Everyday, every week, all at once? An experience sampling study on teachers’ professional development for the classroom, team, and school

Abstract

In a 21-day study, 753 Swiss primary school teachers reported their daily professional development activities concerning the classroom, team, and school. Using experience sampling, we examined their effect on teachers’ well-being and experienced learning benefits for students, team, and school. Professional development activities for teaching occurred on 41% of workdays but were rare for team and school. Multilevel analyses highlighted both inter- and intraindividual associations with benefits and well-being. On days with professional development activities for the classroom, teachers reported increased stress but also recognized learning benefits. Teachers engaging in more professional development activities overall showed higher well-being and benefits.