ALTERNATIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
“The day you convince yourself that you've mastered your craft or profession or even your relationships, is the day you cease to live. The thirst for knowledge and the mind's ravenous appetite for constant growth and evolution helps sustain a meaningful existence. If you cease to aim higher, you will surely fall short.” ― Carlos Wallace
Traditional professional development has been delivered for a long time in a "Sit & Get" or lecture format, where teachers often leave with no more information than they came in with. Schools must consider how teachers learn and adopt new strategies for instruction and facilitate training accordingly. Educators need more than one to two sessions to master and implement a new technique in their classrooms. In the post "Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability," Gulamhussein (2013) outlines that school leaders looking to provide meaningful learning experiences should transform the PD by following five key principles: duration, support, exposure, modeling, and specific content. As a leader in this Innovation Plan, I propose an alternative Professional Learning (PL) that will arm the team involved in the pilot with the necessary tools and skills to implement the ePortolios.
Principles of Effective PL
Duration
Exposure
Support
Modeling
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Specific
content
5
Why do we need to change the old practices?
As teachers, we have been asked to create a significant learning environment for our students (CSLE) to give them meaningful and deeper learning. The professional development should enhance and replicate the learning practices expected to utilize with our students. We need more engaging and collaborative professional learning where we can explore our passions and imagination to create innovative ways to help students develop their full potential. Moreover, it is essential the coaching and follow-ups at the implementation time for the new strategies presented. I propose alternative professional learning (PL) that aims to improve teacher training in a way that aligns with helping learners grow. By providing meaningful professional learning, teachers can explore creativity through choice, ownership, voice, and authenticity, allowing them a first-hand experience in which they can relate to the students and grant them a similar opportunity.
What do we need to change?
1. Duration of PL must be Significant & Ongoing
It should include more than just a one-time workshop to allow for time to understand and implement new ideas through practice and coaching.
2. Support During Implementation
A coach or mentor is needed to provide support during the implementation stage.
3. Exposure
Participation should be engaging, collaborative, and active.
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4. Modeling
Instead of telling educators what to do, show them how to do it. Show the new concepts so they can be understood and adopted into practice.
5. Specific to Discipline
The PL should be specific to the teacher's level or subject.
How will we change it?
Teachers must receive proper training that includes Gulamhussein’s five principles for effective Profesional Learning. My PL Plan is a collaborative training that follows these principals and where teachers will become familiar with ePortfolios and their possibilities; teachers will create their own ePortfolios and learn how to use them as a learning tool with their students to assist them in creating their own ePortfolios.
The components of my PL Plan,
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Defines the leaders, audience, and resources needed.
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Explains how ePortfolio adopters would become self-directed learners and how this PL fosters collaboration..
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Defines the evidence to evaluate what is working and what needs to be improved.
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Backward design where outcomes, assessments, and activities align (BHAG and 3-column table).
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Explains how Gulamhussein's five principles are incorporated during the entire course.
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The outline of the PL consists of three stages describing the task to be performed in each one and provides links to the resources needed.
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The schedule shows in detail the dates when the tasks need to be performed, and it also contains links to access the resources.
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The slide deck for PL sessions
Call to Action
School leaders need to provide effective PL for teachers that focus on changing old practices in order to impact students achievement.
REFERENCES
Daniels, K. (November 6, 2013).Empowering the teacher technophobe. TEDxBurnsvilleED. Retrieve from
Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NBgyzzfGs6VrNjeJRDZLnipZPGeGMDF9?usp=sharing
Harapnuik, D. (n.d.). It's About Learning. www.harapnuik.org
Heather Hill. (2015). Review of The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth about Our Quest for Teacher Development. Harvard Graduate School of Education. Retrieved from http://www.greatlakescenter.org/docs/Think_Twice/TT-Hill-TNTP.pdf
TNTP. (2015). The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth About Our Quest for Teacher Development. Retrieved from http://tntp.org/publications/view/evaluation-and-development/the-mirage-confronting-the-truth-about-our-quest-for-teacher-development