Organization Constraints on Professional Development: An Exploration into How Institutional Frameworks Hold Back Teacher Training

SDG 4.c calls for increasing the supply of qualified teachers while many countries face teacher shortages. Using TALIS 2018 data, this article argues that the problem is two-fold: increasing the number of qualified professionals entering the education system and expanding training opportunities for current teachers. We focus on the second issue in Latin American countries to explore how institutional arrangements, including teachers’ workload, lack of paid out-of-class work hours, poor incentives for professional development and overall working conditions, could be barriers against the continuous development of current teachers that the international cooperation should take into account. Without institutional reforms, SDG 4.c goal will not be met.