“The school is not conducting enough workshops to train us”, “ How can we improve if the school does not send us to conferences, seminars, and workshops?”, and “The workshops arranged by the school do not meet our needs”. We’ve all heard these statements innumerous times during our teaching days. Educators tend to blame the educational institution for the lack of professional development opportunities. This  post  therefore attempts to :

1- illustrate the difference between bottom-up professional development and top-down “training” for educators.

2- Discuss the accountability of teacher development

and

3- Suggest possible “domestic” and “external” directions for bottom-up teacher development and their interlink.

Bottom-up and Top-down Teacher Development

Basically there are two approaches for teacher development: teacher-led, bottom-up teacher development and institution-imposed top-down teacher development. Each has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.

In the teacher-led, bottom-up teacher development, teachers initiate and support their professional development individually. The educational institution has a little impact on this type of development. Basically a teacher would find a problem in his teaching practice or that s/he needs to take an opportunity in the teaching practice. The teacher would be personally involved in learning activities central to his own practice. These activities can be participatory with other like-mined teachers who share with him/her the same needs. The institutional role in this bottom-up approach is limited through allocating time and resources to facilitate the teacher-led professional development. However, if a teacher-led professional development does not take a participatory mode and is not recognized by the institution, it is most likely that this type of developmental approach would not be sustained in the long run. A supportive environment should be rendered for the teacher/s who wish to develop their practice. This type of bottom-up approach for TD, on the other hand, is more effective than the top-down approach imposed by the educational institution, mentioned below. This is largely because it is intrinsic and personal. Teachers take the decision for professional and personal enrichment because they feel the need to bridge the gap in their teaching practice. It is personal because teachers usually tailor their seek for development to their own needs.

Typically, teachers who are most likely to be involved in teacher-led, bottom-up development are characterized by openness, internal and external networking, and are regarded as life-long learners.

On the other hand, the top-down, institution-led/imposed professional development, typically referred to as training,  is initiated, supported, and imposed by the institution at large. Little feedback would be given by the teachers as to what the professional development would meet. This feedback might be in the form of a survey or informal interviews. This approach is generally characterized as impersonal and more of an extrinsic nature than intrinsic. Training and workshops implemented by the institution tend to be impersonal by assuming that all educators have the same needs in their classrooms. It is clearly not ! and so, this is why most workshops and training sessions fail to maximize the impact on teacher development. Another reason is the extrinsic nature of the top-down approach. The institution is most probably inclined into providing teachers with extrinsic rewards for attending workshops and training sessions. To make an analogy here, it is similar to when the teacher focuses the attention of the students on scoring high on the test as an outcome of their studies instead of making the grades as invisible as possible by focusing students’ attention on their own learning.

So, who’s responsibility is it for teacher development? the teachers? or the school?… I believe by now it is clear enough that we should strike a balance between bottom-up and top-down approach. The educational institution should foster and recognize teachers’ achievement whilst pursuing their professional development. Simultaneously, teachers should shape their attitude in the direction of continuous professional development. They need to recognize and accept that professional development is not an event but a process that never ends. “Teachers as life-long learner” holds true in all schools around the world. Schools on the other hand, if they wish to implement series of workshops and training session, should seek the input of their teachers through reflective sessions on instructional problems, or particular innovative approaches that they need to take advantage of.

But what are the strategies for teachers to develop themselves in a bottom-up approach?

Teacher-led Professional Development Strategies

Namely, there are two types of teacher-led professional development, as I call them: domestic, and external . The two directions however are interlinked and should not be separated. Where they meet is when teacher development is maximized

Domestic Teacher Development Strategies

“Domestic” refers to teacher development within the educational institution. These strategies are reflective in nature and call for data collection at times and/or participation with other like-minded teachers .

