Perspectives on professional development in Australian education: some realities of standards-based professional development

This article addresses the adoption of Standards‐based professional development (PD) in contemporary Australian education, through consideration of three different areas of professional practice: mathematics teaching, early childhood education and care (ECEC), and school leaders’ legal literacy. The article sets out the policy basis for Standards‐based PD in education, in particular the development of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and Principals by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, as well as recent research on PD. A framework for effective PD, which draws on both policy and research, is set out as a model through which Standards‐based PD in the three areas of practice is examined. Standards‐based PD in mathematics teaching, which has had, and continues to exhibit, close connections with the relevant professional population through their peak representative body, is seen to satisfy the criteria for effective PD in terms of being continuous, relevant, collaborative and future‐focused. The PD arrangements within the ECEC sector, which have been well-resourced and supported at the highest policy levels, similarly meet the criteria. The lack of systemic PD on Education Law for school principals is cause for concern.