Teachers at the Center
Rethinking Professional Development
Expiration dates make me anxious. True, they act as friendly reminders that the odor in your refrigerator needs attention or that you should not have neglected the opened container of sour cream for the past month. However, what about the milk that is two days past due but doesn’t smell? Can I push the date on the cream cheese if there are no signs of mold? I often find myself taking a gamble and wondering if I will pay for it later.
The one that causes a great deal of tension is the teacher license. I can’t push this one a few days. Every five years, I must provide a transcript proving that I earned six graduate credits. Inevitably, I find myself stressed and scrambling, flipping through various course catalogs trying to find the courses to complete my license renewal.
I understand and wholeheartedly agree with the rationale behind license renewal. I am a firm believer in ongoing professional development. However, over the years I have come to see renewal as a bane. I find myself having made several deposits of time and money as I take these professional development courses. Yet, what I can withdraw and apply to the classroom is minimal.
Professional development for educators goes beyond license renewal. Districts also provide “PD Days”. While it’s a thoughtful gesture to provide teachers this service, the workshops are rarely applicable to a classroom. During No Child Left Behind (NCLB), PD days were spent memorizing Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) percentage goals and forming Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Eventually, the focus shifted to the Common Core (CC). There are many acronyms, but one things remains the same. The focus of PD is rarely reflective of what teachers are doing in the classroom. Legislation and test scores are at the center of professional development.
Teachers at the Center
The National Writing Project (NWP) has been reexamining professional development for teachers since the 1970s. In his book, Teachers at the Center, James Gray shares how he and his colleagues were frustrated with the professional development teachers received. Outside “experts” were trusted by districts to lecture teachers on what to do in their classrooms. The problem was that the real experts, teachers, were not at the center, nor in control of their own professional development.
As a fellow with the GMWP for the past year, I have learned that three core principles make for effective professional development.
1. Action Driven Research
Professional development should derive from what teachers are experiencing in the classroom. When I began the GMWP, I was instructed to observe my classroom. From these observations, I developed questions regarding my instruction. One of those questions became the focus for my TW, a research driven project designed to allow teachers to inquire, research, test, and reflect. I have been at the center of my professional development this entire year, driving the changes in my instruction and reevaluating my goals for the upcoming year.
2. Collaboration
Effective professional development allows teachers time to collaborate. Not only did I gain from the research I did for my TW, but I also learned through the work of my colleagues. Their inquiry and their results, allowed me to further experiment and try new things in my classroom. Ashley’s investigation of justification in mathematics has had me rethink ways of justifying in English and history class. Holli’s “familias” in her Spanish class has refocused my attention on the importance of creating a classroom community in order to support student writing. Jeannine’s examination of students acting as agents for their learning has me reevaluating the amount of choice I provide. These collaborative monthly meetings push my thinking, encouraging me to reexamine and question.
3. Reflection
Professional development must allow for teachers to reflect on their practice. While my TW was the crux for the changes that occurred in my classroom this past year, it was the time to reflect that allowed me to closely examine my successes and failures. My reflection over the course of the school year has lead to more questions I have regarding instruction. Teachers-as-learners is a direct result of this reflection. Reflection drives the cycle of inquiry and results in change.
My department chair told me that the GMWP would be the best professional development I would receive. He was right. But, it doesn’t have to be. Schools and districts could easily shift the focus of professional development, placing teachers at the center. Imagine a teacher work week at the end of the year where you are charged with developing your own plan based on your classroom. You research, you learn, and you reflect. Professional development that is teacher centered and teacher driven, grounded in action driven research, collaboration, and reflection.
