PAIS Newsletter - June 2023 (Plain Text Version)
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ARTICLES WAYS TO PROMOTE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Rosario Giraldez, Former Academic Director, Alianza Cultural Uruguay Estados Unidos
Defining Professional Development Professional development has been defined by different experts in similar ways. Mizell (2010) states that “Professional development means numerous forms of instructional experiences associated with people’s work.” Antley (2020) argues that “Professional development refers to continuing education and career training after a person has entered the workforce in order to help them develop new skills, stay up-to-date on current trends, and advance their career.” Crandall contends (2000) that “Educator professional development is described as a long-lasting procedure of development that contains learning with collaboration and/or independence … educators are involved in the procedure, and they think actively about their work.” These three definitions share the underlying argument that professional development is an ongoing journey, and I would add that this journey starts very early and it never ends. Tips for Promoting Professional Development One way to start promoting professional development is to turn to experts' views on the subject. Kamali (2021) suggests some relevant tips in this respect. One of them places emphasis on being positive and surrounding ourselves with positive people. He favors the saying, “A negative attitude is like a flat tire; you can’t get anywhere unless you change it.” It is fair to say that sometimes frustration and burnout bring about the development of negative attitudes that harm the working atmosphere and hinder improvement. These attitudes may have a ripple effect, and therefore, being alert to factors that could be affecting the working environment is of vital importance. Another tip Kamali shares is to engage in observation on both sides, observing and being observed. He asserts that “What we can learn from observing a colleague is indisputable.” It is amazing to see our colleagues in action and learn from them. In some cases, we may decide to adopt or adapt some of their techniques, and in some other cases, observing peers may trigger new ideas that could result in improvement of our teaching practice. In addition, by indulging ourselves in observing teaching in action, we may get to make connections that could nurture our professional development. But we should not only consider observing others; being observed also provides room for reflection and exchange of ideas as well as for paving the way for improving our practice. Other relevant points that Kamali puts forward include attending ELT events and engaging in professional writing. ELT events, whether in person or online, contribute to being updated on the latest trends, exchanging ideas with colleagues, and expanding our communities of practice. Regarding professional writing, Kamali recommends that we “read, read, and write” and he explicitly repeats ‘read’ to make the point that we should read twice as much as what we write since we would be mere recipients of knowledge if we stay at the reading level without engaging in professional writing. Probably, this is one of the most demanding tasks program administrators may have to deal with; it requires stamina as well as focus, for we need to determine strategies that can motivate our staff to engage in professional writing, and these strategies will probably not be the same for everyone; what can work with one teacher may not work with others. One suggestion could be to encourage staff to start small and to work collaboratively in the process of drafting a paper which could be a book review, a blog post, or even a short article. Teachers can choose with whom they wish to work and this could help them feel safer and more motivated to give professional writing a chance. Considerations for the Implementation of a Professional Development Plan Let us now look at a few considerations from the program administrator’s perspective. First of all, as leaders we have a plan for our own professional development. The question is, do we share what we do? Do we comment on what we are doing with our staff? I would suggest sharing our own professional development plan explicitly. For example, we can make comments on things we are working on because we feel we need to improve them. Also, we should promote the presentations we are planning, as well as the papers we get to publish. These considerations provide scaffolding for implementing professional development plans for our staff since we are implicitly encouraging them to pursue their own professional growth. As program administrators, we must make sure to have a professional development plan that suits the needs of our staff. We must have clearly defined goals and be aware of how to reach them; we must also know our staff’s strengths and weaknesses and be cognizant of areas of improvement for individual teachers. Sometimes, staff may bring up their needs openly, but many other times, they do not. This may be due to lack of self awareness or lack of assertiveness, but in the end, it is our responsibility to find out what their needs are. Once we have become aware of our staff’s needs, we can iIdentify some areas to work on. If we come up with several areas, we will need to prioritize based on what is most critical at the time. First, we need to design a professional development plan which may attend to individual needs or group needs. The follow up of each particular need should be assigned to team leaders or mentors as it is crucial to involve staff in the process. By counting on these leaders, we are capitalizing on their individual strengths and at the same time we are empowering them. When staff members are involved in the design of professional development plans, the chances of success potentially grow. Professional Development at the Binational Center in Uruguay As the Director of the Academic Department at the Binational Center in Uruguay, I engaged in the design of professional development plans that counted on the invaluable support of coordinators, mentors and team leaders. The overall design contains specific instances, including three yearly professional development full day events, as well as ongoing training based on individual needs. The full day events consist of plenaries led by experts together with concurrent sessions led by coordinators and mentors. The last full day event incorporates a call for papers so that all teachers can have the opportunity to submit proposals. An evaluation board decides which proposals are to be shared in the event and makes recommendations to presenters. In turn, the three events are evaluated by attendees by filling in a survey in which they can assess presentations, give overall feedback and propose topics for future events. Regarding ongoing training, each teacher is assigned a mentor to whom they can resort for questions and guidance. Mentors also observe classes and give feedback to teachers. They follow up teachers closely to provide counseling and support. At the same time, teachers are invited to observe their mentors’ classes or other colleagues’ classes with the purpose of enhancing specific teaching strategies or even working on particular areas of their interest. Additionally, class observations also provide areas to be addressed at full day events. Conclusions To conclude, I would say that leading the path of professional development is challenging and strenuous; however it can be enriching and rewarding at the same time. On the one hand, it takes time, dedication and hard work to scaffold, implement and follow up on professional development plans; but on the other hand, watching how our teachers grow professionally, knowing we contributed to their growth, can turn out to be extremely gratifying. References Antley, T. (2020, July 16) What Is Professional Development and Why Is It Important? Retrieved from https://www.webce.com/news/2020/07/16/professional-development Crandall, J. A. (2000). Language teacher education. Annu. Rev. Appl. Linguistics 20, 34–55. doi: 10.1017/S0267190500200032 Kamali, J. (2021, July) Tips for Successful Continuous Professional Development. TESOL Connections. Retrieved from http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolc/issues/2021-07-01/index.html Mizell, H. (2010). Why Professional Development Matters?. Oxford: Oxford Learning Forward. Zhang, W. (2022, June 10) The Role of Technology-Based Education and Teacher Professional Development in English as a Foreign Language Classes. 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Rosario Giraldez is the former Director of the Academic Department at Alianza Cultural Uruguay-Estados Unidos where she also coordinated Teacher Education Programs, Alianza Centers, and English Programs in Schools. She is a frequent presenter at national and international events. Her main areas of interest are program administration, teacher education, materials development, and evaluation. She holds a TEFL degree from Alianza and has taken courses in her main areas of interest at Iowa State University, Indiana University, and Hawaii Pacific University. |
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