Assignment 1
EDUC 5500
October 2009
The entirety of my High School teaching experience has been in an online, virtual environment. I began my High School teaching career at CBe-learn, the Calgary Board of Education’s online school. Because of my experiences there, teaching a number of subjects and working with new and experienced staff, I was selected to work as part of a team of Learning Leaders who were deployed into other High Schools within our school board, charged with the task of bringing Professional Development into the schools.
The primary focus of our work was centred on technology integration, and the initiation and maintenance of a Learning Management System in a traditional face-to-face environment. However, like my colleagues, I asserted that I was not simply technical support, but was an educator first and foremost.
During these years, I was assigned half-time to the school, and maintained my own online teaching load half-time. This unique perspective allowed me to gain considerable experiences over two years, which have significantly shaped my personal philosophy of Professional Development.
My Professional Development Philosophy
Effective Professional Development:
• Offers sustainability and consistency
• Provides practical and pragmatic support for teachers
• Addresses student learning needs
• Is personalized to the learner
If these things are taken to be true, then certain logistical, structural and environmental conditions must be put into place to facilitate Effective Professional Development.
Effective Professional Development:
• Must be supported and directed by strategic leadership
• Is school and job-embedded
• Takes place within a community of learners
• Occurs over time
What is Effective Professional Development?
Effective Professional Development Offers Sustainability and Consistency:
Part of my role as an embedded PD resource for teachers was to ensure that I worked myself out of a job. Because my position was a temporary assignment, I needed to make sure my knowledge and skills were adequately passed on to many others in the school. By the end of my two-year assignment, I needed to be confident that each department had a contact point they could approach for any technical or instructional questions. The size of the school (and by extension, the school board) meant that teachers do not become stagnant in any one specific position. Rather than leaving the skills and knowledge with one or two individuals, the collective understanding needs to rest within the entire school community.
The Institute for the Advancement of Research in Education conducted research of 14 different Professional Development studies, and compiled their findings in a review to Texas Instruments Educational and Productivity Solutions Division. The IARE research indicates that a key component to effective PD implementation is the sustained, on-the-job opportunities that include "ongoing support from other teachers and/or staff development professionals" (2004). It is critical to ensure that knowledge and materials are shared among the entire school community, and not restricted to a few isolated individuals, even if these individuals act as department heads.
Effective Professional Development Provides Practical and Pragmatic Support for Teachers:
As a support to other classroom teachers, I wanted to add significant value to their practice. I wanted to help teachers answer the questions "Why would I do this?" as well as "How would I do this?" In very literal ways, I wanted to give teachers the tools they need to be successful with their students. Because the work I was doing was concerned with technology, and integration of a learning management system, I was able to provide tangible skills and work with the teachers to co-create a final product. Some of the teachers I worked with were interested in setting up a class website, and I was able to assist them reach this goal. By the time I had completed my assignment, I had co-created a number of virtual classrooms and communities, and provided realistic and practical strategies for teachers to use immediately in their classrooms.
Killion's research (Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, and Yoon 2001; Wenglinski, 2000) confirms that the time spent engaging in PD activities is not as relevant as the content of the learning experiences. More time allotted to irrelevant PD of poor quality will not positively impact student performance (2002). However, quality time spent working on creating and producing practical and substantial tools and objects is a valuable use of teachers’ time.
Effective Professional Development Addresses Student Learning Needs:
The PD that I offered to teachers was based on technology and its integration, not on a specific subject’s curriculum. However, I made sure that everything we worked on had a strong basis in their current assignment. Student work and learning needs were at the centre of any projects we took on. Before continuing with any of the development work, I would make sure the teacher had a solid, pedagogically-sound rationale for initiating this technology into their classroom. Technology for technology’s sake was not a strong enough factor to have me work with another teacher.
In each of the 14 different PD studies researched by IARE, each study was targeted to specific desired learning outcomes (2004). By placing actual student work at the centre of Professional Development, teachers are able to make clear connections between student accomplishments and further teaching and learning required. Based on work by Cohen & Hill (1998) and Killion (2002), IARE are able to demonstrate how "PD that is based on the analysis of student learning helps teachers close the gap between actual student performance and goals for student learning" (2004).
