Professional Development in Education: A Qualitative Study of Public School Teachers’ Perceptions of Meaningful Growth and Mandated Practice

The present study investigates the professional development (PD) experience of ten public school teachers in British Columbia. The teachers are regular participants in school and district-based professional development (PD) programs. The research seeks to investigate whether PD is experienced as a genuine investment in professional growth or as time and resources that are wasted. Research suggests that traditional models often fail to produce deep, lasting change in practice. By investigating the professional and personal insights of teachers across grade levels and disciplines, the study identifies common themes in what makes PD meaningful, effective, or ineffective. These insights not only contribute to the understanding of teacher development but also offer practical implications for designing PD into the future that is relevant, engaging, and responsive to the realities of contemporary classrooms. The study contributes to ongoing discussions about how PD can more effectively support teacher learning as a socially mediated and contextually grounded process, affirming the value of aligning PD design with teachers’ professional agency and situated experience.