- "When Teachers Drive Their Learning" by Joseph Semadeni
- "The C's of Our Sea Change: Plans for Training Staff, from Core Competencies to Learning 2.0" by Helene Blowers and Lori Reed
- "Planning an Online Professional Development Module" by Kristin Fontichiaro
The Semadeni reading proposed an interesting program: teachers are given time and a framework for professional development during contract hours (what I take to mean school hours). The teachers are encouraged to participate in the program through incentives and administrative support, including monetary incentives. According to Semadeni, teachers are motivated not just by money, but by the ability to choose what they will learn and the opportunity to learn during their normal working hours. That isn't hard to believe - I can only imagine that most teachers would embrace any opportunity to better serve their students, but their demanding schedules, as Semadeni explains, get in the way of professional development before or after school hours.
Reading articles like this is both inspiring and frustrating. The program seems perfect. The teachers are learning, the students aren't being neglected, and the administration is happy. But then why aren't all schools doing this? Inertia on the part of school boards and administrators? Probably.
Of course, this article echoes the way that we have been learning in this class, especially the ways in which we have been observing each others' work in addition to completing our own. There hasn't been the element of choice, but that is to be expected when you're taking a course for credit.
The articles by Blowers and Reed and Fontichiaro (of course) also discuss development programs much like this class. The "Learning 2.0" program discussed by Blowers and Reed is described as "summer reading" for adults, and now that I think about it, that feels about right. We've gone through a list of practical skills for librarians (much like a summer reading list) and done our best to learn each one. A lot of our learning has been self-guided, as Fontichiaro discusses in her article (imagine that). It's interesting to see familiar methods for teaching explained in a library context; maybe when I'm a librarian, I'll institute a similar program in my library. Memes and all.
For the exactly 0% of those reading this who aren't aware, this is the last blog post required by the course. It will probably be my last post all together - blogging isn't really my thing, it seems. I am on Facebook, though, and Twitter (@kriskottenbrook). And LibraryThing (though I kind of hate LibraryThing and you'd do better looking me up on Goodreads). And Tumblr, but you'll have to hunt me down if you want to find me there.
So, I leave you with the immortal words of Ferris Bueller: "It's over. Go home. Go."
- K
You know, maybe it because of end-of-semester fatigue, but I missed how the methods in these readings are a reflection of what we've been doing in class all semester. So, thanks for pointing this out. Oh boy. Makes me wonder how well I've been doing in class. I do feel that self-guided learning is effective, especially for professionals, since there is not the same motivation to learn as there is when you are a student. And whether you want to learn for self-betterment or to get a raise, the drive comes from within. And that's the best motivation there is.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same frustrations in terms of the inertia of school programs. I was lucky enough to come from a school that had some really great teachers who, even in spite of issues with the administration, always did the very utmost they could for their students. Part of me wonders how the differences are between public, private, and the variety of other schools between that I don't understand. I feel like there's a general move for parents with means to move their children away from public schools, leaving public schools largely without the vocal population forcing them to change. I suppose that's a better conversation to have with people who are more aware of the school system though.
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