Professional Development as a Teacher: Personal Reflection Essay

Guskey (1986) and Hashweh (2004) describe professional development as a systematic attempt to bring about change. Guskey (1986) and Griffin and Barnes (1986) specifically describe the change components: (a) change in the classroom practices of teachers, (b) change in teacher’s beliefs and attitudes, and (c) change in the learning outcomes of students. When developing his model, Guskey (1986) questioned the order of these components.

As a charter school teacher, I have had many Professional Development days dedicated to classroom management. The latest one focused on Positive Classroom Management. This PD day was by far the most positive and enlightening guidance to classroom management. There are times when I have faced the challenge of remaining positive and calm no matter what situation occurs. The important thing to remember is to stay positive. All students respond to incentives and one of the greatest incentives is the teacher’s attention. If a teacher acknowledges only negative behaviors, students will soon realize that there is no incentive for positive or compliant behaviors. Such a situation often results in a classroom of complacent and misbehaving students.

To become a good teacher, a person needs to look past the pay check and consider the minds that they are helping develop.

One of my roles for the college is that of providing professional development in the form of workshops and individual instruction for teachers. In doing so, I have had developed a set of criteria that I feel makes professional development the most beneficial to the teachers.

The great, Greek Philosopher, Aristotle once said: “ Those who Educate Children Well, are more honored than they who produce them.” While most people will have multiple teachers throughout their lives, not many will know the struggles teachers face in their everyday work days. From dealing with moody teenagers to comforting small children who have lost their favorite toys, teachers have many of the same duties parents have, though most parents do not have 25 kids, all the same age. Although teaching may not seem like the most luxurious profession, the truth is the world needs teachers and will continue to need teachers until science finds a new, more efficient way of teaching the population, which does not seem to be happening anytime soon.

Learning occurs when a newborn first opens its eyes and observe its surroundings, and like a sponge absorbs the new information. It is a process that takes place through observation, participation and comprehension. Becoming a teacher isn’t a career that I first envisioned for myself as I grew up and went through the stages of ‘identity’, however, it has become the only career I can now see myself as. We become teacher by learning from teachers and our teachers became teacher by learning from their teachers and so on. When thinking about the aspect of becoming part of that cycle, I can’t help and wonder what my future students will teacher to others as they grow up, be it as a teacher, a parent or an adult part of society. For me, becoming a teacher is a means to create possibilities and accept the status of a lifelong learner. A new door opens for children as they develop and obtain knowledge by overcoming obstacles, discovering and exploring their surroundings and pursuing their dreams as both a student and an individual.

Just as the “Why Professional Development Matters” article mentions, I believe the best PD occurs when educators can both immediately apply the information and knowledge they gain, and when it personally interests them. In my district, we have a co-facilitated committee that operates, much like a learning team the article discussed, to review what professional development we will implement, as well as when, and how. Last year, they implemented a new strategy for PD. We had an inservice day at the beginning of the school year. Months prior to this day, the co-facilitated committee sent out an email survey. In this survey, they asked teachers and staff what their interests were, and what they specifically would like PD about. They developed all of the PD sessions for the beginning of the year based on the data from the survey results. They then sent out another form with all of the sessions, and staff was able to choose their top three choices for what sessions they wanted to attend. This strategy ensured that teachers attended a session that they both voiced a need for, and were personally interested in learning more about. I believe that this strategy was successful. It was at the very beginning of the school year, so teachers were able to take what they learned and immediately apply it. It also was based on what teachers voiced they were interested in.

Everyone know the saying “you reap what you sow”, but how does that apply to teaching? There are definitely challenges for every teacher however, the hard work and dedication the teacher puts in can make all the difference.

Why is Professional Development (PD) critical to teacher preparation? Because Special Education Teachers are expected to teach aligned with the CCSS in their classrooms, it would be expected that they be part of some knowledge-based community that could enlighten them on evidence-based practices for delivering the core content to special education learners according to CCSS. Many teachers were already trained and out of IHE when the CCSS came into effect and many IHE are not on par with aligning their programs to accommodate CCSS; it is up to administration to ensure that teachers are educated on how to deliver instruction to meet the needs of the learners according to the new standards. Here is where professional development becomes crucial to the successful implementation of the CCSS. As a result, all educators (teacher educator, teachers, other staff members) at all levels of the education system requested professional growth targeted explicitly on those skills that will help them to successfully implement the CCSS (Massell & Perrault, 2014; peter, 2013).

In this short essay my own personal view on professional development will be made evident through reviewing past experiences, allowing recommendations for better practice to occur. Other topics discussed and analysed will be; the structure of the organisation, the effectiveness on leadership and management. My own role within the organisational structure will be reflected on, considering the impact of skills in practice, further, justifying what I will need for future personal and professional development.

The research article that is selected for this synopsis is on professional development. This is a very interested research project because it takes a look at the teachers themselves instead of the students. Almost always, the students are blamed for not spending enough time on their studies or on their schoolwork. This study takes a look at the how knowledgeable the teacher is and if that effects how the students learn. A student can only learn as much as the teacher wants them to. If a teacher is very enthusiastic and excited and very knowledgeable, students will usually come away from that class understanding everything much easier. If the teacher is very unenthusiastic, the students will not learn very much at all.

In order for an institution, educational or otherwise, to remain competitive, its leadership must strategically plan for the future. Awareness of trends in the marketplace, competition for market share, and consumer expectations and demands must all be considered. In addition, a critical component of strategic planning must include opportunities for employees to participate in continual professional development that is timely, meaningful and sustainable. For educators, whether in corporate, K-12, or higher education settings, the need for continual professional development is essential.

In this text, I will retrospect to the period doing the assignment and reflect how I developed professionally and personally. The first chapter gives a review of the group assignment and presentation. We took DHL call centre as the development subject, and analyzed the importance of

If we want to enlarge our perspective, discover and enhance our gifts, and be inspired to become better people, what we need to look for is great teacher. I believe all of us has been blessed by a good teacher in our own home, in school, or in church. That teacher is great not only because of her knowledge but because of her love for students, effective teaching skills and good example. Those are the qualities I strive to cultivate in my pursuit to become an excellent educator as well.

To be a teacher means to commit to the helping of other as their knowledge grow and continue to help teach those who would not want to be taught. It is not easy having to teach students who do not want to be taught, but it is a teacher job to do that. I want to become someone who makes the lessons engaging so the students will grow a passion for learning and continue that passion for the rest of their lives. If the students grow a passion for learning in every class, then the students will love to learn, which will result in higher scores and percentages. Also, teachers are to sometimes listen to the student’s problems and give great solutions that will solve them. For some students, they will have problems with their parents at home and that second person to go to is their teachers because the teachers will go out of their way to provide the quickest and most efficient help needed. Eventually, you will see the same pattern every year, but a real teacher controls their behavior and continues to grow in the field.