Continuing professional development (CPD) has been a major research area of interest in the field of the teaching profession. Within this context, teacher motivation plays a key role in teachers’ engaging in CPD. Research into the reasons why teachers are motivated to participate in CPD is valuable to help us better understand teacher professionalism (Guskey, 2000; McMillan, McConnell & O’Sullivan, 2016; Ng, 2010).

“Competence for Quality” (Kompetanse for kvalitet) is a 10-year (2016-2025) national strategy for in-service teacher training (videreutdanning) which has been in practice since 2016. The goal of this training is to enhance pupils’ learning outcomes through further developing teachers’ and school leaders’ professional and pedagogical competence (Kunnskapsdepartementet, 2015). The Special Education 1 programme (Spesialpedagogikk 1) has become one important official offer in Norway providing in-service teachers with the competence package in the field of special needs education (SNE).

Although extensive research has been carried out on CPD of teachers in Norway, no single study exists which explores what motivates teachers to enrol in this Special Education 1 programme. In addition, the work in the field of SNE is usually viewed as one of the most challenging and most complicated compared to other fields of the teaching profession (Kiel, Heimlich, Markowetz, Braun & Weiβ, 2016; Payne, 2005). Hence, this research aims to examine what motivates teachers in Norway to engage themselves in this CPD programme in order to work in the field of SNE.

The theoretical framework applied in this research is Teacher CPD Motivation Model (McMillan, McConnell & O’Sullivan, 2016). This model attributes teacher CPD motivation to three major factors: intrinsic factors (advancement, growth, achievement), contingent factors (interpersonal relations, school policy), and tangential factor (compulsory system).

A qualitative approach was chosen. Data from this study were collected through the reflection notes. This reflection note was a pretask for all the teachers around Norway enrolling in the Special Education 1 programme. Each teacher submitted his/her own reflection note before the first seminar in autumn, in which s/he explained why s/he wanted to take this in-service teacher training programme. In total, 54 reflection notes were gathered from the teacher cohort in 2022-2023. Thematic analysis (Guest, MacQueen & Namey, 2011) was conducted to decipher the motivations behind the teachers’ engagement in CPD.

The preliminary findings of the current study reveal that the teachers in Norway are to a great extent motivated to engage in CPD out of the intrinsic factors. “To become a better teacher” for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) were frequently mentioned in the reflection notes explicitly and implicitly. The majority of teachers participating in the Special Education 1 programme (2022-2023) expressed their strong desire to acquire and advance their SNE competence so that they can better know how to help their pupils with SEN. Contingent factor, such as school policy, is also highlighted in some teachers’ reflection notes. On the one hand, more specifically, some teachers were assigned by their school principals to this programme to obtain formal SNE qualification. On the other hand, despite the fact that they were not directly sent by the school principals, other teachers registered for the Special Education 1 programme because working with pupils with SEN has already been a part of their assigned teaching task. Although it seems that tangential factor contributes less to teacher CPD motivation in this study, it can still be to some extent considered as an influential cause. It is not a mandatory practice in Norway for teachers to engage in CPD, but undoubtedly the implementation of Competence for Quality creates the atmosphere in which the teachers were encouraged and incentivised for CPD.

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