Teacher Design Teams (TDTs) - building capacity for innovation, learning and curriculum implementation in the continuing professional development of in-career teachers

From October to December 2005, six biology associates were employed to progress the connection between curriculum implementation and the continuing professional development of teachers at regional level. The associates worked with one hundred biology teachers in Teacher Design Teams (TDTs) and together they produced eighteen innovative classroom resources, which have now been made available for the teaching of biology nationally. This article considers the merits of the TDT approach as a form of curriculum implementation and continuing professional development with reference to international literature in the area and the reported experiences of biology associates in working with biology teachers in one region. Findings indicate the benefits which accrue, when teachers are actively engaged in the process of curriculum implementation through TDTs, as well as the challenges they face when inadequate curriculum support is provided.