How To Drive Your Professional Development With A Self-Directed Learning Program

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_N42khQfhNxaVaH2z2Z6G2XJvLEnUtS646dtJeEIs_I50Ninz7ZEOKKAzCnuo4KlPmdhVuyDJfSuDiLts3OcALO3Fxwt5iYtN3smU7uEfnDeyfx35ok-xo2j33f-QSylzd-lLdIP8Bw/s1600/470446763.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_N42khQfhNxaVaH2z2Z6G2XJvLEnUtS646dtJeEIs_I50Ninz7ZEOKKAzCnuo4KlPmdhVuyDJfSuDiLts3OcALO3Fxwt5iYtN3smU7uEfnDeyfx35ok-xo2j33f-QSylzd-lLdIP8Bw/s200/470446763.jpg" width="198" /></a></div> <br /> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> In our high-change world, those who are most successful in their work are the people who are committed to developing themselves by giving themselves goals or new levels of mastery to reach for.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Successful employees don’t wait for their annual performance review and their boss to tell them where they need to grow – they’re committed to life-long self-directed learning and they’re deciding and driving their own development directions. And it’s a given that, as an entrepreneur, no matter how good your mastermind or business coach is, it’s ultimately up to you to take responsibility for your own personal and professional development.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Here’s how you can drive your own career with a self-directed learning plan:</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> 1) Discover Your Natural Strengths and Interests</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> You’ll learn fastest, enjoy your work the most and make the most progress if you’re learning and working in the areas of your natural strengths and interests, so base your self-directed learning program on your natural strengths and interests.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Start by thinking of the times when you’re so involved in what you’re doing that you lose track of time. What are you doing when you feel that way? Think about the activities at work that give you the flow experience, and then think of activities outside of work where you get that flow experience. These are the activities that you innately love doing, so they’ll be the areas where you’ll do best to invest your time and energy when it comes to developing mastery.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> 2) Get Clear On Your Vision</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> We’re all learning and growing all the time – we can’t not learn. The difference that creates success is deciding and directing your learning direction. If you don’t know what you want your work to look like in 1 or 2 years from now, you’ll be likely to have your career direction determined by other people or circumstances, rather than your personal values and desires, so get clear on the picture of work you’re aiming for.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> What activities would you ideally spend your day doing? Who are your ideal clients? What does an ideal work week’s schedule look like? What kind of impact do you want to be making through your work? What are the values you want to express and affirm through your work?</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> 3) Look for the Gaps</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> When you know what picture you’re aiming for, you can come back to where you are right now and notice where the gaps are between where you are now and where you want to be. This provides the focus for your learning program.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> What’s missing in your work right now? What do you want more of and what do you want less of? How much more/ less do you want? How will you know when you have it?</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> 4) Set Your Learning Goals</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Considering the gaps you’ve identified, set yourself learning goals that will enable you to bridge those gaps. Remember to check your learning goals against your strengths and interests. If it’s not in the arena of your strengths or interests, can you rather outsource or in source help and get someone else to bridge that gap for you?</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> A key to successful self-directed learning is in setting the right mastery goals. <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html">Csikszentmihalyi</a> studied the flow experience – that space where you’re “in the zone” and it feels like you’re able to perform accurately, easily and effortlessly without much conscious thought. He found that one of the factors that created flow was when people were tackling learning goals that were within a sweet zone where the challenge was not too easy and not too hard, but “just right.”</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> So if you want to trigger flow experiences, feel naturally motivated and perform your best, then set yourself learning goals that challenge you just enough to trigger both anxiety and excitement. And then, as you make progress, to keep hitting that sweet spot, keep adjusting those goals to challenge yourself a little further all the time.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> 5) Design Your Plan</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Design a self-directed learning plan for yourself by deciding what sources you’ll learn from, what programs or classes you might wish to sign up for, who you’d like to be mentored by, and what other sources of social support and accountability you’ll build into your learning program, in order to achieve your learning goals. As you design your program, remember that you’ll learn best if you create a program that allows you to learn on three levels: </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Learning from other people who are ahead of you. This helps you to stay inspired of the possibilities and to discover more about the territory you’re heading into before you get there. </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Learning with other people who are at a similar level of development. This helps to normalize your fears and ensures that your learning is highly relevant and meets you where you’re at. </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Teaching other people who are just beginning. This helps to reinforce the foundational basics and to remind you how far you’ve come. Plus it has the added bonus of growing your leadership and influence and motivating you through the good feeling of giving back. </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Want to avoid getting suckered into buying every new program, overwhelming yourself and never using any of it? Just go back to your self-directed learning plan and check – does this offering fit with my learning goals?</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> 6) Schedule regular reviews</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Decide some parameters for tracking and measuring your progress and <a href="http://www.productiveflourishing.com/free-planners/">mark your calendar</a> with an appointment with yourself or your coach to review your progress regularly. Schedule reviews as often as once a month, because the review and feedback loop is fundamental to learning. You might wish to gather feedback from others, record performance statistics, or just reflect and record your own judgement of your performance and progress.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> What we measure is what we focus on and what we focus on is what we grow, so be sure to find quantitative or qualitative ways of measuring your progress and focusing your growth.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Happy learning!</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> </div>

How To Drive Your Professional Development With A Self-Directed Learning Program

In our high-change world, those who are most successful in their work are the people who are committed to developing themselves...

