Sharing Good Practice
EMPOWERING YOUR CLASSROOM
THROUGH DIFFERENTIATING YOUR OWN
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BY CHASSIE SELOUANE
Professional learning that facilitates
the use of modern technology can
also help teachers make better
connections between new learning,
existing practices and expand their
professional learning communities
outside the walls of their school.
E
mpowering your students
begins with empowering your
professional learning and taking
control of areas of practice that
are in need of development in your
own career.
Professional development (PDs) can
only be effective if they are tied to
practice. Often PDs are used by
schools to roll out new programs. One
off programs that have a trainer of the
day normally do not work on a long
term basis. These traditional programs
often were delivered through lectures,
readings
and
demonstrations,
and often have little meaningful
collaboration
or
communication
between participants. Until recently
the trend in region seemed to be
that PDs were more for socialisation
rather than being firmly grounded in
practice. Opportunities for practice
and research were not common place.
This is now changing.
In fact, back in 2012 when I was still
fairly new to the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), I surveyed a group of about 120
teachers (from varying backgrounds)
about what they thought an effective
day of PD looked like. The response
was honest and quite a bit shocking .
17% of this small group of teachers felt
that an effective day of PD included
time off campus with food. Another
20% stated that it was effective if they
received a certificate.
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While a certificate is often needed
by International Teachers to maintain
licensures back home, attending
professional development should
be much more than being about a
certificate. Often schools provide
a “one size fits all approach” to
professional learning and while there
are cases like new curriculum resource
training
or
School
Information
Systems training where this approach
is needed, there needs to be a
focus on what the individual teacher
needs. This common paradigm of
professional development often does
not take into account the individual
needs of the teachers. Differentiation
in our classrooms is a subject of great
importance during observations from
administration, school inspections,
and
accreditations,
however
differentiation in our professional
learning is often overlooked.
Empowerment of our classroom begins
with the empowerment of educators.
Just as our students find a deeper
connection and engagement with real
life learning, the same should apply
to teachers’ professional learning.
Class Time
Most schools have at least a small
budget for whole staff professional
learning. In highly effective schools
it is common place to include it the
annual budgets of individual teachers.
Unfortunately it still is not common in all
schools in the region, and this can often
limit teacher empowerment in their
own personal professional learning.
Also, in countries like the UAE, there
are mandatory teaching licensure/
Permit modules that are required.
Teachers are finding themselves taking
mandated courses that may or may not
allow them choice in differentiating
their own professional learning. The
cost of mandated licensure courses
or individual professional learning
can often be a problem for teachers
who often have limited disposable
incomes. It was shocking to find out
that some schools are requiring the
teachers to bear the cost of their own
professional development.
While funding can often be looked
at as a roadblock, it should not stop
teachers from progressing in their
professional development journey.
Effective PDs can be found online
and there are many free events to
take advantage of. The professional
development journey need to reflect
the needs of the individual teachers,
solve real life learning problems and
be embedded in their work over a
sustained period of time.
Free Resource : Visit sanfordinspire.
org for free professional development
modules that can help you begin
to differentiate your professional
learning.
Dr. Chassie Selouane has multiple degrees with a focus in Education and
Instructional Leadership. Dr. Chassie is an Edmodo Ambassador & Certified
Edmodo Trainer. She is an Apple Designated Teacher with Swift Playground
Recognition and an Ambassador for the ASCD(American Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development). She has been a featured speaker at
International Conferences around the world.