Teachers participate in professional development (PD) at high rates. Research suggests that PD effectiveness depends less on delivery format and more on the specific features that support changes in teaching practice. Less is known about teachers’ experiences of these features and how they align with beliefs about teacher learning. This research developed and preliminarily evaluated the Teacher Professional Development Experiences and Needs (TPD/EN) questionnaire and examined how participating Latvian teachers experienced and evaluated features of PD.
A sequential two-stage exploratory survey design was used. First, a literature-based 29-indicator questionnaire on features associated with effective PD was developed and examined through exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis using data from 107 Latvian general education teachers. Second, experienced and perceived-importance ratings were analysed to examine alignment between teachers’ PD experiences and beliefs about teacher learning, using a subsample of 62 teachers who completed both rating scales.
The analysis revealed a 5-factor structure: Active, Collaborative, and Applied Learning; Embedded and Deliberate Practice; School-Level Learning; Goals and Motivation; and Coherent PD Programme Design. Results indicated a gap between frequently experienced content-oriented features and less common implementation-oriented features, including repeated classroom implementation, data use, and sustained practice. Experienced and perceived-importance ratings were positively related but did not fully align, suggesting that the presence of PD features does not necessarily correspond to their perceived importance. The findings provide preliminary evidence regarding the internal structure and reliability of the TPD/EN questionnaire and offer a teacher-centred perspective on features associated with effective PD.