Factors Affecting Teachers’ Engagement in Continuing Professional Development

The aim of this study was to explore the dynamics of teachers' engagement in continuing professional development (CPD) and identify key predictors of engagement. Data were collected from 431 primary and secondary school teachers in China using a mixed-methods approach that included questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews. The findings of this study underscore how teachers' distinct needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy impact the quality of their engagement, consequently influencing their professional development outcomes. Through factor analysis, this study identified four clusters of predictive factors for teachers' professional development engagement: cognitive factors, instrumental factors, self-actualizing factors, and factors related to the CPD culture. Remarkably, teachers' years of experience and qualification levels are linked to all instrumental factors. This research stands as a pioneering effort to examine teachers' engagement within the context of CPD in China. The identified variations in teachers' engagement behaviors and attitudes offer valuable insights for policymakers and school leaders, facilitating a deeper comprehension of the underlying mechanisms of engagement factors and their corresponding impact on teachers' professional growth. This research substantially contributes to the theoretical advancements in understanding teacher engagement dynamics.