BFTP: Responsibility for effective staff development

A weekend Blue Skunk "feature" will be a revision of an old post. I'm calling this BFTP: Blast from the Past. Original post, September 16, 2007. 

One of my major tasks over the next couple weekends is to put together a two-day workshop for a school in the Philippines. It looks like nearly 60 educators will be giving up an entire weekend to come a learn about how to use technology to improve teaching and learning. I don't want to disappoint. 

Effective staff development in the technology area has long been of interest to me. (I even wrote a book about it a long time ago.) I am not sure that we as a profession have yet figured out a way of helping all teachers acquire the skills they need to use technology effectively - anymore than we as a profession have figured out a way to teach every child the skills needed to thrive. But I hope we can keep getting better

A few thoughts regarding staff development...

1. Professional development should be considered the responsibility of the professional, not the organization. Seems like I remember someplace in the dark recesses of what passed for my formal education that I was told that in order to be considered a "professional" one had to take responsibility for one's own learning. Some educators complain that "teachers must get their training on their own time and often using their own money." And the problem here is....?

I will bet dollars to doughnuts that you, dear reader, consider perusing this blog some sick form of "professional development" and that you aren't reading it during school time. Dedicated professionals have always learned both in formal and informal ways, have done most learning outside the school day, have paid their own costs, and have made it a priority.

This is called being professional. Teachers need to act like professionals if they wish to be regarded as such. Sorry, but it's the truth. The logical consequence of professionals not taking their learning seriously is that they are so ineffectual they will no longer be employable. Well, that's the theory.

2. Organizations should facilitate individual/individualized staff development. I have advocated for an IEP for every teacher,  especially in the area of technology. In articles from 2000/2001 issues of Leading & Learning, I described our district efforts to create "professional growth targets" as a means of organizing technology staff development initiatives.

To meet a professional growth target for a year, we expect teachers to take about 30 non-school hours to learn enough to move at least one level on one of the Rubrics for Restructuring. The teacher, principal and other specialists jointly plan how those 30 hours are spent, and how the gain in knowledge and skills can be demonstrated and documented.

Tools to help make this happen are in the articles.

This worked pretty good for a couple years in our district, Here is what teachers told us about the approach:

At the district level, we have assessed the viability of such an individualized staff development approach. By using a survey tool, we found of the 38 respondents that:

70% felt they had successfully completed the PGT
70% thought the plan was clear
81% found the work they did meaningful
55% found the work they did learning about technology also helped them in other educational areas
78% found there were sufficient PGT options from which to choose
44% found these PGTs more rigorous than those in the past; 33% found them as rigorous

And then it fell apart, and I am not quite sure why. Mostly, I think, it was a lack of monitoring on the part of administrators as to whether any work was actually done. It's easier to just count heads in a formal staff development session. Our staff development folks, including our computer coordinator, didn't really buy into it. There was a general lack of trust that teachers would do the right thing. It was ahead of its time. i did not have the personal charisma to keep selling the project. Who knows?

Interestingly enough, our current Professional Learning Communities have some of these same elements, except now it is small groups rather than individuals who are planning and being held accountable for professional learning. A step in the right direction.

And I've not yet given up the fight about IEPs/PGTs for teacher technology competencies. We just need to somehow thread them into the work the PLCs are doing to improve teacher competencies in general.

And I would argue that more than ever, there is no one "right" set of technology skills needed by all teachers K-12 today.

3. "Sit and git" has its place within the larger plan. First a disclaimer: I make pretty good beer money by going to conferences and giving one-time workshops and breakout sessions. I also enjoy attending these (sometimes). Sit and Git, Spray and Pray, Drive-by Staff Development (whatever the clever derogatory appellation du jour for short sessions offered during professional development days or conference is), learning opportunities ought not to be simply dismissed as ineffective and drop kicked from the educational ball field. Like classroom lectures, good short sessions can be effective in meeting specific purposes. Those include:

• Introducing participants to a new concept, theory or practice with the expectation of self-directed follow-up. (What is meant by authentic assessment.)
• Teaching specific, useful skills, especially if practiced within the time allotted. (How to design a good rubric. How to create a class wiki.)
• Bending a mindset or encouraging an action. (Assessments can be used not just for ranking students, but to actually improve the learning process.)

Concrete, even discrete, learning opportunities have a place in professional development, provided they are part of a larger profession growth plan or teacher IEP.

