Professional Development for Teacher Growth in Education

Introduction to Professional Development in Education

Professional development is the strategy used by schools to ensure that educators continue to strengthen their practice throughout their careers. The most effective professional development engages teams of teachers to focus on the needs of their students, encouraging them to learn and problem-solve together in order to ensure all students achieve success. At present, most school systems use a variety of schedules to provide collaborative learning and work time for teachers. Professional development in education has developed a poor reputation, and often for good reason. Educators, like professionals in many other fields, participate in professional development to learn and apply new knowledge and skills that allow them to improve their on-the-job performance. This paper discusses professional development in education and examines methods for establishing effective teacher growth practices within learning communities.

Today, virtually everyone engaged in the conversation about education reform agrees that teachers receive sporadic professional development opportunities that tend to be of little practical use when it comes to improving teaching. This is because many training programs are unlikely to positively influence instructional quality or improve student achievement. Research has shown that student achievement can be raised through teaching quality and strong school leadership; therefore, educators can only be effective if they continually expand their knowledge and skills to implement the best educational practices (Mizell, 2010). However, many people may be unaware of the methods their local school systems use to improve teaching and student learning. Professional development remains the primary strategy most school systems rely upon to strengthen educator performance, making its quality and design critically important.

The Need for Effective Professional Development

Teachers are the most influential school-based factor in student achievement. Studies have shown that some teachers are significantly more effective than others, particularly in helping students reach high levels of academic performance. Today, there are several approaches to establishing effective teacher growth practices for learning communities. Two of the most prominent are instructional coaching and structured collaboration among teachers focused on improving teaching practice.

Coaching is an important component of professional development programs, but when it is insufficient in duration or depth, it is unlikely to be effective. Teachers should build on what they learn from coaching by observing instruction and then discussing those observations with their coaches (Frank, 2013). This approach depends heavily on the expertise of the coach. If the coach is not skilled at working with and developing other teachers, it is unlikely that the coaching relationship will produce meaningful improvements in practice.

Establishing Teacher Growth Practices

Collaboration among teachers focused on improving instruction is another effective method for establishing teacher growth practices within learning communities. One of the significant challenges facing educators is the lack of opportunity to learn from their colleagues, especially in structured settings where excellent teaching practices can be examined openly and discussed by a group of professionals. Many professional learning designs that demonstrate improvements in both teaching and learning incorporate some form of regular collaboration — whether within a single school or across grade levels — to develop better instructional strategies and practices. Professional learning communities provide a recognized framework for this kind of sustained, collegial improvement work, helping teachers move beyond isolated practice toward shared accountability for student outcomes.

Conclusion

Mizell, H. (2010). Why professional development matters. Retrieved June 30, 2014, from