Teacher Training vs Teacher Development

Freeman (1989) drew a foundational distinction in language teacher education between training and development: two complementary but fundamentally different processes that serve different purposes and operate through different mechanisms.

The Distinction

Dimension	Training	Development
Focus	Specific, observable teaching skills and techniques	Broader awareness, beliefs, and understanding
Locus of control	External: the trainer decides what is needed	Internal: the teacher drives their own growth
Knowledge type	Procedural: how to do things	Declarative and reflective: why things work
Timeframe	Short-term, bounded (a course, a workshop)	Ongoing, career-long
Outcome	Competence in defined skills	Deepened professional awareness and judgment
Change mechanism	Instruction and practice	Reflection, exploration, experience
Examples	CELTA, workshop on giving instructions, training in a new coursebook	Reflective journals, action research, reading groups, lesson study

Training

Training addresses the skills and techniques a teacher needs to function effectively. It is most relevant for:

• Pre-service teachers who lack a basic repertoire of classroom techniques
• In-service teachers learning a new methodology, technology, or assessment system
• Institutional contexts where consistency across teachers is required

Training works best when:

• The target skill is clearly defined and observable
• There is opportunity for practice with feedback (microteaching, teaching practice)
• The trainer has expertise and credibility
• The skill addresses a genuine need, not just the trainer's agenda

Development

Development addresses the awareness, beliefs, and understanding that shape how a teacher interprets classroom events and makes decisions. Freeman (1989) argued that development involves changes in attention and awareness, not necessarily changes in behaviour: a teacher might teach the same lesson differently, or teach it the same way but understand why they are doing it.

Development is most relevant for:

• Experienced teachers whose skill repertoire is established but who want to grow professionally
• Teachers questioning their assumptions about language, learning, or their role
• Contexts where professional autonomy and judgment are valued

Development processes include:

• Reflective Practice: journals, peer discussion, critical incident analysis
• Action Research: systematic inquiry into one's own classroom
• Peer Observation: observing colleagues and discussing differences
• Reading and discussion groups
• CPD courses that prioritise inquiry over prescription
• Mentoring: when the relationship is collaborative rather than directive

The Relationship

Freeman's distinction is not a hierarchy. Training is not "lower" than development, and development does not replace training. Both are necessary:

• A teacher who has development without training may have deep insight but lack practical techniques
• A teacher who has training without development may execute techniques competently but without understanding when and why to use them, and may struggle to adapt when techniques fail

The most effective teacher education programmes interleave both: CELTA combines technique training (giving instructions, error correction) with reflective components (teaching practice journals, self-evaluation). Long-term CPD should shift progressively from training toward development as teachers gain experience.

Beyond the Dichotomy

Later scholars (e.g., Mann, 2005; Richards & Farrell, 2005) have questioned whether the distinction is always clear-cut in practice. Many professional development activities involve both training elements (learning a new skill) and development elements (reflecting on how it connects to existing practice). The value of Freeman's framework lies not in creating rigid categories but in reminding us that professional growth requires both external input and internal processing.

References

• Freeman, D. (1989). Teacher training, development, and decision making: A model of teaching and related strategies for language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 23(1), 27–45.
• Richards, J. C. & Farrell, T. S. C. (2005). Professional Development for Language Teachers. Cambridge University Press.
• Mann, S. (2005). The language teacher's development. Language Teaching, 38(3), 103–118.

See Also

• Continuing Professional Development: the umbrella that encompasses both training and development
• Reflective Practice: the primary mechanism of development
• Mentoring: can function as training (directive) or development (collaborative)
• Teacher Cognition: development processes engage with what teachers know and believe