Effective Professional Development is Personalized to the Learner:
Currently, we take for granted that for student learning to be effective, it must be personalized and meaningful to the individual. However, this is equally important when the educators are the learners; when teachers are students. Historically, most professional development practices don’t follow this basic principle. Teachers are brought together for "PD Days", where they are all given the same lecture or workshop, even if it doesn’t necessarily impact their current workload. During the first year of my deployment, I attempted to host a number of technology sessions for large and small groups of teachers. Upon reflecting on the progress I had made at the end of the first year, I made a conscious decision to abandon my previous model of offering PD. The teachers I was working with were all at drastically different levels of expertise, and offering group sessions was not an effective way of helping teachers reach their individual PD goals. There were a number of times I presented information to the staff as a group, but the information was always general and applicable to all participants. Going in-depth required more one-on-one sessions. Individual, personalized sessions allowed me to customize my delivery, and permit more time to co-create products and meaningful results.
Killion suggests using the most appropriate methods of Professional Development, even if those methods don't fit with a traditional model. Taking on learning opportunities through "coaching, action research, examining student work, lesson study, demonstration and modeling, collaborative planning and development, videotape analysis, and study groups" can help schools and individual teachers in a way that traditional "training" never can (2002). By personalizing Professional Development, the teacher is able to participate in a meaningful and rewarding experience, and by extension, take this learning and new knowledge back to the classroom for immediate implementation.
If this is true, then how can Effective Professional Development be implemented successfully?
Effective Professional Development Must be Supported and Directed by Strategic Leadership:
As my assignment continued over the two years, I became more aware of the importance of strategic leadership in establishing an Effective Professional Development program. Because my work and time was split between two different departments, I was able to see the importance that school and system leadership has on staffs and individuals adopting and implementing changes to established practices. In our Board, direction and directives come from the Superintendent, Director, Principal, Department Head and Learning Leader before reaching the classroom teacher. It is of significant importance that the common vision and values are adequately communicated along these lines. Breakdown in communication or expectation can happen at any point along this route. Because we were deployed as part of a new, untested project, it was critically important to have strong, clear leadership around the direction we were to take when working with classroom teachers. Leadership is a crucial piece of implementing effective PD within a school, district or school board.
Killion suggests that "policy makers and staff development leaders are responsible for establishing the context that will support powerful, continuous staff development". Furthermore, indicating that staff development in isolation is not enough to produce the intended and expected results. One of the key features of Effective PD, alongside rigorous content standard and policy changes is "leadership that advocates for high-quality professional learning and communities of learning" (2002). As indicated by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory research (Byrom; Guskey and Lockwood), support from school administration is an absolute requirement when attempting to implement an Effective Professional Development program. Not only should the administration provide and share the vision of the PD strategy, but they should participate in any development activities available. The principal needs to be seen as a "master teacher", rather than an administrator limited to managing "the minutiae of school life and divorced from the demand for instructional leadership" (2000).
Effective Professional Development Is School and Job-Embedded:
Because my role allowed me to act as a teacher within the school, but outside of the staff, I was able to be available whenever a teacher needed my assistance. This permitted me to help teachers find solutions to their technical and instructional needs in a timely and emergent manner. I was there to provide just-in-time learning. I allowed teachers to access their support when and where they needed it. Although my position was unique, and not easily replicated within other school environments, the key feature of job-embedded PD should be maintained. Rather than removing teachers from their environmental contexts, offering in-school PD allows teachers to make immediate connections to their current work.
Research by IARE (2004) concludes that Effective PD programs take place within an authentic learning environment. Teachers must be provided with on-the-job, hands-on PD. School embedded Professional Development improves teacher practice by promoting practical learning. Additionally, this takes less time away from the classroom than other strategies. Furthermore, NCREL studies emphasize the importance of immediate and sustained access to support from trained personnel. Effective PD needs to provide "just-in time support, assistance, and encouragement when needed" (2000). Job-embedded Professional Development helps keep the teacher focused on the practical and immediate implications of their work.
