Our Research on Effective CPD

With support from globally leading partners, researchers and advisors, TDT curates and disseminates rigorous evidence to support school leaders with their staff development approaches.  We are fortunate to work with thousands of professionals whose lived experience informs the improvement and development of our work. Below, you can find a selection of research and reports we have led or played a central role in developing.

Didagogy: Exploring the Discipline of Teaching Teachers

Teacher professional development is complex and often inconsistent, with no shared language or clear framework for how to teach teachers. Too often, professional learning is reduced to a one-size-fits-all model that prioritises compliance over genuine growth, leaving the vital work of helping teachers learn effectively underdeveloped.

To address this, the Teacher Development Trust (TDT) has worked with educational experts to explore the emerging discipline of teaching teachers – Didagogy. This report aim to:

  • Bring together research, practice and lived experience.
  • Make visible the assumptions and practices shaping teacher development.
  • Spark debate and reflection about how best to support the professional learning of educators.

Featuring insights and think pieces from leading experts, it invites school leaders and CPD providers to reflect on the rationale, design and delivery of professional learning and to help shape the future of this emerging discipline – ultimately strengthening teacher growth and improving outcomes for pupils.

didagogy - exploring the discipline of teaching teachers
What is Didagogy? Exploring the Discipline of Teaching Teachers
This report introduces didagogy as an emerging discipline - a way of naming and initiating discussion around the principles, practices and conditions needed to support meaningful, long-term teacher learning.
a teacher appraisal meeting
Transforming Teacher Appraisal: Moving away from Performance-Related Pay and towards meaningful professional growth
September 2024 marked a significant turning point in how UK schools approach teacher appraisal - our research considers what this means for teacher development
Creating a CPD entitlement that works – our findings
In response to the Labour Party’s mission document, we began to explore their proposal of an entitlement to continuous professional development. 
Findings from the ECF Review
TDT’s newly published exploratory study, gratefully enabled by funding from the Gatsby Foundation explores how England’s flagship Early Career Framework (ECF) programme for new teachers might be enhanced in terms of flexibility, subject focus, and sustainable capacity building. 
Teacher Autonomy: How does it relate to job satisfaction and retention?
Retention of teachers is important, never more so when recruitment and retention figures are falling and schools increasingly struggle to recruit the staff they need. 
Developing Great Teaching: Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development
This review - Developing Great Teaching   provides a foundational summary of the features of effective professional development in schools.
DfE Standards for Professional Development
Our founding CEO, David Weston, was asked to chair the CPD Expert Group who shaped the current Standards for Teachers’ Professional Development.
Culture of Improvement: Reviewing the research on teacher working conditions
The Culture of Improvement report demonstrates why a ‘cut-and-paste’ approach to professional development is so limited.
21st October, London, EC2Y 5JU

Join us to explore how leaders can tap into the power of great CPD and create cultures of professional growth that inspire joy and agency.

A one-day collaborative conference bringing together anyone interested in making staff development in education count.