TIE 575- 4th Blog Posting

Write your opinion of this definition of Professional Development.

NSDC's definition of professional development: The term "professional development" means a comprehensive, sustained, and intensive approach to improving teachers' and principals' effectiveness in raising student achievement.

They then break it down into smaller specific areas like courses, workshops, institutes, networks, and conferences.

Section 3(iv) states that it should provides job-embedded coaching or other forms of assistance to support the transfer of new knowledge and skills to the classroom

I can't tell you how many times I have been to a professional development, specifically one on technology, and during the middle of it I hear, "this is great, but if I don't go home and practice it right away....I'll never remember how to use it." And let's face it, we may have the best of intentions to go home, sit down and keep it fresh but do we? Well, I don't.

As I read through the main part of this definition it sounds exactly like what professional developments should consist of. However, there are so many different kinds of people who give them; current classroom teachers, principals, vendors, "professional" professional developers. I think this gives so much room for personal style and commitment to come into play that this definition gets translated into many different languages.

I have a friend who works in a charter school. They stay longer one day of each week for professional development. When she took the job this was the one part she dreaded. She couldn't imagine sitting through a professional development every week. She's been at the school for 3 years now and says that it has become the greatest advantages to her students and to her as a teacher. Each PD has a specific purpose and carries over into the next week's PD. They also have continued support following the professional development in the classroom during the week. I asked her if at anytime she felt like it was just too much every week. She said since it is all based on their specific needs, they attend very few sometimes no PD's outside of the school, that it's never overwhelming because they don't ever feel like yet another thing is being added. They have actually now hired someone who's job is to schedule and evaluate the PD's at her school

In my opinion this situation is how professional development is most effective. I'm not suggesting that it can't be effective if done outside the school but it seems that if we're going to take professional development seriously, which sometimes we can't, then we need to be committed to comprehensive, sustained, and intensive.