As I read chapter 7 in Toward Excellence with Equity: An Emerging Vision for Closing The Achievement Gap regarding Professional Development (PD), I was struck by two things
1) Teachers are complaining (or in this case answering questions about the success or failure of PD) about the same things many students complain about
2) Why can educators not realize just how much they are like their students?
In addressing my first observation, Ferguson (2008) points out that professional development (PD) is often ineffective for many of the reasons. One of the chief reasons PD programs are not successful is because the ideas are never implemented (p. 245). This for me is similar to educators who talk about things that are going to happen in a classroom and perhaps they begin them but do not continue with them or they never get past the talking about it stage.
Implementing a program, or any strategy or idea requires two things, 1) actually implementing it and 2) Following through.
I have seen this happen in several classrooms. The educator discusses with the students what is going to happen (whether it’s a lesson or using the student’s ideas, or discipline, etc) and then the educator either does not implement it or they start to do it and fail to follow through. This typically leads to several things that lead to what Ferguson (2008) discusses when talking about the Five Challenges of Social Engagement. If a project or idea is talked about or presented, and everyone is excited about it and then it fails to begin or begins and then stops there is a mistrust between the educator and student. The same concept applies to PD courses and experiences. IF everyone is hyped up about, talked about it, and are ready to go with the idea and then it just fizzles or never begins to begin, there sets in an imbalance. The same situation leads to changes that throw the situation off balance and can often create confusion or a lack of desire to do anything else for that educator.
My second point: when educators were asked questions regarding effectiveness of PD programs many of the answers reflected several things: the way a program was introduced was not interesting, there was little to no accountability for the program, there was little to no training or support, and finally it was just too much on top of everything else they had going on (Ferguson, 2008, p. 245). WOW!! I think I have heard students complain about the exact same things when it comes to classes, teachers, homework, etc.
Teachers want to be introduced to new ideas and programs in a way that grabs their attention, motivates them to begin it, supports and trains them as they go through it, and that does not add anything too much extra to their already crazy schedules. I think this is something that needs to be kept in mind when we, as educators, are preparing our lessons. Students want us to grab their attention, motivate them to begin, support and train them as they learn the new concepts or ideas, and not pile it on because they have a lot on their plates too, what with sports, band, texting, family obligations, figuring out where they fit in, etc.We all want the same thing…..for learning (whether that’s a new professional development idea or a math strategy) to be interesting, supported, just complicated enough to challenge us and something that is obtainable without overwhelming us!
Well sadly life does not work that way! We all have things in our lives that overwhelm us and that are just not fair. Quite simply, I believe education is a lot about teaching our students to prioritize and manage their time effectively. In doing so, many of the other things we want to teach them, need to teach them will fall into place.
Professional Development is something many educators are expected to participate in and it is, in my opinion, just one more way to broaden my horizons. Every small piece I get, adds another deminsion to my puzzle. Ferguson, R., (2008). Toward excellence with equity. Mass: Harvard Education Press