Since I have written this, the whole notion of technology-enabled Professional Learning Networks has been touted as a means of helping teachers stay informed and involved in their own PD. I know it's my main source of learning opportunities. I also believe there is a growing realization among many educators that relevance is a critical element of education. And in order to understand what is relevant to an individual, you need to know that individual.

I'm going to be experimenting with Edmodo for the workshop in the PI - both as a means of getting to know the participants in the workshop beforehand and as a means to continue the conversation after the event. I'll let you know how that works out.

Bequeathing libraries and other e-downsides

As readers of the Blue Skunk know, I have long been a fan of e-books and e-book readers for personal use. IMy Kindle and iPad reader apps get a work out on a daily basis. Nine out of ten books I buy, I buy digitally. 

Yet I have to admit there are some downsides to e-formats. Sentimental, perhaps, but negatives nonetheless.

My daughter's father-in-law has just retired. A long-time pastor, Reverend Roberts left his extensive library of religious books to his son, my son-in-law, Aaron, also a pastor. Passing on a personal library of ministerial materials, I now understand, is significant for both the giver and the receiver. Along with the books comes an acknowledgement of respect. Aaron, now that he is buying much of his reading materials as e-books, wonders what he will pass on to another generation in the ministry.

Knowing I was a regular print book buyer, my family when visiting would often raid my bookshelves. Hauling back home a dozen or more best sellers, my sister would then pass them on to my mom or brother, eventually winding up as a donation to a public library - for the collection or, more likely, the book sale fund raiser. With e-books, the physical object can no longer be shared. (I've been making a donation to the local public library in my mother's hometown to expiate my guilt.)

In visiting our district school libraries, I am completely drawn to the new physical books with their compelling book jacket art and blurbs. While they say you can't judge a book by its cover, covers are primo advertising. What is the digital equivalent of the "new book" display when materials come in e-formats? A website? A running PPT show of screenshots? Hmmmmm....

Perhaps my old school print roots are still alive and well. Were I to take you to my home office, you'd find a half dozen plastic tubs of print magazines, journals, newsletters, and books in which my articles and chapters have been published. Yes, all the drafts are still out on DropBox as Word files and probably most are in some other digital format with the publishers. But there is comfort in knowing the paper copies are tucked away. (My children can recycle them when I go to my great reward.)

Rumors of Bruce Willis's concern over his digital music collection* inheritablity perhaps spurred these thoughts. While the convenience and availability of e-books is still to me more compelling than a lack of first sale doctrine rights, one cannot help but be at least a little melancholy over the passing of an old analog passion.

 *Having the worlds worst taste in music, this is not a personal concern. The first 45 record I purchased was Lorne Green singing "Ringo." 'Nuff said. 

Image source

The blessing of (school) work

Ora et labora - Pray and labor. St. Benedict

Non-Sequiter, September 1, 2012

I'm not sure why "work" has such a negative connotation in U.S. society. Perhaps it is a residual sentiment from times when most "work" was physical - dirty, dangerous, and exhausting.

I thought a great deal about "work" and its place in my life this Labor Day weekend - how it has defined me, shaped me, and rewarded me. (18 hours of driving gives one time for reflection.) While it has not always been true all the time about every job I've had, I have generally been blessed with work that gives me pleasure and my life meaning. My son-in-law's sermon last Sunday talked about St. Benedict and his observation that work and prayer can be one and the same. And that "work" is not the same as employment. I would agree.

When unemployment rates are too high, when job opportunities seem to be lacking, and when people seem to be unable to advance at their place of work or in their careers, the problem is too often framed as simply economic. And while it's absolutely true that everyone ought to be able to put a roof over one's head, purchase healthy food for one's table and give one's family decent medical care and an education, we focus far too much on the monetary rewards of work rather than the psychological rewards. The real tragedy of a lack of work is when people can't find joy in life and form a positive view of themselves. It's not really about taxpayers needing to fund welfare or unemployment payments. People without meaningful work are living a diminished life.

Everyone should take pleasure and find meaning in their work. 

And this includes students and their school "work." Whether in class or out of class, any task a teacher gives needs to be given thoughtfully, mindful of how its successful completion defines, shapes, and rewards the student's sense of him or herself. Why should students not look forward to school work as much as many adults look forward to going to work?

It's the challenges, the problems, the obstacles, and the work (see cartoon above), that make life pleasurable. Think about it as your year of school "work" begins.

Welcome back.