Saturday, June 24, 2017

By Joseph Patterson


For years, a lot of classroom teachers have exhibited some misgivings on professional development. To most teachers, the idea of teaching and handling the unique personalities and behavior of students for a great part of the day and still close the day with a workshop, training or in-service is not appealing. To make Job Embedded Professional Development for teachers appealing, three guiding principles ought to be considered: engagement, relevance, and opportunities for ongoing support.

There is professional development (PD), seminars organized by schools, the state and by other stakeholders. The goal of the seminars is to provide strategies, for the individuals to realize their employment goals and for career advancements. They provide necessary information on the self-assessment process. A career counselor offers guidelines to participants and experts, before moving on to the planning stage.

There are various PD seminars that are very helpful to fresh graduates and professionals. PD seminars provide efficient training and resources, essential to integrate the potential of beginners and those already working. The managerial students get the opportunity to learn the development of an organizational approach, by training in leadership and management skills.

In addition to relevance, PD opportunities should also allow teachers to participate in learning engagements. These learning engagements should be developed to allow time for teachers to receive guided, shared and independent practice in instructional practices that are modeled by the administrator. During this time, the administrator is afforded the opportunity to observe and to provide supportive feedback to classroom teachers, while the teachers can learn alongside their colleagues and pose questions for clarification.

Besides, it is also necessary that opportunities for ongoing support be integrated as a part of the PD opportunity. Too often, teachers receive a form of "drive-by training, " which is simply a superficial level of training, yet they are still expected to implement it with fidelity. Without ongoing support, teachers are left to implement the information that they gained from professional learning opportunities on their own.

Teachers must rely on the information that they can recall and to depend on their fellow colleagues for support and direction. However, for a sufficient amount of support, educators seek support from other instructional support staff such as instructional coaches or curriculum coordinators. These individuals possess specialized knowledge and have the availability that gives them the opportunity to provide the type of support that teachers seek after receiving professional training.

Professional learning opportunities that work must be teacher-centered and integrate adult-learning theories. This is similar to classroom instruction which is geared toward student-centeredness and child development theories. The effectiveness of these opportunities must be grounded in the idea that staff developers and facilitators design workshops that will leave a positive impression upon teachers and that easily transfer into their classroom instruction.

Today's job environment is a demanding one, wherein it is necessary to undertake as many different skills as possible to carry out various activities. It seeks towards attaining these goals by enabling a person to attain skills needed to promote themselves. Ensure to sharpen your skills by participating in this program.




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