The article reviews studies that focus on the professional development of teachers after they have completed their basic teacher training. Teacher professional development is defined as teachers' learning: how they learn to learn and how they apply their knowledge in practice to support pupils’ learning (Avalos 2011). The research question addressed in the article is: How do experienced teachers learn?

The review is framed by theories within the constructivist paradigm. From this perspective, knowledge is perceived as the construction of meaning and understanding within social interaction. The social surroundings are seen as decisive for how the individual learns and develops (Prawat 1996). It is argued that courses and lectures, or “times for telling”, and teachers’ development of a metacognitive attitude are decisive factors for teachers’ learning within a constructivist frame of reference.

Avalos, B. 2011. Teacher professional development in Teaching and Teacher Education over ten years. Teaching and Teacher Education 27, no. 1: 10-20. Prawat, R.S. 1996. Constructivisms, modern and postmodern. Educational Psychologist 31, no. 3/4: 191-206. Strauss, A., and J. Corbin. 1990. Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.