More information

Teacher Agency: Self-Directed Professional Development

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"> <div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Teacher’s Choice Framework</strong></em></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQlwBbjCKZv4WaFc0rn6RJdB9e5HoldpHOWNaLGMIIXwJ3fUA2ehaLiRCW5-6ntb8Etgl1omJ9BAvnYt3nhLq0Yj3qb3Jr5fLqocuA7aFASldBmBXkws7utj7E-etlqdNkXOqJkci0Jc/s1600/51EXhQKOeML._SX327_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQlwBbjCKZv4WaFc0rn6RJdB9e5HoldpHOWNaLGMIIXwJ3fUA2ehaLiRCW5-6ntb8Etgl1omJ9BAvnYt3nhLq0Yj3qb3Jr5fLqocuA7aFASldBmBXkws7utj7E-etlqdNkXOqJkci0Jc/s320/51EXhQKOeML._SX327_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="210" /></a></div> <div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></strong></em></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></span><br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"> <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Gabriel Diaz-Maggioli in her ASCD book, <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104021/chapters/Professional-Development-Today.aspx" style="color: #004477; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Teacher-Centered Professional Development</a>, proposes a teacher’s choice framework which are characterized by:</span></span></div> <ol style="text-align: left;"> <li>Teachers are talented and devoted individuals who have gained enormous experience by interacting with students, and possess a wealth of knowledge that must be explored and shared. </li> <li>Teachers differ from one another in terms of their theoretical and professional knowledge and the stages they are at in their careers. This diversity offers a wealth of resources and experience. </li> <li>Teachers’ professional development should be embedded in their daily schedule; they should not be expected to devote their own free time to programs that are divorced from the context in which they work. </li> <li>In order for teachers to develop ownership of professional development, they need to be active participants in its construction, tailoring programs to their needs and motivations. </li> <li>Professional development should not be regarded as an administrative duty, but rather as a career-long endeavor aimed at disclosing the factors that contribute to the success of all students and teachers. Mandatory professional development offered only when it is convenient to administrators has little to offer to teachers.</li> </ol> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4J3KamABLrWnPnjBpS-1bRnaWshZkiIiHZWpqtrd-gNpc-Af88ay9XLcjEoWfOnAbcjFWmD5ae7Qu_1MYVcugn95EXQMFZYTf9zo3t4omheAeKzQyIw7TQx794gIeOCCFzThXR3_ilRg/s1600/2013-11-09_0946.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4J3KamABLrWnPnjBpS-1bRnaWshZkiIiHZWpqtrd-gNpc-Af88ay9XLcjEoWfOnAbcjFWmD5ae7Qu_1MYVcugn95EXQMFZYTf9zo3t4omheAeKzQyIw7TQx794gIeOCCFzThXR3_ilRg/s400/2013-11-09_0946.png" width="400" /></a></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <b><span style="font-size: large;">Teacher Empowered Model of Professional Development</span></b><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <br /><ol style="text-align: left;"> <li>Develop a vision and a mission of an ideal classroom and optimal student achievement. </li> <li>Identify gaps between what is and the ideal. </li> <li>Establish and/or identify self -driven professional development activities to close the gap. </li> <li>Develop plans of action for implementation.</li> <li>Engage in an accountability system.</li> </ol> </div> <div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSo7cLdIiXAlGDBi6AmrzfKL2SX49uyL7nVBjJmYigZ1oMR5yqLq4yIuxlNOvK86r53yeNe7_Fay6s5cwEyBkyhLzujJwZbPdur7clzcU41_20IjEa50KF8S8N2zHO4e9nBfyz3Jo_E0/s1600/tmp456121846488629249.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSo7cLdIiXAlGDBi6AmrzfKL2SX49uyL7nVBjJmYigZ1oMR5yqLq4yIuxlNOvK86r53yeNe7_Fay6s5cwEyBkyhLzujJwZbPdur7clzcU41_20IjEa50KF8S8N2zHO4e9nBfyz3Jo_E0/s400/tmp456121846488629249.png" /></a></blockquote> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Develop a vision and a mission of an ideal classroom and optimal student achievement.</b></span><br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> As part of their teacher education, students are often asked to develop their teaching philosophy. This is a good initial exercise but several problems exist with it. First, this happens during pre-service teaching and often prior to any extensive time spent teaching in an actual classroom. Second, it does reflect the continuous and evolving nature of education. Finally, it does not reflect ideas and teaching practices shaped and learned while one is a teacher.<br /> Identify gaps between what is and the ideal.<br /> The educator then compares current practices to that of the ideal to identify gaps. From these gaps, professional development goals are established.  This process provides a foundation of “need”, focus, and relevancy for the educator’s professional development.  Professional development then becomes “<a href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Designing_Professional_Development/JIT_Learning" style="color: #004477; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">just-in-time learning</a>” rather than “just-in-case it is needed”.