The Effects of Budget Tightening on PD

"21st Century Learning is students and teachers co-creating the curriculum.  The teacher has a broad-brush idea of where to go, but the students connect this outline with their own passions, developing a syllabus together."

One of the Powerful Learning Practice community members recently gave this definition to 21st Century learning. It connected immediately to my vision of classrooms as communities. What if our classrooms were places where we all learned together? Where students taught teachers and each other as often as teachers taught students.

But that would mean a reculturing of schools as we know them. That would mean equipping teachers with the skills to build and sustain communities of practice and learning networks.

TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES
Anthony called me for an interview yesterday on a piece he was doing about the adjustments schools are going to need to make to get their training and PD needs met in light of the tightening of most district budgets. Many schools are realizing that they will not be able to send as many teachers to conferences or bring in the same numbers of high ticket presenters to lead their staff development initiatives. He wanted to know if I had ideas or tips for how schools can still meet their training needs.

For me it is a no brainer. Equip teachers to do their own PD through the building of PLNs and leverage the potential of Web 2.0 tools to bring experts in at relatively low cost. Teaching teachers to create their own free PD represents a lifetime savings for the school or district.

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING
In schools we all agree that students need to take responsibility for their own learning. The teacher can present the material all day long, but the students have to be active participants in the process if learning is going to take place.

But somehow with teachers we do not have the same expectation. We put them in conferences, lectures, courses, and inservices that are mandated and for the most part are one size fits all. What if instead we equipped them to design their own learning experiences based on professional development goals that they co-created within a professional learning team? What if we helped them understand how to develop learning communities within their schools that knew how to connect globally with other educators around the world? And what if they knew how to leverage the communication and collaboration tools to find "just in time" answers from their learning networks through the sharing of resources and ideas? What if through this sharing they were able to improve their teaching skills, mentor each other, and model for their students these same 21st Century literacies?

I am reminded of the analogy, " “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”— Schools trying to cut PD dollars need to be investing in teaching their teachers to fish.

WHAT WOULD I DO?
If I was in the position many educational leaders find themselves today- I would invest in PD that helped my faculty understand how to build sustainable situated communities of practice where teachers learn from each other. I would make sure my teachers knew how to use the emerging technologies to share, connect and collaborate. I would target my professional dollars on experts who knew how to deliver best practice professional development online and understood the value of job embedded PD over time through virtual community spaces. I would invest in training that helped my teachers understand the new networking literacies.

Why?

1. PD needs are met for less money
2. Teachers are gaining valuable 21st Century teaching and learning skills through immersion in the the environments their kids use to learn outside of school.
3. Teachers make connections that accelerate their growth as networked learners.
4. To save on travel, lodging, and food cost associated with sending teachers off or bring multiple experts in physically.

TRADITIONAL CONFERENCES STILL HAVE THEIR PLACE
I am not suggesting conferences are not still beneficial or diminishing the role that a well positioned keynote and workshop can have on motivating your staff to accomplish great things. However, I do believe that as budgets grow tighter and leaders are forced to limit the number of opportunities like these they can provide- taking a serious look at programs like Powerful Learning Practice or K12Online just makes sense.

But then that reminds me of other "Fish" analogies...

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you will not have to listen to his incessant whining about how hungry he is.”—Author unknown

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.”—Author unknown

“Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.  Unless he doesn't like sushi—then you also have to teach him to cook.”—Auren Hoffman, Herald Philosopher

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish, and he will sit in the boat and drink beer all day.”—OldFox

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.  Teach a man to sell fish and he eats steak.”—Author unknown

Photo credit: www.piperreport.com/archives/categories/46.html

Comments

[Jerry Swiatek]

As one of just a handful of technology specialists spread throughout my district, I have been forced to create and pursue my own learning and PD opportunities. The things I've learned through my PLN have far exceeded anything that the district could have provided to me. I, too, believe it is essential for teachers to pursue the same kinds of opportunities and make connections all over the world. I've had the opportunity this year to attend conferences in China and Pennsylvania (in the same day), New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and California...all from my tiny little office, virtually. My district could not have not have and I would not have expected them to provide me with that kind of PD. Thanks for bringing up this very important subject Sheryl!

