A distinction needs to be made between definitions of teacher competences and professional standards. A professional standard endeavours to describe what teachers believe, know, understand and are able to do as specialist practitioners in their fields (Ingvarson, 1998). In particular, professional standards for teachers focus on what teachers are expected to know and be able to do. They are usually concerned with accountability and quality mechanisms, and are closely linked with the action of institutional and professional bodies. They can be defined as: