Disrupting Professional Development: The Case for Ongoing Support
(Part 5 in a 5-Part Professional Development Series)
Within any given school year, educators engage in various opportunities of professional development. One might say that most of educator “free time” is either devoted to preparing for instructional delivery or for participating in professional development activities. These activities could include state-driven topics of learning or district-driven instructional initiatives. This is usually what fills the time of most in-service days for teachers, administrators, paraeducators, and staff. With that in mind, we need to reflect upon the results of professional development sessions.
Whether state or district driven, time allotted for professional development fulfills state requirements for topics and hours of continuing professional education credits. Educators are able to learn and apply knowledge gained in these sessions for the betterment of students and their academic, social, and emotional learning. Professional development allows educators to utilize current research in a way that can lend itself to improvement in student learning and achievement. Teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, and staff are kept abreast of current educational trends. They refine their knowledge and expertise in pedagogy, keeping their certifications relevant and active. The benefits of professional development extend to both students and educators. After all of the positive attributes mentioned, what is the result of professional development? Do we implement the initiative with fidelity? Do we continue to upgrade knowledge and practice? Or, are we on to the next initiative, repeating the endless cycle of present-day continued learning experiences?
If we are honest, the time spent in professional development may end after the particular session, which means that we are filling time requirements with little or no effect on student learning and achievement and/or professional growth. It is time to disrupt this pattern of professional development and start to ensure that the time used for continuing education transcends the limits of the starting and ending points of individual learning sessions. This starts by disrupting the mindset of the current construct of professional development by rising above and going beyond start to finish in order to provide ongoing support for educators. Ongoing support is paramount in continued learning and can be addressed through three key areas.
1. Professional development provides ongoing support for educators when it focuses on implementation.
Professional development is more effective when it is centered upon implementation over time as opposed to delivery of knowledge within a frame of time. Implementation is driven by smaller-sized segments of learning. The “small bites” method allows educators time to process their learning, which results in better understanding, better clarification, and better implementation within their instructional delivery. It gives educators the necessary time to create, implement, monitor, evaluate, and make adjustments within classroom instruction. With the gain in knowledge, understanding, and experience, educators can continue to improve their instructional delivery, netting better results in student learning and achievement.
2. Professional development provides ongoing support for educators when it attends to scope and progression.
Professional development is more successful in attaining its goals when it is planned from start to finish. It is a step-by-step process where it focuses on whole-to-parts and delivers in parts-to-whole. The scope of professional development looks carefully at all of the parts or focused topics of learning and places each on a progressive sequence until all knowledge is presented in its entirety. This sequence from start to end is important, but that is just the first step. Although the instructional initiative has been presented in totality, professional development is not finished. We must add another step that goes beyond the finish line in order to provide ongoing support. This is a natural progression within the five-step framework of program development: research, planning, implementation, evaluation and feedback, and ongoing support. Ongoing support provides multiple opportunities to make clarifications, to expand content knowledge, and to discover and utilize additional resources for the betterment of students and educators.
3. Professional development provides ongoing support for educators when it is tailored to meet the needs of employees.
When planning for professional development, it is a necessity to create learning sessions that will address the needs of all employees within the school entity. This includes teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, and staff. Employees are a significant and key driver when delivering professional development for any educational initiative. Like scope and progression, we need to add another step in this process. We need to plan with the future in mind. We need to provide additional learning sessions for employees who express interest in expanding knowledge, as well as for employees who need additional time. We need to continue professional development for new staff and new teachers by providing the same or similar opportunities for understanding as all teachers received in the initial phase of program implementation. We cannot depend on abbreviated learning for new teachers and administrators, long-term substitutes, or new staff members. This “bare bones” presentation of professional development of district initiatives chips away at the fidelity of implementation and the success of the program. In order to meet the needs of employees, planning for professional development is a two-step process: planning for current employees and planning for future employees.
Professional development is an essential requirement of all educators. We need to provide better opportunities that go above and beyond the current parameters of implementation and support educators throughout the entire process in the present and future.
Dr. Paula Westerman is founder and chief executive officer of DevelApped, West Educator Applications, LLC, a Pennsylvania-based firm that addresses the professional development needs of educators through a unique platform using disruption innovation. Having served in Pennsylvania public schools for over 25 years, Dr. Westerman brings her extensive educational experience as a central office administrator, secondary and elementary building administrator, and elementary teacher to provide consulting services for educators on current and relevant initiatives that will help school entities transform their programs to improve student learning and achievement.
