Teacher professional development through knowledge management in educational organisations

Professional development has mainly centered around training processes that involve updating knowledge, yet it has made little headway as a construct that includes both the professional and personal characteristics and working conditions. It has also focused more on developing training programmes than on analysing the tools for continuous training. This chapter analyses the relationships between professional development, organisational development and the creation and management of collective knowledge. These three concepts can be interrelated and contribute to change when we place ourselves within the framework of autonomous organisations with collective projects focused on lifelong learning. It also outlines the Accelera experience of knowledge creation and management in communities, describing the model and process used. This article examines some of the findings and future prospects of the methodology presented. © 2010, IGI Global.