Critical friendships in teachers’ professional development. Theoretical and empirical investigation

This theoretical and research study deals with a contemporary and topical educational model-institution related to critical friendships. It is a commonplace – especially in recent years – to point out that teachers during their professional career and career change in many ways, evolve and are expected to follow a pattern of continuing education, in-service education, i.e., refresher training, which ultimately contributes to their professional development. The purpose of this study is to present the lifelong learning of teachers through the critical friend model and to highlight the key elements that make up this model. Thus, the necessity of developing training interventions based on working groups and collaborative networks of teachers and education staff with the presence of a “critical friend” or facilitator is highlighted. To achieve the purpose of the study, Greek and mainly foreign-language literature was utilized and the qualitative paradigm was used. The findings of this research study could be a useful tool in the hands of experts and any interested person, as well as a springboard for research on a larger scale by detecting other parameters of the subject under discussion.