Effective Teacher Professional Development and Its Influencing Factors: A Cross-National Comparison of the United States, China, Finland, and Singapore

The promotion of effective teacher professional development (ETPD) is a critical issue in the field of teacher education. The present study investigated how ETPD is affected simultaneously by teacher- and school-level factors across the United States, China, Finland, and Singapore. The data were drawn from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS 2018) and analyzed using a hierarchical linear model. Findings showed that scores on social utility motivation to teach, self-efficacy in student engagement, and school participative climate were positively and significantly correlated with scores on ETPD across the four countries. It was concluded that gender, education background, teaching experience, personal utility motivation to teach, teacher self-efficacy in classroom management, and teacher–student relations made significant, yet inconsistent, differences in ETPD in the four countries. Motivating teachers to teach and creating a democratic, participatory, and caring school culture may be important measures to promote effective professional development of teachers globally.