9.3: Professional Development
My first impressions of Professional Development in the education world meant going to meetings, conferences, and continuing to study teaching, so I began searching for an opportunity to witness this humdrum sort of refinement. The principal at my mentoring school invited me to a planning meeting she was hosting that helped enlighten me on the subject. As a guest in a Professional Development Meeting on the Creation of Small Schools within Lawrence North High School, I found myself inquisitive, engaged, and actively contributing to an effort of which I may never even be a part. The details of the meeting are irrelevant, because regardless of the agenda, the overall personal experience has provided the necessary understanding of the importance of Professional Development and the “business of teaching.”
In reflecting upon this aspect of teaching, it is important to keep these Merriam-Webster definitions in mind: 1) professional: exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace; and 2) development: to go through a process of natural growth, differentiation, or evolution by successive changes.
While Professional Development certainly implies life-long learning, it differs in many ways from expressing expectation 1.2: Teacher as Learner. That expectation reflects upon a personal responsibility to maintain an openness and willingness to continue to grow as a teacher. Professional Development calls for a more accountable, business-like level of responsibility. It’s about respecting the system and understanding the business of teaching.
Personally, teachers bring two things to the school, their specialized training and personal strengths. As I think about my former teachers and continue to observe teachers in training and in the field, this is an area that seems to suffer from decay after several years in the classroom. Most teachers enter the field highly trained and motivated with good ideas about instruction and management. Somewhere along the line some lose the continuity. The understanding that content, methods and most importantly students are changing rapidly loses ground to “I’ve always done it that way.” There’s a reason a Barbie doll does not look the way she did in the 1950’s or the Atari 2600 game system is not on any child’s Christmas wish list. You have to keep up with the times and remain sensitive to change, not only in your content area, but in the disciplines it feeds. We must also remain sensitive to the changes of a transient student body. The world they come to us from changes dynamically from decade to decade, even annual changes are apparent with acute awareness.
Successful businesses are built upon quality products and services, teamwork and morale, careful market analysis, structured chains-of-command, and fiscal responsibility. Each employee’s specialized training is designed as a functional part of the system, and personal strengths and weaknesses are complimented by others in the group. Relationships with co-workers are just as important as relationships with clientele. The leadership focuses the vision and expects a commitment to certain strategies that may have implications beyond your little cubicle. Finally, the targeting mechanisms are implemented to answer the question, “Is it working?” All of these characteristics can transfer easily to a successful school.
Quality Products and Services: Before entering a discussion about a teacher’s products and services, it must be understood whom we are serving. While we work for our administration, our clientele is made up of students and parents.
A teacher’s product is simply knowledge or expertise. As I have mentioned before, we may be the only content experts in our students’ lives. Sometimes we choose to dress it up in fancy manipulatives, technological presentations or collaborative projects. But at the end of the day, if we have not delivered a sound, reliable base of knowledge, the product will not meet the needs and expectations of the clients.
The service we provide describes how we deliver this product to our clientele. Just make a list of any number of things that irritate you when they are missing from an experience while shopping, dining out, or wrestling with the phone company. That list includes your professional expectations: accessible, accommodating, consistent, clear, pleasant, reliable, true, communicative, etc. As a teacher, do you meet your own standards of professionalism?
There is a piece of wisdom that circulates through the Midwest Market at PF Chang’s which focuses our sales-building philosophy—Guests, Customers, Clientele. In short, it analyzes the ability we have to transform everyday patrons into loyal, familiar and personal allies. We must be committed to delivering to both students and parents a quality product in a manner which builds and respects them as clientele.
Teamwork and Morale: Two important components of teamwork are trust and understanding. Together they foster the ability to both accept and administer assistance among colleagues and to interact productively with one another.
Almost two years ago I was granted permission to offer a Professional Development opportunity of sorts at PF Chang’s. I proposed “A Day In Your Shoes” as an chance for anyone to trade jobs for an entire shift. The response was overwhelming, and most everyone was actually curious about one another’s responsibilities. A Day In Your Shoes turned into two weeks of precision scheduling to accommodate everyone’s requests and balance them with the restaurant’s need to maintain experienced staff in all positions at the same time. Servers became Managers, Hostesses became Chefs, and the General Manager even washed dishes all night. The experience generated a lot of camaraderie, respect, and conversation about how we all work together to deliver PF Chang’s message to our Guests. The restaurant was in a constant buzz from the enthusiasm and interest in who was doing what every day for the entire two weeks. The shared experience of working side-by-side in departments that usually do not cross boundaries encouraged discussion, enhanced understanding and boosted morale for months.
Open communication can also benefit the morale of the group. Companies often use newsletters as ways of communicating pertinent information in a personal and fun way. The routine formality of the corporate memo is replaced with a more connective delivery that really helps colleagues realize they are part of something bigger than the tasks on their to-do list. The Wonton Scoop has been my effort at work to eliminate the need for daily or weekly pre-shift meetings with my Servers. All of the important information you need to know about subtle or significant changes is included. Sometimes it is in a forceful manner, but often it is informal and fun, and many Servers anticipate its weekly arrival. I’ve utilized the Wonton Scoop to outline highly accountable changes in food or service through simple fun-and- games activities that just keep everyone talking and enjoying one another’s company.
School spirit should also be embraced and displayed by teachers. The common ground that teachers share with students and parents may be the bonds of pride that are felt for the school. The victories and the challenges that we share with them from year to year are unique, and we must be genuine about our support and enthusiasm. By doing so, we gain respect and credibility, and we are equipped to capitalize on waves of enthusiasm as they pass through our classroom.
