Teacher Professional Development and Professional Standards for Teachers: A Bibliometric Mapping of Literature (1975-2025)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to conduct literature mapping on professional development, continuous professional learning, and teacher professional standards using metadata extracted from 5,156 journal articles indexed in the Web of Science database from 1975 to 2025. The study employs bibliometric methods to describe and visually represent the literature's growth trajectory, productivity, and the social, intellectual, and conceptual structure of the field over the past 50 years. The findings reveal that research in these areas: (a) has shown steady growth, particularly since 2015; (b) is published across diverse journals in the categories of "Education Educational Research," "Psychology," and "Linguistics;" (c) is produced by scholars from various regions, with the USA, China, and Australia as leading contributors; (d) consists of a fragmented research community with limited interaction between groups; (e) is interdisciplinary, emerging from the convergence of research in education, psychology, and linguistics; and (f) has focused on eleven research themes over the past 50 years, including "Teacher Professional Development," "Educational Policy and Practice," "Educational Research Methodology," "Modern Educational Technologies and Learning," "Pedagogical Interaction in the Educational Process," "Professional Standards and Educational Development," "Social-Educational Communities and Communications," "Assessment and Learning Practice," "Educational Practice Research Methods," "Educational Reform Effectiveness," and "Innovative Technologies in Education." The bibliometric analysis provides insights for the further development and reconceptualization of the field, offering perspectives for identifying new research directions and methodological approaches in professional development, continuous professional learning, and teacher professional standards.