The paper reports on a study that explored the creation of a professional development intervention (PDI) platform in biotechnology education in Masvingo, Zimbabwe and reports on teachers’ experiences of their engagement in the PDI. This qualitative study employed a case study design. Purposive sampling was used to select 25 practicing Advanced Level Biology teachers from schools that offered Advance Level Biology in Masvingo. Data was generated via teachers’ reflective journals and focus group discussions. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development underpinned the study at a theoretical level. The findings reveal that professional learning communities can be an effective form of professional development for teachers during curriculum reform especially in a context where the Curriculum Development Unit does not provide support to teachers during curriculum reform. Further, the findings illuminate that Advanced Level Biology teachers’ collective agency was necessary to promote a safe nurturing space to initiate action that allowed for scrutiny of teaching practice, support from peers and resulted in self-improvement in confidence levels and pedagogical content knowledge. The findings show that sustainable teacher professional development will rely on teachers themselves, their commitment to quality and to their learners. Thus, our concluding thoughts are: How do we begin to perpetuate this kind of professional development capital amongst practicing teachers in order to rejuvenate teacher’s deep interest in teaching and learning Advanced Level Biology that focuses on the needs of their learners?

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