Improving Educators Professional Development Through Collaboration

By Jessica Wallace


It has been said that the best teachers are thieves. Star teachers are those who are constantly striving to find the best practices for their classrooms. Teachers can attain much knowledge from attending seminars, conferences, or attaining advanced degrees; but in most cases, there is a wealth of knowledge in the very building in which they teach. This article highlights the benefits of collaboration in Improving educators professional development.

Plans and Preparation; Planning is perhaps the most influential tool you can use to your ability to overcome challenges like teaching others excellent professional development skills. A good rule to use when trying to manage time in the preparation phase is to "double your chances." For example, if you wanted to deliver a two-hour speech on an aspect that you felt was important, you should put in at least four hours of research and preparation into the speech.

It helps to a great extent in enhancing career progression. Certain times people enroll themselves for personality development programs to comply with professional regulatory organizations. Such programs are popular in the teaching field as the teachers are required to keep abreast of new technology and practices and reciprocate the same to students.

Another aspect of teaching professional development skills is to engage your audience with choices. If individuals listen to instructors for too long without participating, they are liable to neglect to listen. To keep them focused, pose queries that can be rhetorical, but require effort. For example, in the previous scenario of delivering a speech, one might take the time to have participants write down an example of two issues they have and choose between the more important priority for their goals. By doing this, not only do you show them the power of choice, but you also keep them thinking about how it can improve their professional habits.

Providing a common planning time based on subject area is a great way for teachers in the same subject area to work together and share ideas. This is especially helpful for new teachers to have additional resources other than his/her assigned mentor. It's also a good idea to assign a group leader who can facilitate the collaboration process and keep the group focused on the task at hand.

There are online programs that cater to certain range of specifications. People can select the type of topic they want to excel in and enroll them in a course that suits their needs. A simple search on the Internet will give a list of websites that offer character building courses. These websites are self-explanatory and informative.

This sort of feedback will encourage others to do the same for you in a Meta sense; students will approach you and offer their own feedback on your performance as an instructor. Once you've created a positive link on this level of communication, you've already taught students an invaluable tool that they'll use for the rest of their careers.

So with the ever-growing demand for online career development, it looks like we will be seeing more companies like offer programs for schools. Hopefully, this new way of professional develop will give teachers the flexibility they are looking for and give them resources to improve their techniques in the classroom.




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