworks, yet its meaning remains contested. At the same time, impact is often understood as a measurable change in teachers’ knowledge, instructional practices, or student outcomes; such a linear perspective risks oversimplifying complex, multi-layered, and context-dependent professional learning processes. This panel aims to critically interrogate the notion of impact, highlighting its epistemological, methodological, and political implications.

First, the panel addresses methodological challenges in defining and assessing impact: simplified causal models, attribution problems, the temporal dynamics of change, heterogeneity across contexts and career stages, and the reductionism embedded in standardised performance indicators. Contributions examining tensions between evidence-based approaches and ecological or qualitative methodologies are particularly welcome.

Second, the panel invites critical perspectives questioning dominant narratives of TPD effectiveness and impact: methodological flaws in meta-analyses, structural barriers along the trajectory from PD to practice, the role of teacher agency, the risk of technicizing professional work, and the ethical challenges associated with data use in PD evaluation.

Finally, the proposal will give special attention to the influence of educational policies, which shape what counts as impact, which outcomes must be measured, and for what purposes. Policy frameworks often orient TPD toward accountability and standardisation, potentially marginalising relational, reflective, and context-sensitive dimensions of professional growth.

We welcome theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that problematise the impact of TPD and offer alternative perspectives—more democratic, contextualised, and participatory—on teacher learning and its evaluation."

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