Previous sections in this book have revealed effective qualities of professional learning sessions and how adult learning theories inform the design of teacher professional development. Reform is constant in education and should influence how to examine professional development efforts, particularly those that directly impact teachers and their efforts in the classroom setting. Additionally, it is necessary to examine models that are used in majority of our school systems. Reflecting on these models can help us determine what is best for teachers at their current state of learning. This chapter explores models of professional development.
TopThe best ideas and finely tuned lesson plans are only as good as the impact they have.
- Katie Martin
This section provides an overview of educational reform influencers which shed light on professional development of teachers, with the purpose of identifying models and characteristics of effective teacher professional development. Political contexts in the United States have spurred incidents in education where schools were closed or taken over in an effort to reform failing schools (Beabout, 2012). However, professional development of teachers is not a suggested method to improve weak schools. A school that can promote collaboration among teachers in solving the problems of practice requires specific cultural conditions (Beabout, 2012). When understood, these cultural traits, promote successful school change.
High-quality professional development is a central component in nearly every reform movement discussion in education. Any school reform effort is deeply connected to the learning culture of a school, the collaboration of teachers and school leaders (Calkins, 2012; Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012; King & Bouchard, 2011). Policymakers increasingly recognize that schools can be no better than the teachers who work within them. Therefore, it is essential that professional development of teachers be of high quality. While professional development programs vary widely in their content and format, most share a common purpose: to “modify the professional practices, beliefs, and understanding of school persons toward an articulated end” (Grif,1983, p. 2). In most circumstances, that end is the improvement of student achievement. Professional development sessions are systematic efforts to bring about adjustment in the classroom practices of teachers, in their attitudes and views, and in the learning outcomes of students.
However, past reform efforts spurred by ‘No Child Left Behind’ legislation, which sought to improve teaching and learning in schools have all but failed. Previous emphasis on testing has changed school culture and classroom dynamics. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars of new funding for reading instruction, reading scores in the United States have flat lined (Calkins, 2012). Fullan (1993), who draws on decades of research on school reform noted, “The main problem in public education in not resistance to change, but the presence of too many innovations mandated or adopted uncritically and superficially on an ad hoc, fragmented basis” (p.23). He later suggested that professional development found in schools today is merely low-cost meetings to implement laid-on agendas (Fullan, 2012). Reeves (2010) also found that many schools are flooded with a constant stream of new initiatives, few of which are implemented with rigor or sustainability over time. The lack of attention given to successful methods of professional development of teachers is problematic and deserves attention, as the success future education efforts hinge on the effectiveness of teachers (Valerie, 2012).