Evolving Trends in Professional Development

Professional development (PD) is one of core principles of effective instructional leadership. Instructional leadership is often put on the back burner in terms of priorities giving way to the managerial tasks that face the principal on a daily basis. It is important that this does not occur within a school. It is through effective PD that good quality teaching and learning is facilitated, a vision for an organization is solidified, change is supported and a culture of learning is developed for all within the building.

It has been a trend for PD to be a top down initiative where teachers are presented material in a one shot workshop with hopes of changing practice. It is difficult for teachers to implement these strategies when they become a changed individual and re-enter an unchanged environment. Analogous to this is the story of students who participate in the LEAP program here in the Calgary Board of Education. "The goal of the LEAP (Learning Essential to Achieve Potential) program is to provide proactive support and interventions for junior high students identified as having mild to moderate behavioural needs" (Calgary Board of Education, 2010). These students participate in a six week program where by they gain skills to be able to survive in a traditional classroom but upon their return many individuals do not experience success. These students are re-entering an environment which has not changed. Not unlike the LEAP program the success of PD is dependant on the support and structures that the principal creates within their organization hence the need for change.

One trend that is changing our approach to PD is through the consideration of context. With regards to the development of a educational leaders as life long learning leaders Scott and Webber (2008) state that "[i]nsights gained through productive cognitive dissonance prepares learners for transitions to different responsibility levels within their organizations" (p.769). When applying this to the development of teachers the question arises as to how can we create situations where individuals get out of their comfort zone? Through the creation of vignettes, contextual situations where individuals are not sure what to do, teachers are forced to think outside of their box. Goldberg and Gallimore (1991)  further this by stating that  "[t]hese contexts should consist, preeminently, of engaging teachers in rigorous examinations of teaching; the concrete challenges and problems they face, the range of problems they face, the range of solutions, and, most important, close examination of whether,over time, there is progress in addressing these challenges" (p.69).

In addition to the contextual component of the PD, there is a requirement of embedding the PD throughout the year in the form of peer coaching. Showers and Joyce (1996) outline a number of principles of peer coaching; everyone needs to be on board, omit verbal feedback (focus on planning and developing curriculum and instruction),  the one teaching is the coach whereas the observer is the one being coached. Counter to the notion of instructional supervision, peer coaching diverges from the top down approach of commonly implemented PD. The supervision cycle of passive observation and critical feedback seems to be archaic with the introduction of embedded peer coaching.

Through efforts of  providing context and peer coaching, PD appears to be making a movement away from the on shot training efforts of the past.

References

Calgary Board of Education. (2010). Services for students with emotional/behavioural disabilities. Retrived from http://www.cbe.ab.ca/programs/spec_ed/se-emot-behav.asp#leap

Goldenberg, C., & Gallimore, R. (1991). Changing teaching takes more than a one-shot workshop. Educational Leadership(November), 69-72.

Scott, S., & Webber, C. F. (2008). Evidence-based leadership development: The 4L framework. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(6), 762-776.

Showers, B., & Joyce, B. (1996). The evolution of peer coaching. Educational Leadership, 53(6), 12-16.