[Alex Ragone]

What is tough about this model is that we're asking modeling active learning. In order to be an active learning you need to take responsibility. In traditional schools, we don't ask students to do that and in traditional pd we don't ask teacher/administrators to do that. It's sit and get, which is not the most effective learning model at this point.

With that said, we need to model this active learning experience. The building of a PLN is active, not passive. We need to give teachers time for this and make it a priority. I'm struggling with my PLP cohort. It's a culture shift where we need our administrators to participate and support. If our leader's are not on board, then how can we expect our faculty, let along our students to be.

Love the model. There is lots that can be done. The resident experts have been so exciting. Thanks for PLP.

[Suzanne Shall]

You have a vision of PD that our leadership at my K-5 school has begun to embrace. With just one lead, our Intstructional Technologist, we are making a shift to more on-line pd and resource retrival. It is working beautifully for those Learning Leaders who are keeping up with a reader, blogging about their experience, watching videos on the ning, adding content to the wikis, and connecting on social networks. Those that are working collegially and are self-directed are growing professionally--at a quick rate.

On the other hand, we have some who haven't embraced our new direction. I'm working closely, as an instructional coach, with those individuals to try to explain the purpose and get them on board. I'm giving them opportunity, but also explaining that those that don't follow will eventually be left behind. The rest of our faculty won't slow down, and quite simply put, the parent body won't tolerate a teacher not where everyone else is. Our school culture will eventually squeeze them out. To me, that is a good thing.

To turn the corner in public education, teachers will have to be self-directed and self-coached, and on-line conferences, networks, and resources provide them every opportunity to do just that.

[Tod Baker]

Sheryl, you recommend that we take responsibility for our own learning by

1. co-creating PD goals
2. building PLNs
3. leveraging communication and collaboration tools
4. improving, mentoring, and modeling.

The linchpin in all of this is the second step, developing learning communities. My PD journey, thanks to my PLN, constantly improves my teaching and learning. I wouldn't approach steps three and four without it.

[Bill Genereux]

I can't tell you how many workshops & presentations I have attended with an active learning topic, and the presentation method is 100% lecture! The irony of the situation is always lost on the presenter.

I will be presenting at a faculty driven professional development day next month. Faculty decide the topics & make the presentations. Far more effective imho than hiring an outside "expert" to make the presentations.

One of the ideas I plan to share is creating PLNs. Yammer seems like an appropriate tool for connecting faculty together in the same large research university.

But you can be sure, I don't plan to lecture for the whole time I'm allotted!

[Ed Allen]

Sheryl, I feel like I am experiencing exactly what you are talking about. The immersive experience that I have gained through PLP has given me, as an administrator, a whole new vision of PD and classrooms.

I am looking forward to the rest of our cohort and bringing the type of PD you discuss to our faculty.

[Jennifer Nabb]

Four years ago, I was fortunate to begin teaching an Introduction to Engineering Design course through Project Lead the Way. Project Lead the Way is an initiative to develop interest and prepare students for careers in the field of engineering. Reading your blog really reaffirms my positive feelings towards the support the program provides the teachers of the various classes. Teachers are provided continually professional development through the online "Virtual Academy." This allows the teachers to develop their own skills in the related curriculum and technology areas. The work that I do in the virtual academy pertains specifically to me so I don't feel as though my time is wasted. Their is also no expense to the school district for my continued development. Project Lead The Way provides for a great deal of networking with other teachers across the country. There is a great opportunity to get help or provide it when needed. If only I had a virtual academy for all of the courses I taught...

[hellen harvey]

Wow you have hit the nail on the head and it makes our "Teach with Vision" initiative seem so cutting edge. The answer to PD for the 21st century is in the hands of teachers who network and collaborate and connect on the web and face to face.

http://teachwithvision.wordpress.com/

[Rick Caskey]

I Teach Technology Education. The professional development that is offered to my department does not help us with learning new software. The One size fits all philosophy has failed many of me and many of my staff members since it does not help us with adobe applications or CAD design programs. Where one department can benefit from learning certain technologies, we have already been utilizing them for some time now. I only hope that they subscribe to an online learning program that is universal in tutorials so we can pick and choose what we "NEED" to lean and then teach. I need better training in video editing since i have been flying by the seat of my pants for a few years.