In addition, professional standards are an expression of what a profession stands for - its objectives, its expectations of members in meeting those objectives, the career path and the level of commitment members of the profession make to the community they serve. The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s (AITSL) National Professional Standards for Teachers describe w'hat is expected of teachers across the four career stages: Graduate, Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead (AITSL, 2016). The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC, 2012) goes further. The GTC has developed an overarching career-long standard or nest of standards which regulate the career path from provisional registration as a teacher to full registration, career-long professional learning, middle leadership and then full school leadership (see Box 3.2).