Professional Development Note
Gaye Wunsch (GWunsch@compuserve.com)
Sat, 5 Apr 1997 08:08:05 -0500
Discussion on Professional Development 4/4/97
Panel members introduced themselves to the group and entered the discussion
by briefly describing their individual programs. The closing statement on
each included a "motto or slogan" which related their program to
professional development.
1. Project STAR - Teachers as learners
2. Community of Learners - Train the trainer
3. Expert Learning Community - Cultural change through professional
development
4. Math Forum - Internet to strengthen follow-up & community of teachers
5. Well Connected Educator - Teachers as reflective practitioners & writers
6. Math Teacher Link - Helping teachers do what they want to do
(example represented by a participating teacher: update curriculum)
7. CO-VIS - Teachers become their own community of learners
8. Vermont Inst. of M/S Tech - Developing Professional Development
Leadership (including certification standards)
9. NJNIA - Collaborative between university and school (both directions)
10. NSF - look at long term general health
11. World Bank - Distance learning / ways to effectively train teachers (by
distance learning)
12. NSF - look at models / use technology in institutionalizing training
Discussion on the realities of professional development went beyond the
descriptive viewpoints from the online summary.
Summary thoughts on some basic "Truths"
· Teachers in general are threatened with technology
· Successful PD has involved breaking the old paradigms
· Multiple skill sets are addressed in PD, especially when involving
technology
· There are problems with acceptance of professional development in
general, by the participants themselves, and by others who need to be
supporting teachers in the acquisition of PD
· PD looks at teacher learning as well as student learning
· Lifelong learning needs to be valued and a part of the culture
· PD includes skill development, but should instill excitement in learning
· There is a variance in the description of what those skills are, that
should be "taught" to teachers, as opposed to allowing teachers to "use"
them while being supported (especially for technology PD)
The group recognized stages of professional development to include:
1. Recognition of the need for PD by the community, as well as a teacher
acceptance of the need for PD.
2. Quality PD is vital
3. Methods for effective implementation of PD
4. Overall, PD should sustain the joy of learning
After a break, the group felt the overarching concept of #4 above deserved
more attention. We brainstormed through represented programs, what aspects
of PD were found to…
Sustain the JOY of Learning:
· when teachers work as teams with a leader
· include community members
· followed up with support
· long enough (such as a 2 wk program) to talk with each other at intervals
· when teachers can sustain dialogue and be reflective
· peer teaching --multi- level and multi-subject
· teachers share successes with portfolios of their students’ work or their
own work
· when teachers experience teacher designed "acquisition progression"
· provide quality "sub" while teacher is out of room, receiving PD
· technology as a tool, and not the content
· relevant application of PD
· acceptance of the fact that learning is a process: conform - perform -
transform - intention. That it’s OK to be in various stages of this
learning cycle, moving in and out, as a function of the nature of the PD
MODERATORS’ CLOSING COMMENTS: Upon de-briefing the process, the
moderators discussed some particular concerns of the group. It was clear
that professional development should be teacher-directed, followed by
sustained support systems, and made to relieve teacher stress in the
classroom. However, when we pushed for a resolution to the professional
development process, looking for some common guidelines for
institutionalization, the group re-coiled. Thoughts were interrupted by
barriers that frequently enter such discussions, such as:
· lack of time in the teacher’s schedule for PD
· support of administrators for teachers to acquire PD
· district guidelines and funding for PD
We believe, upon reflection, there could be a general connection between
the comfort of successful PD practices within programs, and the
difficulties with such practices when pushed for ways to institutionalize
such programs. That is, the initial teachers drawn to voluntary "test bed
or research" programs are usually described as front line innovators….
Teachers who will accept the handicaps of added workload in order to
experience their own joy of learning, in order to enhance their own
workplace.
When institutionalization is brought to the table, there is a necessity to
work within the existing structure of an educational system, instead of
ignoring it, or working around it. At the point of institutionalization,
the next teachers being sought are in the "chasm" between the innovators
and the average teacher-consumers. The challenge comes in creating a
working environment for the "early adopters" to internalize the work of the
front-line "innovators" and establish safe, effective PD for the "early and
late majority" of teachers. (For a more thorough discussion of these
terms, see "What Ever Happened to Instructional Technology?" by Dr.
Geoghegan – Internet: whg@vnet.ibm.com)
It seemed to us, in our discussion today, that there has not been
sufficient work described which officially changes policy in a manner to
sustain PD among the masses, instead of among the teacher-junkies who
typically volunteer for innovative programs. That brings me back to the
starting point of our discussion: Professional development will not be
successful "until we really believe that teachers are professionals and are
treated as such." Official policy regarding professional development needs
to be built around that belief.
Our group has expressed some interest in continuing this discussion. I
offer the above thoughts as added "fuel."
…Gaye
The example afforded us in the site visit discussion at Peabody HS comes
close to accomplishing the policy shift, through Common Knowledge’s
creative RFP process. However, it remains to be seen what will happen to
the program when a district-wide technology plan could provide total equity
of access, and eliminate the need for RFP’s.
1.