Written by Andrew Willems
The case for WELS teachers entering into ongoing professional development should be clear. As I’ve taken post-graduate classes, I appreciate those teachers who seek to stay current with readings and new technologies and modern pedagogy. As a parent, I have bad thoughts about my daughter having the same college professors I had–hoping they don’t use the same old strategies they taught me as a student! As a teacher, I know my students can instantly seek answers from the world wide web. Why can’t I?
This blog posts only looks at the value of Professional Development time at school, sometimes referred to as inservice. How can you afford not to do it? How can you make it effective? Finally, how can you do it for as low a cost as possible?
In his Jan 30th blog entry on Issues in Lutheran Education, No Time for Continuing Education?, Dr. John Meyer states that, “If Lutheran schools are to develop a community of professionalism and continued growth, they need to view classroom teaching as sufficient for a full-time call.” One of the suggestions he offers to increase time for teacher professional development is, “3. Maximize already scheduled inservice days for high- impact professional development…A school that prioritizes professional growth will utilize the embedded inservice opportunities for teacher learning.”
In another blog, Elton Stroh points out one of the reasons Lutheran schools are more likely to be healthy is, “5. expect and budget for ongoing professional development” (Key Observations about Healthy Schools).
On a limited budget, your own school can greatly assist with teacher professional development by providing regular and intentional teacher inservice time, known as professional development. Why not plan a two hour late start day once a month for teachers to work on making their teaching and their school better? We ended the school day five minutes and gained 880 minutes of extra instructional time. That allows for 1 ½ hours of professional development each month. Many books can be discussed, educational studies read, and ideas written and rehearsed for your classroom lessons in that time!
Topics and resources are almost unlimited in this day and age. While I enjoy going to assist faculties with specific professional development topics as the “expert” in a particular field, why don’t you save your school the $400 you would pay me for a full day’s inservice and go online to find another “exper?” Even a rudimentary Google search comes up with literally millions of ideas (professional development tools for teachers). These online tools often lead to other resources to use (Ed-Week and Ted Talks). Finally, let’s not forget your Professional Learning Network (PLN). Many states require this as part of your state certification plan. Perhaps you use Twitter as your PLN already. Share those resources with your teachers and ask your PLN for resources they use.
Lost as to how to go about arranging a professional development plan of attack? Look at the WELS teaching standards. Perhaps look at your school’s five year plan generated from your Accreditation team or institutional self-study. Then with your faculty or administration team select the areas of school improvement you would like to focus on. That is your main goal. However, that goal is usually too daunting a task, so then divide it into smaller more manageable tasks depending on how many professional development opportunities you have in a school year.
Next, think about what you are trying to accomplish. Why did you hate inservice before you were a principal? Why do teachers complain about professional development? Why is professional development never relevant to you? It is hard to make professional development meaningful: different grade levels, different subject levels, different teaching pedagogies and teaching philosophies. But keep these points in mind from Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux in their book, “The Ten-Minute Inservice”: time saving, inservice design, implementation/follow-up, making inservice engaging.
Before you know it, you are well on your way to having a good plan for your WELS school’s teacher professional development.
Andrew (Drew) has a MS Ed from Walden University with an emphasis in integrating technology. He is the Director of Technology for Shoreland Lutheran High School and assists in planning their Professional Development days. He has 26 years experience teaching in WELS elementary and high schools.
Editor’s Note: There are a variety of courses to fit your needs whether you are interested in faculty development using the Professional Development Series or maybe you are interested in taking a class that allows you to practice what you learn right away in your classroom like the Teaching That Works courses.
References
Edublogs Teacher Challenge. Retrieved May 4th, 2015 from: http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln challenge1whattheheckisapln/
Education Week. Retrieved May 3rd 2015 , copyright Editorial Projects Inc. from http://www.edweek.org/ew/index.html
Google Search. Retrieved May 1st, 2015 from https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF 8&q=professional%20development%20tools%20for%20teachers&oq=professional%20development%20tools% 20for%20teachers&aqs=chrome..69i57.8439j0j7
Meyer, J. No Time for Continuing Education?. Issues in Lutheran Education, January 30, 2015
Stroh, E. Key Observations about Healthy Schools. Issues in Lutheran Education, August 14, 2014
Ted Talks. Retrieved May 3rd, 2015. copyright TED Conferences, LLC. from: https://www.ted.com/talks
Whitaker, T, Breaux, A. (2013). The TenMinute Inservice. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass. Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Teaching Standards. Retrieved May 7th, 2015 from:
https://connect.wels.net/AOM/schools/General%20Documents/WELS%20Teaching%20Standards%20and%20 Continuum/WELS%20Teaching%20Standards.pdf
There is a noticeable void of references to ministry with its motivating vectors and desired outcomes. This article could represent any school system. As President Schroeder noted in his inservice at MLC last spring. the teaching ministry is not a job, not work, not a profession, but a calling. For us “professional development” may be better phrased as ministry development. However, this title does not have the lure and aggrandizement as in the public sector. Not very “professional” of me to hope we always retain our scriptural philosophy as we strive to better serve in ministry.
Great article Andrew!
I am a huge believer and avid user of a Personal Learning Network. I believe that as educators we are preparing individuals to become life-long learners, and this goal has never been as accessible as it is today. My passion is to not only motivate student learning, but to enable them to continue learning informally. To this end I believe that educators should become comfortable in using the tools afforded them in our connected age to form a personal learning network that will go out and bring the news and ideas across their desks. When done correctly, it is something that can look an awful lot like leisure reading and entertainment.
I also agree with the statement you made about bringing in the “experts.” I’m not going to say that expert advice shouldn’t be sought. Nor would I argue against paying a qualified individual handsomely to come and lead PD at your school. But I do think that there is a lot of opportunity for individual faculty members to share their expertise and foster a discussion among the rest by simply continuing to read and reflect on current practices and ideas in education.
Before I go – and for those that are curious – I find that one of the easiest places to start in creating a PLN is feedly.com – it is an aggregated newsreader that allows you to pick your interests and even add specific sites. It then capitalizes on RSS feeds to bring that news to your PC, tablet, or phone so that it is ready for you to consume, or just flip through at your convenience. There are so many great websites, blogs, and authors to add in any field that it can be a one-stop location to get the latest on your favorite sports team and an update on what is being done in the field of ___ education.