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This article was downloaded by: [University of Notre Dame Australia]On: 17 April 2013, At: 00:31Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Professional Development in EducationPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjie20
Effective professional development forteachers: a checklistJana Hunzicker aa Department of Teacher Education, Bradley University, Peoria,Illinois, USAVersion of record first published: 11 Nov 2010.
To cite this article: Jana Hunzicker (2011): Effective professional development for teachers: achecklist, Professional Development in Education, 37:2, 177-179
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2010.523955
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Professional Development in EducationVol. 37, No. 2, April 2011, 177–179
ISSN 1941-5257 print/ISSN 1941-5265 online© 2011 International Professional Development Association (IPDA)DOI: 10.1080/19415257.2010.523955http://www.informaworld.com
VIEWPOINT ARTICLE
Effective professional development for teachers: a checklist
Jana Hunzicker*
Department of Teacher Education, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, USATaylor and FrancisRJIE_A_523955.sgm(Received 9 August 2010; final version received 9 September 2010)10.1080/19415257.2010.523955Journal of In-Service Education1367-4587 (print)/1747-5082 (online)Original Article2010Taylor & [email protected]
You are sitting among a large group of fellow educators in an elegant hotel meetingroom, doing your best to listen to the speaker. She is highly regarded in her field, andyour district paid a steep registration fee for you to attend. However, you have beenseated for an hour now, and you find your attention drifting. A hotel staff personremoves the remaining breakfast items from the side table. Darn! You were going torefill your coffee cup. Someone’s cell phone vibrates, and you count each ring until itis silenced, which reminds you that you need to return a phone call. This makes youwonder how Joey is behaving for the substitute teacher back in your classroom. Youdo not even want to think about that! You straighten your posture and do your best torefocus your attention. Now what is the speaker saying?
As teachers, we have all had professional development experiences like this. Evenwhen we are very interested in the topic, we can be easily distracted. Not only is it difficultto be away from our classrooms for an entire day, it can be agonizing to sit still andlisten for long periods of time. We are accustomed to being on our feet, talking whenwe want to, and moving around our classrooms at will. We know it is important to keepour professional knowledge and skills up to date, and presentation-style workshopsare an efficient way to accomplish this. However, ‘one shot’, ‘sit and get’ workshopsare becoming less effective in today’s busy world. Much of the information gained isnot likely to be remembered, and even less is likely to be applied once we return to ourdaily routine. Re-conceptualizing professional development to align with the needs ofadult learners allows us to shift our efforts from a ‘one shot’, ‘sit and get’ model to onewhere teacher learning becomes part of the daily routine (Hunzicker 2010).
As a group, adult learners approach learning with clear goals in mind, using theirlife experiences to make sense of new information. They are motivated by opportunitiesto address problems – and create solutions – that relate directly to their lives. Theyprefer open-ended learning activities and function best when they have a voice in thedirection and pace of their learning. Therefore, effective professional development isanything that engages teachers in learning activities that are supportive, job-embedded,instructionally focused, collaborative, and ongoing. With these characteristics in place,teachers are more likely to consider professional development relevant and authentic,which makes teacher learning and improved teaching practice more likely.
Effective professional development is supportive because it considers the needs,concerns, and interests of individual teachers along with those of the school ordistrict. Considerations include teachers’ personal and professional needs, individuallearning preferences, and input regarding what and how they will learn. At its best,
*Email: [email protected]
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such professional development is customized by school, classroom, and grade level,engaging individuals from all levels (i.e. teachers, administrators, and paraprofes-sionals). When teachers feel supported, they are more willing to take professionalrisks by trying new things.
Effective professional development is job-embedded, making it relevant andauthentic. Professional development becomes relevant when it connects to teachers’daily responsibilities and becomes authentic when it is seamlessly integrated into eachschool day, engaging teachers in activities such as coaching, mentoring and studygroups. Such learning activities require teachers to consider possibilities, try newthings and analyze the effectiveness of their actions. Teachers take job-embeddedprofessional development seriously because it is ‘real’.
