The Cambridge Educational Management series is intended to support academic managers in dealing with key aspects of their role. The books in the series are designed to bring together theory and practice, providing insights into key parts of the academic manager's role.

In my work, I am lucky enough to meet and work with leaders and managers in the educational profession from all over the world, and a recurring theme that comes up is that teacher professional development is something that they all feel strongly committed to, but sometimes without a great sense of how this might best be pursued. With all the ongoing daily demands facing the academic manager, the idea of strategising and planning effective teacher learning often gets pushed to the back burner. In such instances, it is either left up to committed teachers themselves to pursue their own development without institutional support, or in some instances, development comes down to, say, a training workshop every other Friday, the subjects of which may be determined not by teacher needs, but by trainer availability.

This of course is not always the case, and there are many institutions that have created very effective and well-thought-out teacher development plans which are more holistic, more personalised, more systemic, and, consequently, more effective – benefiting not only the teachers, but the school as a whole, and of course, ultimately the students and their learning. Such effective teacher development also promotes teacher engagement and motivation, as well as organisational development.