Organizational Conditions for the Professional Development of Senior Teachers at Vocational Schools in Estonia
Piret Tamme

Abstract
The paper presents results from the study implemented among senior teachers at vocational education in Estonia. The main objective of the phenomenographic survey is to analyse the professional development of senior teachers. The current paper concentrates on the organizational conditions as an important factor for the professional development of senior teachers at vocational schools in Estonia. This study forms one cycle of a mixed-method research for investigating organizational willingness and awareness to support senior teachers at work. However, hereby the results are presented as senior teachers′ descriptions of organizational conditions which either support or hinder their professional development. The results are based on 22 semi-structured interviews which are implemented among Estonian teachers between the ages of 60 – 72 in vocational education. The study states that senior teachers (60+) are valuable source to fulfil the gap at labour market in case the environment where they work meets their requirements: autonomy, the estimation of expert knowledge and rather stable management policy.

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