Tools for self-directed professional development
All professional development should be self-directed as individual teachers should have the autonomy to select how they want to use their PD resources. Just as students have different learning styles and needs, so too do teachers and thus the organization of professional development activities should reflect this. Research tells us that the most effective professional development occurs when teachers are in control of their own learning.
Teachers will be the drivers, not the driven—using objective evidence to help them improve, but never undervaluing their own experiential knowledge because of it. Professional learning communities will not be places for devising quick-fix solutions to disturbing data exposed by test score results, but places where wise and critical teachers engage with each other over their accumulated (though not unquestioned) knowledge using a wide range of data (not just test scores) to devise more powerful strategies that help all children learn. Andy Hargreaves. Five flaws of staff development and the future beyond. Journal of Staff Development 24, (July 2007) pp. 37–38.
Choices for professional development should be made carefully, involving teacher’s reflection on their practice, often including collaboration with colleagues. What follows here is a series of documents designed to help guide you through the choices associated with making your own self directed PD plan.
Developing a self-directed PD plan for teachers
This reflection form for developing a self-directed PD plan for teachers is a useful place to begin when establishing some broad PD goals for the year. What do you know about your own learning? Do you have a “wondering” about an aspect of your practice?
Reflection
1. Current strengths
My current strengths as a TEACHER are...
2. How I learn
I learn best when...
3. When I think about my practice, I wonder about areas of professional learning focus (developed by BCTF Research):