Creating Engaging Staff Development Sessions for Educators

Educational staff development is essential for producing highly qualified teachers who can meet the more stringent state and federal teacher standards established by the federal Department of Education in their No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, as well as the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Many times, trained professionals need to teach the teachers, so they can more effectively teach the students.

Highly qualified teachers

The No Child Left Behind legislation established three primary criteria instructors must meet to maintain eligibility for highly qualified teacher status:

• Maintain full teacher certification within the state in which they teach.
• Hold a minimum of a bachelor’s degree.
• Demonstrate competence in subjects taught.

It is the third criteria that most often necessitates educational staff development. Teachers can be more effective in demonstrating competence not only in the subject matter, but also in the methods they use to teach their courses, as well as in their interaction with students.

Creating engaging educational staff development sessions

Peter Pappas, an educator for over 34 years, suggested educational staff development should be teacher-led; therefore, when he conducts large group workshops, he uses a variety of methods that “create engaging events” in the classrooms themselves. His reasoning is that teaching takes place in the classroom, so his model for professional development sessions is what he calls the “classroom walk through” approach, or CWT.

Pappas gave 11 reasons why the CWT approach is one of the most effective and engaging methods of educational staff development:

1. Staff development should mimic what happens in the classroom—modeling for students the arts of observation, reflection and discussion.
2. Local resources, not outside consultants, engage teachers in active participation.
3. CWT breaks through teacher isolation by encouraging teachers to interact and collaborate with other teachers.
4. CWT changes the dialogue from discussing problems to brainstorming solutions.
5. CWT clarifies the school’s mission and vision statement by encouraging discussion about how to put them into action.
6. CWT encourages K-12 teachers to interact and not isolate themselves within their own grades; for example, high school teachers learn what fifth graders are capable of doing, while elementary teachers gain inspiration to prepare their students for high school.
7. Differentiation among teachers from varied backgrounds, experiences, and knowledge can enrich one another’s lives.
8. CWT encourages teachers to learn from one another to try new approaches or teaching techniques.
9. CWT models lifelong learning for students, as they see teachers visiting other classrooms for the purpose of developing their skills.
10. CWT provides a cost-effective method of professional development.
11. CWT provides an equally valuable professional development opportunity for administrators.

Personal feedback from teachers on best professional development

At the official blog for the U.S. Department of Education, the blog author posed this question to teachers: Teaching Fellows Ask: What’s the Best Professional Development?

Numerous teachers responded with insightful comments:

• Classroom Teaching Ambassador Fellow Pam Smith offered two examples of what she referred to as “meaningful, productive professional development opportunities” that she stated enriched her own knowledge as well as her teaching as a history teacher: teacher workshops and fellowship experiences at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.; and annual teacher conferences at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri.
• Several teachers suggested IMPACT sessions were among the most helpful professional development they had encountered so far. Set up as an evaluation program to improve the teaching profession, IMPACT provides a year-long supportive system of instructional coaches for on-the-job support; master educators for content-based feedback; a “million video” library that highlights best practices from top educators; and ongoing, current curricular resources.
• A teacher named Linda said the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification process was the best professional development she has experienced, as it featured a year-long process of hands-on learning and research.
• A teacher named Pam highly recommended the EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) Program headquartered at Purdue, for a “phenomenal” hands-on, project-based program in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) training.
• A teacher named Revonne declared the I.N.Q.U.I.R.E (INvestigating Quality Understanding In Real-world Experiences) program sponsored by the Teaching & Learning Collaborative was the most life-changing experience in her teaching career for inquiry-based learning.
• Two teachers enthusiastically supported the professional development opportunities that result from social media interaction with other teachers. Both teachers, David and Robin K., recommended the Twitter group using hash tag #edchat as a “go to” professional forum for discussion and sharing links to resources.

Sources:

• Peter Pappas, “Teacher-Led Professional Development: Eleven Reasons Why You Should be Using Classroom Walk Throughs“
• “Teaching Fellows Ask: What’s the Best Professional Development?,” Homeroom – U.S. Department of Education