Today is the 15th day of summer vacation (weekends not counted.) I have spent FIVE of those precious days off in professional development. That's one-third of my summer, so far, in professional development. (Thank you, Dr. Obvious, but I felt it was worth reiterating.)
On Friday, June 13, I went to the NTCTELA conference in Hurst. No one sent me to this conference; instead, I went because I was interested. I went because it was finally an opportunity, relatively close (if over an hour away is considered close) to home, to hear Donalyn Miller speak. I paid the $85 registration fee myself. I paid it because I felt it was worth it. Or, rather, I didn't mind paying that amount because I felt that I would grow immeasurably because of my attendance. And boy, did I!
On Sunday, June 15, I traveled with five of my colleagues to San Antonio for a three day conference on educating students of poverty led by Eric Jensen. Our principal presented us with this opportunity, and the six of us agreed to go. No, this time I didn't foot the bill for the travel or the lodging, but it did mean that I had to arrange for someone to watch my three kiddos in my absence. I was giving up several days of irreplaceable time with the three people whom I love more than anything. But I gave it up because it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear a guru share his secrets for working with our hard-to-reach kids.
Two days ago, I went to a one day offering by our local regional educational service center. Again, it was over an hour away. The two other instructional specialists at our school and I both attended. While there were numerous teachers there from across our district, there was only one classroom teacher from our school. Oh, and let me mention here that attendees to the conference were able to receive a $75 stipend for going! So why didn't more educators take advantage of this opportunity--an opportunity to grow professionally AND take home a nice chunk of change in the process?
I think there are a few reasons why more people didn't go. Obviously many people have conflicts--vacations, teaching summer school, and childcare issues. But what is really the issue here? Is it because there is a lack of a growth mindset? Do some educators not see the need to grow professionally? Surely that is not the case. Or, is it because a lot of professional development just isn't very engaging for the learners? Unfortunately, I think it is mostly because of the latter.
A friend of mine who teaches in a neighboring district recently had to take the required thirty hours of professional development for teaching gifted students. He posted several rants on social media. I inferred that the presenters were lacking in audience engagement. He complained about the unprofessionalism of the educators around him (something I, too, suffered from at one of my conferences.)
If we look reflectively at our professional developments in the same way that we reflect upon how our lessons went in our classrooms, I am sure that we would see some startling comparisons. If our audience isn't very attentive to the point of being rude, is it truly their fault? Is it their fault that the material may not be relevant to their lives? Is it their fault that they may not have had a choice in
attending? I argue that no, it is not their fault. Those of us who design professional development have an obligation to make sure that our audience is engaged, to make sure that the material is somehow relevant to our participants, and to account for the fact that some people were "forced" to attend. There is some sort of disconnect--the things we would never do in our classrooms are the exact things that many leaders of professional development do to their adult learners. We know that a lecture format is not very effective. We know that people need to talk and to move. We know that people need choice. So why aren't we addressing these things more often in our professional development offerings?
You have made some great points!
ReplyDelete1. Yes, the format of PD has to change. We know that teachers make the worst participants/audience, so we have to find ways to engage them. When I present, we try to model, model, model transitions and other strategies for the teachers to take to their rooms, but what I learned is that unless I was very purposeful in explaining that, the teachers didn't get it.
2. Since I began my career in education, I have attended as much PD as possible--during the year and summer. What I have found in my present location as well as my last, teachers don't feel the same way. Most don't extend their learning unless forced to do so.
3. It would be great if schools/districts could pay for teachers to attend PD, but that isn't always possible. I have been blessed to work for schools/districts where much of the in-state PD and travel has been paid. (It is that out-of-state PD and presenting that is costly and comes out of my pocket!) No matter the cost, teachers have to continue their educations. (How exciting you were paid to go to a PD!)
4. All I can do is continue to share PD ideas/opportunities until we find a way to change this mindset.