With the current oversupply of teachers in Victoria, some CRTs aren't able to get as much work as they used to. This has obvious implications in obtaining the 20 days of Teaching and/or Equivalent Practice necessary to renew Full Registration with VIT. It's also creating a financial situation where many CRTs aren't able to afford PD workshops and seminars.
A quick look at our sidebar shows that we certainly recommend exploring many forms of online resources in your search for PD that's relevant to your needs as a Teacher. Our worry about this new climate is that these may become necessary rather than just being valid options. PD workshops can often cost hundreds of dollars and regional CRTs frequently have to add travel and accommodation costs on top of this. The same amount of work with more teachers simply means that work is being spread around more thinly for many of us and it's just getting harder for many to afford going to PD workshops.
Combine this with schools being reluctant to invite any but their core CRTs to in-school PD and the erratic nature of the DEECD's CRT PLSI over the last year and a bit and it's easy to see why it's a lot harder for CRTs to get seats in relevant and valuable PD workshops. Sharing online PD is becoming "the next big thing" in many groups of primarily CRTs. The current climate is not only making it hard for us to stay in the profession, it's making it hard for us to seek adequate learning opportunities to make ourselves the best we can be.
It's getting easier and easier to use online resources and online PD seminars, which are often free, as the "standard". The current education climate is just funneling so many of us towards these digital options that before too long it's going to be entrenched in our psyche as "the best option". So it's time for me to say again, loud and clear, the BEST option is a well-rounded approach to PD. While before I found myself focusing on this as a way to show how something besides workshops and seminars are valid PD in Victoria, the current situation gives me reason to pause and reflect on the increasing difficulty to attend workshops and seminars could start to become just as big of an issue.
While for now it may be a necessity for some I found myself considering whether, if this goes on for long enough, it will start to become the "preferred" way to access professional development or even "the best" way. I honestly believe that this would do long term damage to the ability of CRTs and the education received by the students they teach. So I thought I'd say something about this one just for us all to keep in mind for the future.
Attending PD workshops in person is YOUR chance to interact directly with the best and most knowledgeable presenters on offer, the giants of educational communities.
I would like you to watch this video at least up until the music starts back up.
At one point there's 36 CRTs around a table with one of the best presenters available leading by example. This is putting you in your student's shoes, right there and then, so you can see the effect of these sorts of strategies from a first-hand perspective.
Webinars of course have question and answer sessions but it's not quite the same. It's more of a "Uni Lecture" and lacks that personal interaction. This, of course, isn't inherently bad but if this is ALL you use as PD... What are you missing out on?
Again we see it, 20 CRTs all put into the student's perspective. Making instruments and performing "in front of the class" with the teacher. Placing you in the student's shoes so you not only get the pedagogy delivered in an interactive way but also gain a much deeper understanding of exactly why these sorts of things engage students in their learning; because you've lived it just like your students will.
This is something you just can't get from a video or webinar and this sort of activity is totally foreign to the digital medium.
While we understand completely that some of us just can't afford these experiences and have to rely on other forms of professional development, there is a danger in letting that digital search move past "normal" and into "the best way". You will be missing out on important aspects of what a well-rounded search for PD can provide.
You will be able to "hear from the best" but you won't be able to interact with them on anywhere near as deep a level. You will be able to learn why these things engage students but you won't get to experience that engagement yourself.
I urge all of you to keep this one in mind; while limiting yourself to the digital may be necessary it's certainly not exposing yourselves to all that can be gained from the PD experience. Don't limit yourself to the digital unless it's absolutely necessary.
When the opportunity presents itself... Go out and rub shoulders with Giants!
Regards,
Mel.
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