On 16 April, the British Council, in collaboration with the Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences (VNIES) held a consultative meeting on “Strengthening Viet Nam’s Teacher Professional Development Framework in ELT”. The meeting brought together nearly 200 participants from MOET, provincial Departments of Education and Training, Universities, and school teachers, through hybrid format.
The consultation focused on three main contents: International experience in developing professional development frameworks for teachers; implementation of the current Foreign Language Teacher Competency Framework in Vietnam; and key milestones of the project in 2026 and beyond.
Introducing an overview of the project, Mr Davide Guarini Gilmartin, British Council Senior Academic Manager, emphasised that the Professional Development Framework for English language teachers in Vietnam should be designed as an open, flexible, and updatable system to support teachers’ continuous professional growth. The framework should not only be seen as an assessment tool but also serve as a platform to support teachers in learning, developing, and adapting to the demands of educational reform.”
Sharing international perspectives, Mr Alan Pulverness, an expert from the international organisation TransformELT, highlighted that professional development should be viewed as a long-term journey rather than a series of isolated training activities. In many countries, professional development frameworks are built around clear career pathways, from early- career teachers to those who take on mentoring and professional leadership roles. Teachers need to regularly self-evaluate and reflect on their teaching practices to identify competency gaps and proactively improve. An effective framework must place teachers’ real needs at the centre, rather than creating additional administrative pressure.”
A draft version of the framework, and recommendations of how to put it into practice for both teachers of English and subject teachers who are required to teach in English, are planned to be introduced in August this year.
The project is expected to contribute to the sustainable development of Vietnamese teachers and the Government’s new strategic plan to make English the second language in schools.