According to the content in this week’s module, current professional learning could be more effective but fails to meet educators where they are with targeted improvements. Repeatedly we read about professional development attempts that were too broad and generalized to allow teachers to apply them to their specific instructional challenges. While I could not begin to estimate where professional learning dollars are spent in my organization toward professional learning, I have seen some improvements concerning access. My institution now utilizes LinkedIn Learning as professional development software. Employees can access a variety of topics and develop at will those that interest them. There has also been an increase in spending over my last ten years with the institution toward professional learning communities found through professional organization memberships and conference attendance. How these workshop-style professional learning opportunities impact the day-to-day performance and learning indicators, remains. Based on the research presented throughout this module, I am willing to guess that there has been little impact or improvement. Like our learners, active-engaging-relevant content would drive industry improvement in learning and outcomes.
According to Guluamhussein (2013), if the Five Principles were successfully implemented, we would experience “significant and ongoing” development and support throughout any implementation frustrations and challenges while actively engaging with “varied approaches” to make meaning of new practices learned in our professional learning opportunities. Instead of generic content, we would find immediate applications for new learning. While I am unsure about the entire organization’s readiness to change, I do believe my immediate unit is ready to try anything to improve ourselves and serve our learners. While realizing the concept of alternative approaches might be welcome, thanks to the content outlined throughout this module, I now know to expect the frustrating process of trying new things. At the same time, we make changes to the current status quo found in professional learning. While initially uncomfortable, through sharing the expectations and vision for a culture that values continuous learning and improvement, our organization has the opportunity to embrace professional learning that are results driven.
The Mariage report helps us evaluate whether we are effectively utilizing our resources through current professional learning approaches to determine whether or not they are beneficial or valuable to our staff. Once we have done this, we can better decide how best to move forward to support professional learning. The Standards for Professional Learning provide a framework to build the professional learning we, our teams and our organizations deserve so that we can best serve our learners (both students and professionals).
References
Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf
TEDx Talks. (2013, November 6). Empowering the teacher technophobe: Kristin Daniels at TEDxBurnsvilleED [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puiNcIFJTCUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puiNcIFJTCU&feature=youtu.be
TNTP. (2015, August 4). The mirage: Confronting the hard truth about our quest for teacher development. https://tntp.org/publications/view/evaluation-and-development/the-mirage-confronting-the-truth-about-our-quest-for-teacher-development
The Advisor That Cares 