Market Trends: Teachers that have lasting impact are the ones that are aware of the value their content area has in a global marketplace for students. The skills they impart to their students, as a concentration area or general education requirements, have useful applications. Effective teachers are committed to understanding the current, and more importantly the future role of their content area in the personal and professional lives of students.
I believe that conferences and meetings do have value. While conventions often become a forum for sales pitches and gurus, they are also an opportunity for rare insights from experts. As a professional, if you choose to be in the right frame of mind and pay attention, you should always take at least one good idea from even the most pathetic event. In mathematics, the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) distributes monthly newsletters that highlight trends in teaching, scholarships, curriculum, student contests and awards, and professional applications. The council also produces an annual conference that I plan to attend in the summer of 2006 in St. Louis. I hope that, during this summer just prior to becoming a full-time teacher, I will be more open to everything the convention has to offer and evaluate the many facets objectively. I anticipate creating a positive experience that encourages me to return to future conventions and build a pool of personal resources for advice as a new teacher.
This is also where community roles come into play. Students get tired of hearing about the importance of school from teachers and parents. Meaningful mathematical experiences and interactions outside of school within the community help students to realize that certain skills are fundamental in certain fields and that computers are not problem-solvers. It takes educated people to properly instruct computers and creative minds to transform fundamental skills into innovations.
Structured Chains-of-Command: As in any job, there exists a hierarchy of personnel and procedure. Teaching can often be a solitary and self-reliant effort, so this structure serves to systemize and stabilize the environment and allow professionals who rarely interrelate to work stylistically yet cooperatively within the same set of expectations.
Layers of leadership emerge that allow teachers to understand those expectations and respect the chain of command. We are very free to explore methodology, but at the same time we are often restricted by resources (finances, technology, time, etc.) and rules. Leadership sets the tone for what is acceptable and appropriate at the school, and teachers should respect the personnel whose job it is to manage those directives. We may be asked to refrain from continuing certain behavior or asked to acquire approval for a particular project or lesson that may be construed to be outside certain boundaries. An understanding, respectful and business-like relationship with superiors will ensure a reciprocal trust in your ability as a teacher to make sound judgments for your students on behalf of the school.
In the Small Schools Planning Meeting, I witnessed a strong and respected leader introducing a major change that she fully intends to implement. She has called upon a progressive and conscientious group of teachers to formulate a tentative implementation to be presented to the entire faculty. The Principal’s motivation is the subject of a forthcoming expectation; the important fact here is that she has previously earned the professional trust, leadership and respect of the faculty committee.
In a follow-up meeting I attended recently, interested faculty members have been invited to participate in the continuing discussions. Many trips have been planned to observe various schools that have adopted the Small Schools philosophy. Discussions are proceeding that outline possible themes, content, instructional practices, and shared services and also address the many concerns teachers have. The obvious benefit that most of the teachers see is the ability to shepherd the students (especially the lost ones) in such a big school through smaller communities. It was even asked, “If the greatest emerging benefit is simply the proximity, familiarity, and connectivity of a smaller community, then why label them thematically at all?” I found the question to be interesting, and a perfect example of why I asked to attend this particular meeting.
The original planning meeting I attended was full of teachers who were already motivated by the potential change, so I asked to sit in on a meeting that may present some of the opposing views. Interestingly enough, the teacher who questioned the need for themes is a member of the original planning committee and part of the group I participated in to create a mission statement for a theme school which bore her name in the working title. My reaction to this question is that the real purpose of such a sweeping change is to motivate students, and if they are motivated by a choice that gives them a sense of belonging and better relates core content to areas of interest, then certainly a thematic approach is appropriate. This meeting still begs the question, “Where is the student input?” I think it is important understand what areas of interest would be motivational to the students and invite that dialogue in an upcoming meeting with the committee.
Beyond planning for change, schools also have certain systems in place that influence grading, discipline, student liberties, hiring practices, and virtually all other areas operation. Grading, for example, is often departmentalized in mathematics. Tests and more often final examinations are written and administered department-wide, so that all students are tested and graded in exactly the same way. Mastery of the major ideas is so critical to readiness for the next class that a final exam should be thought of as a summative entrance exam for the next course. As an instructor, you may feel that you can write an exam that is more appropriate for your class, but you must respect the continuity of the curriculum throughout the department. Your students’ mastery will be evident on any exam, and that is your personal triumph. Your professional obligation is to remember that you are a part of something bigger than your classroom.
Fiscal responsibility: Education often seems to be on the budgetary chopping block, whether at the state, district or school level. We know we could offer richer experiences to our students with more resources, and it is frustrating to see money thrown at non-critical social and political issues. But most schools do the very best with what they have. As teachers, it is important to remember why we entered the profession and that even with all of the money we could hope for, a frugal and creative teacher is still the most valuable resource a student could hope for. The more committed we are to encouraging other teachers, students and parents to all become one voice in the politics of funding, the more positive impact we can have on behalf of our students as future citizens and leaders.
My perspective of Professional Development may look a little different than most with its commercial slant, but the characteristics of successful business management are completely applicable to teaching when you look beyond the lesson plans and grades. Maintaining a progressive attitude that is open to new ideas, promotes life-long learning and expects advanced understanding of methodology and content applications is difficult, but possible. Another characteristic of successful businesses is networking, probably considered only as an afterthought here, because I’m the least comfortable with it. I do expect to build a core of cutting-edge contacts from the foundation I have already laid with Carrie Chapman, Lynn Lupold, Jeffrey Watt, and my CoT peers. This circle will be expanded over the years by welcoming the newest teachers and exploring the fresh perspectives that that they will bring to the school. Professional Development is an obligation to continuously evaluate your contribution to building a better, more accountable learning environment.