Effective professional development is instructionally focused, which involves thestudy and application of content and pedagogy with emphasis on student learningoutcomes. Such professional development requires differentiation according to factorssuch as teaching assignment, career stage and individual feelings about innovation. Italso provides meaningful feedback for teachers as well as authentic accountability: didstudents learn or did they not? Because instructionally-focused professional develop-ment relates directly to their students, teachers consider it highly relevant and authentic.
Effective professional development is collaborative, engaging teachers in bothactive and interactive learning. Professional development is active when teachersengage physically, cognitively and emotionally through activities such as problem-solving, discussion, simulations, role-play and application. It becomes interactive whenteachers share problems, viewpoints and ideas, working together toward solutions.Teachers value opportunities to learn from and with one another around common goalssuch as instructional planning, analyzing student work and peer observations. Inaddition to providing built-in support, collaborative professional development is oftenmore enjoyable for teachers than working alone.
Finally, effective professional development is ongoing, a combination of contacthours, duration and coherence. The more time teachers engage in professionaldevelopment, the more likely their teaching practice is to improve, but professionaldevelopment is most effective when teachers have multiple opportunities to interactwith information and ideas over several months. When such opportunities are relatedto each other as well as to school goals or state learning standards, teachers are ableto see the ‘big picture’ that strengthens their motivation and commitment to the ongo-ing learning process.
When professional development is supportive, job-embedded, instructionallyfocused, collaborative and ongoing, teachers are more likely to consider it relevantand authentic, which is more likely to result in teacher learning and improved teachingpractice. But how can we ensure that teacher learning activities are effective? Thechecklist presented in Table 1 can be used to assess any professional developmentactivity in terms of its alignment to the needs of adult learners. Activities with a major-ity of yes ratings are likely to be most effective, but ratings of partly can be indicatorsof effectiveness as well. No ratings indicate that a supplemental activity is needed to‘fill in the gaps’. For example, a two-day curriculum mapping workshop may bestrengthened with written reflections or teacher discussion groups throughout theschool year.
Re-conceptualizing professional development to align with the needs of adultlearners allows us to shift our efforts to a model where teacher learning becomes part
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of the daily routine. Whether used as a planning tool, an in-progress survey or a finalevaluation, the checklist serves as a guide for designing professional development thatis more meaningful for teachers than a ‘one shot’, ‘sit and get’ presentation-styleworkshop.
ReferenceHunzicker, J.L., 2010. Characteristics of effective professional development: a checklist
[online]. Retrieved from ERIC database (ED510366). Available from: http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED510366.pdf [Accessed 9 August 2010].
Table 1. Effective professional development for teachers: a checklist.
Yes Partly No
Supportive • Does it combine the needs of individuals with school/district goals?• Does it engage teachers, paraprofessionals and administrators?• Does it address the learning needs of specific schools, classrooms, grade
levels and/or teachers?• Does it accommodate varying teaching assignments, career stages and
teacher responses to educational innovation?• Does it accommodate individual learning styles and preferences?• Does it integrate teacher input and allow teachers to make choices?Job-embedded • Does it connect to teachers’ daily responsibilities?• Does it include follow-up activities that require teachers to apply their
learning?• Does it require teachers to reflect in writing?Instructional-focus • Does it emphasize improving student learning outcomes?• Does it address subject area content and how to teach it?• Does it help teachers to anticipate student misconceptions? • Does it equip teachers with a wide range of instructional strategies?Collaborative • Does it engage teachers physically, cognitively, and emotionally?• Does it engage teachers socially in working together toward common
goals?• Does it require teachers to give and receive peer feedback?Ongoing • Does it require a high number of contact hours over several months’ time?• Does it provide teachers with many opportunities over time to interact
with ideas and procedures or practice new skills?• Does it ‘build’ on or relate to other professional development experiences
in which teachers are required to engage?
Note: Checklist previously registered on the ERIC database as ED510366 (Hunzicker 2010).
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