CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN TEACHERS EDUCATION

In the context of integrating the common European principles for teacher profession, the focus on lifelong learning becomes a necessity for every country in Europe. Lifelong learning supports creativity and innovation, basic skills in a society that promotes democratic citizenship. Implementation of lifelong learning programs is still a challenge because it needs strong institutional commitment, partnership and an opened attitude from teachers. The aim of the article is to present the results of a research regarding K-12 teachers' perspective about participating in lifelong programs. Using semi structured questionnaire method; we collected information on the following themes: available forms of ongoing career development in schools, perceived opportunities for career development outside the school and community, the domains teachers would like to improve in a lifelong program, and perceived accessibility to these programs. The results will be discussed referring to lifelong learning policy in Romania.