An inspiring insight!

Recently I've been discussing Professional Development with members just to refresh my view and make sure we are on the right track. An interesting story emerged.

A member went to a PD workshop run by another organization, offering 4 presenters over the course of the day.  Out of the 4?  She could only really remember anything that came out of one of the 4 presenters beyond generalities.  What she attributed the failure to retain the information was pretty standard to start with until discussion opened up.

Another told a story of sitting in a room full of people that didn't really want to be there.  People were surfing the web or playing Angry Birds on smart phones.  Staring out of the windows or lazily day-dreaming in some other fashion.  The room was simply full of apathy.  It's not the first time I've heard this story and I sometimes find myself wondering how Teachers, a group of people specializing in connecting students with their their education, have become so disconnected with their own.

Graduates seem to be full of confidence and are still in that "I've just been to school for 4 years, I want to teach" stage. Schools often dictate the PD that their teachers are sent to, based on school needs rather than the desires or motivations of their staff.  Poor venues and poor catering are also often mentioned.  The Workshop might be good but as soon as lunch comes?

The food is cheap and heavy.  It is standard fare that sits in the stomach, promoting weariness and a lack of an ability to pay attention.  The grounds are drab and uninteresting making it all that much easier just to drift off with the fairies and just lose all motivation to come back again.  There's nowhere to take a walk and liven yourself up a little either.

And the big one.  "I just need my hours for registration".

I've had my say before that "Highly Qualified" presenters do not necessarily make "High Quality" presenters.  Presenters need to be just as engaging and motivational as we are for our students if we are to get the most out of them.  Yes, the theory is that we are professionals and will pay attention to a piece of cardboard if it's telling us the right things but cardboard is still cardboard.  Flat and lifeless and unlikely to inspire us to take the offered concepts on board and run with them.  Choose your presenter wisely.

Pick workshops offering quality catering and ask about it when you book.

Pick Workshop style presentations that keep you active if possible instead of Seminar style PD events.

Of course organizing PD myself this is how I think.  I pick presenters, supply catering and choose venues based on these principles.  I keep everything we do voluntary just to ensure as many people as possible are there to learn.  Of course I can only go so far from my end.

Then, last night in our collegial meeting, one of our members said something that hit me from out of nowhere and that I find truly amazing;

"From now on I'm going to go up to a table and ask those seated at it "Why are you here?"  If the answer is "my school sent me" or "I need my hours" I'm going to walk away and ask at another table until I get "I'm here to learn" as an answer."

Thank you so much for that advice Rachel.  Top class thinking!

And do you know what?  I'm going to start recommending that to every Teacher I know!

Regards,

Mel.