A teacher’s professional learning journey
is an ongoing process of inquiry into, and reflection on their practice, punctuated by learning activities and programs designed
to enhance their professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This process of growth and development provides opportunities
for teachers to examine and challenge their assumptions about their role, experiment with teaching strategies and develop
a deeper understanding of their subject content, the students they teach and how their students learn.
As teachers do not learn all that they need to learn
in their pre-service education they must seek out and be provided with opportunities to enhance their understanding of effective
teaching. In order to assist students to learn effectively teachers require a broad range of skills and knowledge, including
a deep understanding of content and how students learn and think.
Teachers need to be provided with opportunities
to learn; they must also be open to learning. A commitment to the professional growth of every teacher should be supported
with professional learning opportunities that respect and acknowledge that teachers are adult learners who learn in different
ways, come from different backgrounds, work in a variety of context specific settings and cater for the needs of diverse students.
Effective professional learning recognizes that teachers have individual needs, different motivations for learning, and prior
knowledge and experience that will impact on the type of learning they choose to engage in. The design of learning activities
must relate to, and make explicit the intended purpose and nature of what is to be achieved to ensure teachers understand
the relevance and value these activities have to their classroom practice and student learning. The relationship between change
in classroom practice and improvement in student learning demands recognition of what learning is required and how it will
be learnt in the most effective way to achieve intended goals.
The Seven Principles of Highly Effective Professional Learning
These seven principles are designed to underpin the delivery
of high quality professional learning to improve student outcomes and apply to all levels of the system – school, network,
region and centre.
High quality professional learning models effective teaching and learning practices
and should be:
- Focused on improving student outcomes (not just individual teacher needs).
- Focused on and embedded in teacher practice (not disconnected from the school).
- Informed by the best available research on effective learning
and teaching (not just limited to what they currently know).
- Collaborative, involving reflection and feedback (not just individual inquiry).
- Evidence based and data driven to guide improvement and
to measure impact (not anecdotal).
- Ongoing, supported and fully integrated into the culture
and operations of the system – schools, networks, regions and the centre (not
episodic and fragmented).
- Both an individual responsibility and a collective responsibility
at all levels of the system
(not just the school level and not optional).
Rationale:
I strongly think the professional
learning of teachers should support the growth of the individual as well as contribute to the realization of the goals and
priorities of the school and the system.
I always commit myself to ongoing professional
development to enhance my learning knowledge and learning through Additional Qualification courses, and attending workshops
and conferences organized by the school board. What makes the most impact on
my professional perspective is what I learn from my students - especially when I have to refine or rethink.
I use a combination of regular anecdotal evidence,
rubrics, performance and standardized tests to assess for learning and for evaluation. I use these combinations to give a
broader picture of where I need to focus my teaching.