1. Self-monitoring : Self-monitoring is often a good start for planning a personal professional development. The data gathered from self-monitoring can be used later in action research for example. Basically, the teacher audio records his lesson and by simply listening to a part or all of the audio can spot some problematic aspects of his teaching. Some teachers are skeptic on the effectiveness of this strategy, but very few remain so after they record their first lesson. Lessons can be recorded twice per semester and when  something is problematic a video recording is a good follow up. The audio/video can be included in the teacher portfolio later with a commentary.
2. Teacher Support Groups: Teacher support groups is a great strategy for teacher development and  the best way for teacher collaboration in a nonthreatening environment. Teachers convene regularly to discuss issues and explore possibilities tightly linked to their practice. They might talk about problems they faced during their last lesson . Teachers in the support group would suggest ways of overcoming these problems. These suggestions would be taken by the teacher into the next lesson(s) and subsequent follow up meeting would be held. Teachers might choose to read a book for example and discuss each chapter and its implications on their own teaching. The environment in the teacher support groups should be supportive  and nonjudgmental.  Also, teachers should focus on as little problems as they can. This is why the groups should not be more than 5 members. In addition, all teacher titles should be left out if these groups are to function well. The school should also create opportunities for teachers to meet regularly.
3. Journal Writing: Journal writing is one great professional development strategy. Teachers reflect on their teaching practice in the journal. Although journal writing is considered as straightforward, it often involves deep thinking and critical stance with regard to reflecting on one’s teaching. After a period of time of regular journaling the teacher can notice a pattern in his reflection which he can make sense of and would provide material for further analysis.
4. Peer Observation: Peer observation can help teachers become more aware of the difficulties they confront in their classes and how to deal with them. By engaging in nonevaluative classroom observation, the observer and the obervee can benefit from the different perspectives or ‘affordances” they have for classroom practice. However, the observations should be  focused on one topic agreed upon with the observee before the observation time. A follow-up discussion between the observer and observee is important.
5. Teaching Portfolio: Assembling a teaching portfolio is a long term endeavor. Teachers collect and reflect on artifacts when they are available. Artifacts from preceding strategies can be included ( teaching journal, minutes of teaching support groups, self-monitoring, action research, critical incident and the like). It is important to narrow the scope of the portfolio to make it manageable, especially at the outset. The teaching portfolio can trigger self-appraisal, facilitate review, and help in setting long term goals in teaching.
6. Action Research: Action research is the systematic collection of data from teaching practice, analyzing it, implementing change, and then collecting data again and analyzing it until favorable results are obtained. In this sense, action research is an iterative process that links research to practice for professional development and improve the learning environment. It is favorable that action research be conducted in a participatory mode, that is, with other teachers who share the same concerns. Action research takes considerable time on part of the teacher to undertake. Therefore, the educational institution should create all possible opportunities to facilitate action research.

External Teacher Development Strategies

With the advancement of technology, it is possible more than ever for any teacher in the world to connect with like-minded people through social acts online.

1. Professional Learning Network: Using social media platforms such as twitter and linkedin, educators can connect with like-mined professionals around the world. On twitter, they can start by following some prominent tweeting educators and gradually start tweeting to gain some followers too. Teachers can follow subjects of interest such as #edchat, #edtech, #pdlchat, #eportfolio, #elt, #elearning, etc… where they will most likely find subjects of interest and connect with teachers who are most likely to share the same concerns with other teachers. Linkedin is yet another way to connect with other educators. Think of it as Professional Facebook. In either case, your professional/personal learning network is a social act. It takes time to build critical friends and trust. This calls for extensive participation through contributing knowledge to the online community of practice.  I have blogged on professional learning networks on my other blog some time ago. If you are interested in this topic, please read it here.
2. Professional Associations : Teachers can connect with other professionals of interest through professional association membership. The “international/online membership” makes it possible for teachers to connect with other professionals and resources around the globe. There are numerous professional associations that would meet the needs of most teachers. Some of them are: TESOL, ISTE, ACCE, IATEFL, and much more…. a quick online search would reveal some..
3. Online Professional Journals: Reading online journals is a great way to reflect on your own practice in light of new studies/research. You might like an idea or two that you decide to try in your teaching practice and then reflect upon . You might also go to the extent of replicating the study in you teaching context. Many  online professional journals are now open access for anyone one to access and view. Again, a quick search might reveal some of them. Some open access journals that I read are, Language learning and technology, Technology and Society, European Journal of Open distance and E0learning, Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, the international review or research in open and distance learning, and international journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning etc…. You can decide which journal fits with your needs as an educator. You can find some of them in the directory of open access journals.

The external teacher development strategies work best when connected to the domestic teacher development strategies. That is, reading an article from an online professional journal can be done with other teachers in the same school as part of teacher support groups activities. Perhaps teachers would benefit from the discussion of what might work and might not in their teaching practice in light of the ideas presented in the article. 

Teacher professional development is not the sole responsibility of the educational institutions. With a more-than-ever connected and open world, teachers have a wealth of knowledge to build on and connect with their teaching context. All it takes is the will and the perspective that teaching is a life-long profession and not a job to be fulfilled.