MythOrReality1&2
From LiteracyTentWiki
Myth or Reality #1 & #2: PD is isolated from the program and/or classroom & PD is something "done to" teachers
To learn how to add or change text: AleDirections
Subject:[NIFL-AALPD:478] Re: Myths and Realities
From: Joshua Hayes (joshchayes&hotmail.com)
Date: Tue Jun 24 2003 - 16:05:23 EDT
Most of the professional development offered locally in Southeast Texas is presented by individuals wholly unqualified to present on adult education. Primarily it comes from university professors with no background in adult education. It is managed by individuals who have no experience and feel no need to learn about adult ed. This comes primarily from the attitude that adult educators are not professionals and don’t bring much to the table. That coupled with the fact that Texas has no credential or certification compounds this view that we are part-time amateurs doing a job that “real” teachers wouldn’t. In that since, there is an idea that training for adult educators is equivalent to OSHA training mandates on custodial staff. It is mandated and done to the employee to meet a requirement, with out any hard look at the effects either on teacher learning or student outcomes. I have talked with many in smaller metro areas with similar experiences.
Joshua Craig Hayes
Education Coordinator
Ubi Caritas - Project Welcome
PH 409-832-1669
FX 409-839-8345
jhayes&ubicaritas.org
www.ubicaritas.org
Subject:[NIFL-AALPD:479] Re: Myths and Realities
From: Eileen Eckert (eileeneckert&hotmail.com)
Date: Tue Jun 24 2003 - 16:55:31 EDT
1--PD is isolated from the program. What is considered professional development is often, though not always, a formal activity that occurs when teachers go somewhere away from their classes and hear from an expert. Even when time is built in for teachers to discuss applications, develop lessons, etc. it's been my experience that presenters often run out of time before they get to this part of the workshop. It's often, though not always, a one-shot deal, and while it may have consistency and coherence with the other activities presented or offered by a PD organization, it's not often going to fit seamlessly into program improvement efforts. Notice I keep hedging my bets with the word "often"--I think there are some organized efforts that are much better than this, and while they may be the rule in a few progressive states, in most places PD is isolated and separate from program and instructional improvement activities.
2--PD is something "done to" teachers. As above, I think this is often, not always, the case. How many times have you heard a PD provider talk about what teachers need, what they "should" learn or do, or how the PD can impact or change teachers? Where is the teacher's self-direction or self-determination in this?
And why is it just teachers that need to change, or be changed? From Smith, Hofer, and Gillespie's study of staff development and their article in a 2001 Focus on Basics on the working conditions of adult ed. teachers to Mary's and colleagues' report on professionalization, it looks like we need to make systemic changes and that means administrators and state and federal bureaucrats need to learn too!
Eileen Eckert
