What Teachers Want: Educators at All Career Stages Express the Desire to Connect with and Learn from One Another

While there is a growing body of literature promoting a new paradigm of differentiated professional development in which teachers' voices shape learning opportunities, the reality is that much professional development continues in an outdated, top-down mode. Teacher input is rarely solicited to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of staff development Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 52 - 55
Main Author Compton, Cynthia M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Learning Forward 01.08.2010
National Staff Development Council
Subjects
Career Development
Communities of Practice
Differences
Discourse Communities
Educational Change
Faculty Development
Interprofessional Relationship
Language Arts
Learning Activities
Participative Decision Making
Reflective Teaching
Role
School Districts
Special Needs Students
Suburban Schools
Surveys
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Education
Teaching Experience
Teaching Methods
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Summary:While there is a growing body of literature promoting a new paradigm of differentiated professional development in which teachers' voices shape learning opportunities, the reality is that much professional development continues in an outdated, top-down mode. Teacher input is rarely solicited to determine the perceptions of teachers regarding their professional development needs. The result of this outdated approach is that many teachers experience professional development that does not consider them as learners but as passive recipients of knowledge transmitted by someone who tells them what to do and how to do it. To explore the untapped potential of teacher voice in choice of professional development, the author created a survey based on the work on the Steffy model of teacher career growth (Steffy,Wolfe, Pasch, & Enz, 2000). Steffy's model outlines the characteristics of teachers through six career phases from novice to emeritus. In her study, teachers in a large, suburban school district responded to a survey choosing from an array of professional development options. In addition, teachers answered questions that would place them into one of several career phases: apprentice, professional, expert, or distinguished. Overall, the study supported the idea that interactive professional development has a role in educator learning and in establishing learning communities.
ISSN:0276-928X