Although several studies about teacher professionalism have been conducted, there was
not much attention on concepts and principles of in-service teacher education based on
professionalism. This research focuses on the concept and the principles of in-service teacher
education in terms of professional capital proposed by Hargreaves & Fullan.
“Capital” in the term “professional capital” does not mean economic capital but
competency of teacher. It has three components : human, social, and decisional. Especially,
decisional capital has been underdiscussed in spite of its significance for explaining teacher
as a professional in that it is accumulated through long-term experiences and reflective
thinking.
This study proposes seven principles of in-service teacher education: professionalism,
individualization, autonomy, collaboration, continuity, accessibility, and adaptivity.
Professionalism covers all three capitals, continuity focuses on decisional capital, collaboration
is for social capital, and individualization and autonomy are related to human capital. When
these seven principles are applied to in-service teacher education, it could foster teacher
education for professionals.