</blockquote> <ol style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"> </ol> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"> The following visual metaphor is a model of this process.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5gpz_2DrthNtHmhvnnRcXPumlfPspjYgzrArQ7xrnBe26uLeCcCR5AnqGGfM_N7Qawoi-eWfYUl_kzV1q_dBCYD3iVEyWuKVxPIlRbBFgS9QsvrxOThQeKmRatC-rbJ2vZ5WkdkdKjI/s1600/cliff-metaphor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5gpz_2DrthNtHmhvnnRcXPumlfPspjYgzrArQ7xrnBe26uLeCcCR5AnqGGfM_N7Qawoi-eWfYUl_kzV1q_dBCYD3iVEyWuKVxPIlRbBFgS9QsvrxOThQeKmRatC-rbJ2vZ5WkdkdKjI/s400/cliff-metaphor.png" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"> <br /> <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></em><br /> <ol style="text-align: left;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <li><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Identify Current Reality: </em>On the left cliff, list of keywords that define your current reality. You’re basically outlining where you are right now in your classroom teaching process.   Sketches and symbols can also be used to describe your current reality.</li> <li><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Identify Desired Reality</em>:  On the right cliff write down a list of keywords that define your desired classroom environment and practices based on your vision of the ideal.  You’re essentially defining the type of classroom that you would like to create by the date you specified.  Represent these keywords (your desired reality) using a series of sketches, symbols or both. Completing these sketches will help you to create more meaningful associations.</li> <li><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Identify Obstacles: </em>Within the gap between the two cliffs, write down all the obstacles that are standing between your current reality and your desired reality. Write down keywords. Alternatively, you can represent these words in a visual way, as described above.</li> <li><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Identify Key Resources;  </em>On the tree branches outline five key resources and training opportunities that you have at your disposal that you could use to help you overcome the obstacles that are standing between you and your desired reality. (Identifying resources will be further expanded upon in the next section.)</li> <li><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bridge the Gap:  </em>Now that you are clear about where you are, where you want to be, the obstacles standing in your way, and the resources you have at your disposal, it’s now time to build a bridge that will take you over the cliff towards your desired reality. This bridge is going to be built using a series of steps that you will take over a certain period of time that will get you to where you want to go.</li> </em></ol> <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </em><br /> <ul style="text-align: left;"> </ul> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"> <b><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Establish and/or identify self-driven and directed professional development activities to close the gap.<br /></span></b>During this phase, educators engage in self-directed professional learning opportunities to learn how to close the gap from the current state to the ideal one.  The opportunities for educators to engage in self-directed professional development is basically limitless in this era of teaching and learning.  There Many Ways to Grow Professionally</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"> <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></strong></div> <ol style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Attend a conference/workshop locally.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Attend a conference/workshop regionally/provincially/nationally/internationally.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Attend a workshop/conference or summer institute/course.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Becoming a facilitator, and give a workshop locally, regionally, or provincially.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Begin/continue university studies.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Form/join a teacher research group.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Participate in group planning.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Job-shadow in a related work situation.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Join a professional organization/network.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Observe another teacher, and talk together about the lesson/program.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Read professional literature.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Reflect, discuss, and research for the purpose of planning individual or group ongoing professional development.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Develop the discipline of reflective journal keeping.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Share with colleagues what you found at a conference/workshop.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Subscribe to/read professional journals.</li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Watch professional videos.</li> </ol> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"> <br /></div> </div> </div> </div>

