Current trends in ELT reflect a growth in practice-based professional development (PD). In this book, we provide an overview of PD activities for ELT professionals in particular and cover how the shift in the approaches to teachers’ PD has taken place- to wit, the trend from top-down to bottom-up models of PD. We discuss the pros and cons of these two PD forms by demonstrating research evidence. This is followed by several examples of professional learning activities that are embedded in the actual teaching practice. Our discussion later centres extensively around the relationship between teaching and research engagement. We provide a detailed description of what teacher research is, explain how it can be conducted, what forms it can take, and in what ways it can benefit the learners and teachers when the necessary conditions are created within the institutions. We believe that this book serves as a valuable source for anyone who wants to advance in the teaching profession, whether they are practising teachers or studying in undergraduate or graduate teaching programs.
