Quote-A-Day: Day 322

#PD isn't something that is done to, or for, you. It is something that you do to, or for, yourself. #QuoteADay #Day322 #edchat #satchat #PAN

I’ve been thinking quite a lot lately about what PD means to me.  Her are a few of the big ideas I’ve been ruminating on:

1.        It isn’t so much PD as it is PO.  We aren’t really professionally developed.  Instead, we’re provided with a variety of professional opportunities to further ourselves, if we so choose.  And that is how it should be in our schools, businesses, and organizations.  If there is no choice built into the learning, then there isn’t really any learning at all.

2.        PD can’t be done for you.  You have to make it happen for yourself.  Even in the most extreme situations, where we require PD to in order to continue in our job roles, there has to be an intrinsic “wanting” of the learning for true learning to happen.  If we’re sitting in a session that we have no interest in, it is akin to our learners who haven’t yet been captivated by the work happening in their classrooms or organizations.  We can never force people to learn, and if the learning opportunity doesn’t jive with those who it is provided to, then no good (and likely no “anything”) will come of it.

3.       PD without an action component is unlikely to cause deep learning.  While being provided with choice and having a learning session that truly interests you sets the stage for you to take your learning further, it doesn’t guarantee it.  Why?  Because without professional learning including action steps, the learning (if we can call it that) just gets archived and put on a shelf in our minds.  PD must incorporate action steps and then time for reflection, if it is to truly be meaningful for participants.

As I continue to build my PD providing skills, I ask myself the following three questions before pitching a session, and when evaluating the sessions others have proposed:

·         Is there inherent choice in this session, and how does it relate to other offerings that exist?

·         Is it tied to what practitioners want, need, and value?  Can I provide evidence to support this?

·         Is there an action component prior to, during, and after the session?  If so, where?  If no, what needs to change?

I never claim to have all the answers, but these three pillars and their associated questions are making me a better provider of PD and a better learner from it.  Hopefully they’ll do the same for you.