Professional Development

Last Friday the 21st Century Learning Reference Group here in NZ released their “Future-focused learning in connected communities” report. The document is worth a read, but if you’re busy, read the summary. RadioNZ has already picked up the story, and reported these key points: ".. the ministry should recognise digital competencies as essential foundation skills. Defining and refining what “digital competencies” actually are, and deciding how to measure them will be problematic. The NZ curriculum, as far as I’m aware does not contain any standards or frameworks for what this ‘digital competence’ may look like. ...

This evening I read Derek Wenmoth’s latest blog post, which highlights the McKinsey report titled: Breaking the habit of ineffective professional development for teachers I’ve not had the chance to read the report in full, and it’s only 12 pages long, so I will get around to reading it. But in summary, the report identifies these promising ideas: Base the PD program on a vision of effective teaching; Segment teachers and deliver PD strategically; Make coaching the centerpiece of PD; Move from “push” to “pull,” so that teachers get what they want, when they want it; and Only offer PD with demonstrated impact. As said, I’ve not read the report in full, but here are my initial reactions/thoughts to this summary. At first glance it seems to see teachers as working in isolation - professionals that can upgraded and who then maintain those skills indefinitely by virtue of having a patch applied. It seems to ignore the collaborative and highly personal nature of the profession. ...