Teacher Agency: Self-Directed Professional Development

The Teacher’s Choice Framework Gabriel Diaz-Maggioli in her ASCD book,  Teacher-Centered Professional Development , proposes a tea...

More information

Why Quality Professional Development for Teachers Matters

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrkCX85W5dyczYctTG5FsAEOJQXmT1FDQIrvKVN2ygNaFNclnIHcr-Ea6fOfkNVYKpo5rlJeejGQc8oN37Ix41opAAmVZM7NDjYnJzWhtxEIkjGQJQoqpSXj4iS2OEJ9I3LM6LCSNK7g/s1600/johnson-why-quality-pd-ts-460x345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrkCX85W5dyczYctTG5FsAEOJQXmT1FDQIrvKVN2ygNaFNclnIHcr-Ea6fOfkNVYKpo5rlJeejGQc8oN37Ix41opAAmVZM7NDjYnJzWhtxEIkjGQJQoqpSXj4iS2OEJ9I3LM6LCSNK7g/s320/johnson-why-quality-pd-ts-460x345.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> "Please look at the labels on the walls and with your elbow partner; pick the top three priorities for educators and schools." Posted around the walls were the words: Curriculum, Assessment, Instruction, Professional Development, Student Learning, Equity, Differentiation, and Classroom Management. I gave the principals a few minutes to chat and come up with a prioritized list and then we began discussing their conclusions.</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Some thought it was an obvious trick question and chose student learning as the number one priority. Others chose curriculum because, "If you have nothing to teach, students can't learn -- beat that!" Still others countered, "But if you have the best curriculum but low quality instruction, students won't learn either -- so there!" "If only affluent students learn, then there is no equity for poor students -- try that on for size!" This lively discussion continued for each of the elements.</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Eventually, the principals who chose student learning stated, "If students aren't learning, it doesn't matter what we do; we are just spinning our wheels!" and that convinced the rest that they were right. Yet all of them were wrong. To get them on the right track I asked the principals, "What can any teacher do to assure that students are learning?" One principal said, "Well, we can make sure we have the best teachers and the best curriculum."</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> "Does that guarantee that the students will learn?"</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> "Well, no, but it makes it more probable. You know nothing is guaranteed."</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> "Can we control student learning?"</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> "Not fully, but. . . ."</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> "Who can control student learning?"</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> "The teachers... or, hmm, the students themselves I suppose."</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> "Exactly! We cannot control student learning, only the student can. Student learning should be the eventual goal and outcome of all of our efforts, but it is not what we do to get there. Now let's rethink your priority list.</div> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <b><b>What We Can Control</b></b></div> <b> </b> <br /> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> The discussion began in earnest again. Then the light bulb went on for one principal, "If we want students to learn, the most critical element is the teacher. So professional development is the overall most important thing we can do to help students learn." That principal got a gold star that day because he understood why he was participating in a teacher quality professional development.</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> I know this seems counter intuitive, especially since student learning is the standard for school success. While schools and teachers have a tremendous influence over student learning, there is nothing the teachers can do to make it happen. It is completely out of the control of teachers to make students learn; the students have to do it by themselves.</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Teachers can entice the students and invite them to learn, and create wonderful learning environments that incite the students to learn, but the work and effort of learning rests solely on the shoulders of the students. So where should a school invest effort, time, and resources to help students? Invest in either finding the best teachers or providing exceptional professional development to help them become the best.</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> As another example of how those in education sometimes put emphasis on the wrong things, I read an article lambasting Michelle Rhee, the former D.C. chancellor of public schools, after she stepped down from her last position at StudentsFirst. The author of the article had little good to say about her or other school reformers but what troubled me most was how he blamed her for not addressing student (child) poverty. How does a school system fix student poverty? Like student learning, isn't it completely out of our control? His solution was to provide students with an allowance. Having a bit of money in their pockets doesn't address the conditions related to poverty that affect students' lives.</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Ever since educator Ruby Payne introduced her debatable assertions that economically disadvantaged students are different than other students, poverty has become a talking point for educational pundits. Data does indicate that students who live in poverty are at risk of not being successful in school (here's an informative article on the effect of poverty on executive function). Further, data also indicates that schools with high populations of economically disadvantaged students are more likely to be underperforming. However, data also does point to the notion that good teachers can overcome societal problems interfering with an individual student's learning.</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> The cycle of poverty does not have a quick fix though we know one powerful element that can work against it: education. It's important that we should stick with what we are good at -- we are expert educators (not social workers, family counselors, or financial planners). There's so much we can't control, like poverty, but we do know we can control how we invite and inspire student to learn. We can find creative ways to deal with whatever issues the students bring with them. And we can earnestly strive to send them home more prepared each day than when they arrived.</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Developing as Teachers</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Being concerned about student learning and child poverty are laudable concerns, but true educators reject the premise that students struggling with poverty cannot learn as well as middle- and upper-income students. Both of these related issues should not be the focus of educators. The undeniable truth is that exceptional teaching inspires exceptional learning, and that can be helpful when it comes to addressing the cycle of poverty afflicting some of our students.</div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Meanwhile the focus of educators should be, and for most educators is, "How do I prepare myself to be the best teacher possible?" Having said that, what professional development has made a lasting impact on your teaching? Please share in the comments section below.</div> </div>

Why Quality Professional Development for Teachers Matters

"Please look at the labels on the walls and with your elbow partner; pick the top three priorities for educators and school...

More information