Characteristics of effective
professional development
Partners in Learning Institute, July 2011
Systemic and sustainable change
“If you want to go quickly,
go alone. If you want to go
far, go together”
African Proverb
Key trends impacting education systems
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Role of educators changing
with abundance and access of
resources on the internet.
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Work, study, learn anywhere,
anytime (“just in time” and
“found” learning).
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Cloud-based technologies and
decentralised IT support.
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Collaborative work
increasingly important as we
enter a multidisciplinary
world
Critical challenges
•
Training of educators.
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New assessment methods to
cope with new ways to
author and publish.
Driver 2: Capacity building
• Anything that is done to increase the collective effectiveness of a group
• This requires the coming together of 3 areas:
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New skills/competencies
New resources/ideas
New commitments
• In the case of new technologies not only must educators acquire new
skills and understandings, they must integrate technology into
curriculum, teaching and learning, and the assessment of learning.
Resources in the toolkit www.is-toolkit.com
This material is from work done by Michael Fullan
Taken from David Warlick
Taken from David Warlick
What are the key ingredients to a
good PD session?
• Reflect individually (5 min)
• Make notes on post-its
Common themes -15 min
• In small groups of 8, share individual
reflections
• Come up with top 6 themes
• Select a group recorder and add a sticky to
the Corkboard: http://bit.ly/nVVViI
Review Group Themes-5 min
• http://corkboard.me/xSFLyW69qt
PD-Challenges?
• In groups of 8, quickly brainstorm challenges
and come up with between 1 -4 challenges.
• Select a group recorder to type on corkboard.
• Post on corkboard of challenges.
http://bit.ly/oHUzSX
Challenges-Solutions
• Each group assigned one challenge
• Each group will use their computers/each other/whatever they
can find to develop some potential solutions to overcome the
challenges.
• Each group will select a recorder and using the template
found in the Professional Development folder of the Partners
in Learning Participant Community, record their solutions.
• Each group will upload their Challenge-Solution sheet to the
Community.
Presentation
• Each group nominates two representatives
to present their challenge and solutions.
• Each group gets 2 minutes to present
What research says…
• Conventional forms of professional development
have little effect on educator practices,
organizational changes, and student outcomes
• Programs are too top-down and too isolated
from classroom realities to make a difference
Characteristics of Effective Professional
Development
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integrated with district goals to improve education;
guided by a coherent long-term plan;
driven by disaggregated data on student outcomes;
designed according to teacher-identified needs;
primarily school-based;
provides a strong foundation in subject content and methods of teaching;
informed by research on teaching and learning;
designed around collaborative problem-solving;
enables teachers to work with colleagues, in and beyond their school building;
is continuous and ongoing, providing follow-up support for further learning;
incorporates principles of adult learning;
provides sufficient time and other resources;
is evaluated ultimately on the basis of its impact on teacher effectiveness and
student learning.
http://www.sharingsuccess.org/code/bv/pd.html
New promising approaches..
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Teacher networks
Collaboration between schools/colleges
Professional development schools
Action research projects
Mentor programs
Peer coaching
Professional DevelopmentKnowledge Library
On Sky Drive