Effective Professional Development Takes Place Within a Community of Learners: Having adopted DuFour’s model of Professional Learning Communities throughout our board, the Calgary Board of Education has established working PLC groups in every school and department. This was advantageous to the work I was doing, as it permitted me to position myself within a community of highly experienced teachers. Often, I found myself working with teachers who had many more years of experience than I did, but I was always relieved to realize they would recognize my individual technical talents, just as I recognize the importance of their experience, and subject area knowledge. To this end, my own Professional Development was satisfied; even though I was directed with facilitating the PD, I learned an incredible amount about High School instruction, content knowledge and my own attitudes and assumptions.
The keystone to DuFour’s work is that “The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is developing the ability of school personnel to function as professional learning communities” (1998). By focusing Professional Development work in Professional Learning Communities, DuFour insists that teachers can avoid the traditional approach to staff development, which is seen as "fragmented, unfocused, and [not able to] address schoolwide problems or priorities" (1998). Paralleling the conclusions from DuFour, Killion uses research from Fullan and Newmann, King & Youngs to reiterate the importance of Professional Learning Communities within school environments. Individual teacher learning is "insufficient to produce results unless the organization of the school is changing" (2002). Knowledge sharing can take place within PLCs, but with the correct structures in place can easily become cross-curricular, cross-departmental, and cross-generational.
Effective Professional Development Occurs Over Time:
Although I was involved in this specific project for a period of two years, a significant challenge in my first year was how to establish my presence, and how to build a working relationship with the school staff. It was important the teaching staff understood that I would continue to be available to them beyond an isolated "PD Day". I was going to be available for the staff all year, but needed to prove this over time. I had the understanding that all individuals learn at their own pace, and need time to put new theories and technologies into practice. Therefore, I made sure the staff was reminded of my presence and availability. By the end of my two years in this specific environment, I had established rapport with each of the different departments, and was able to better serve the needs of the school. I honestly believe that quality instruction is ameliorated by thoughtful reflection – and the time required to process this information is instrumental in Effective Professional Development.
IARE reports evidence that high-quality professional development occurs over time and "should be seen as an ongoing process" (2004). By participating in ongoing PD, teachers are "given opportunities to implement methods and procedures suggested by the professional development program and to receive feedback on those implementation efforts. By sustaining the professional development implementation effort over time, the potential to impact student achievement increases" (2004). Further to this, Killion describes the benefits of Professional Development occurring over time, by highlighting the importance of employing the most appropriate model of PD, while simultaneously verifying that "staff development leaders and providers will want to ensure ongoing follow-up and support to facilitate transfer of learning to routine practice" (2002). Recognizing that PD is not a one-off session, or a unique occurrence allows teachers to invest more time, effort and personal resources, knowing their time and talents will be put to sustained use.
Summary
If Effective Professional Development is to offer sustainability and consistency; provide practical and pragmatic support for teachers; address student learning needs; and be personalized to the learner, then it must be supported and directed by strategic leadership; be school and job-embedded; take place within a community of learners; and occur over time.
References
DuFour, R. and R. Eaker. (1998). Professional learning communities at work: best practices for enhancing student achievement. Bloomington, IN: National Education Service.
Institute for the Advancement of Research in Education. (2004). Review of the research: nine components of effective professional development prepared for Texas Instruments Educational and Productivity Solutions Division. Retrieved September 26, 2009, from http://education.ti.com/sites/US/downloads/pdf/T3PDLiteratureReview.pdf
Killion, J. (2002). What works in the high school: Results-based staff development. Retrieved September 26, 2009, from http://www.wested.org/stratlit/pubsPres/hswhatworks.pdf
National Staff Development Council (2009). NSDC’s standards for staff development. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from http://www.nsdc.org/standards/index.cfm
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (2000). Providing professional development for effective technology use. Retrieved September 26, 2009, from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te1000.htm
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