Thursday 15 June 2017

How Improving Educators Professional Development Is Key To The Success Of Schools

By Joshua Cooper


In today's scenario, constant training and development is the key to a successful teaching, irrespective of a teacher's experience. Thus, professional learning courses for teachers are becoming rampant the world over. These courses are available in a variety of forms, including teacher workshops, training programs, seminars etc. However, the programs for improving educators professional development have the same objective; that is, empowering teachers with new skills and knowledge to ensure maximum learning and development of students.

Educator's professional development (PD), has gained greater urgency in today's age. This is so because traditional education and strategy have not been able to meet the modern-day professional needs, and students are continually at risk of educational failure. Educators also need to be trained professionally for addressing the needs of an increasingly diverse student populace; implementing new structures to promote shared collaboration and responsibility, adopting more appropriate goals for schooling, and, and continual learning for both students and teachers.

Professional Development for teachers can take many forms. It can be very individual and exist in the form of observation of a master teacher, attending a personally chosen workshop, participating in a mentor program or an individual coaching program, or engaging in goal setting with a colleague or the leadership team. PD can also be a uniting and bonding experience for tutors through all-staff workshops at the school.

Continuous and comprehensive evaluation is also necessary. Most of the PD programs for educators enable them to get an in-depth understanding of continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE), including its structure, requirement, constructivism and effective classroom implementation. Besides, by presenting detailed insights into various teaching and learning philosophies, these programs help teachers create a student-centric learning environment in the classroom. When tutors are acquainted with different teaching methods, they can make their teaching styles more innovative as well as effective.

Educators' PD programs enable educators to determine the purpose, role, and organization of schooling with regards to the increasingly diverse students and communities they serve. It results in many positive aspects within the classroom, which leads to the overall goal; that our children thrive in our education system.

District leaders should also provide professional development days throughout the year. During this period, teachers from several schools can get together and discuss particular topics, share teaching strategies and ideas and analyze data. Besides, principals can also team-up with other principals and plan times for their teachers to get together.

By attending such workshops, teachers can understand the difference between listening and hearing as well as listening principles. They also get a better understanding of various non-verbal communications, such as facial expression, the tone of voice, gesture, body language, among others. Empowered with effective communication skills, educators can be a good observant and more influential.

Overall, PD programs are extremely beneficial in the classroom. These programs train teachers on the current practices that are most efficient and give them a better understanding of why they work. These practices help teachers focus on the student's ability to recognize and solve the material presented to them. This leads to teachers being able to teach the material different ways, to help the students understand the subject matter completely. These development courses compliment the knowledge teachers already have and build on that to create a well-rounded professional.




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