What is PD?
As the name entails, professional development can be defined as any continuous educational effort for teachers and educators alike. This is done to help raise the efficiency of teachers in the classroom, thereby improving the outcome of the students in the classrooms.
It is done in different ways and can be done in either a conventional or unconventional setting
like seminars, courses, retreats, and sometimes a workshop.
Pd for teachers occurs at various levels and is done amongst teachers and educators in
given schools. It can be done at an individual level or even in a classroom.
Why is it Important?
If you plan on getting the best out of your students, you should be ready to bring out the best in your teachers. So what better way than PD for teachers?
That being said, here are some reasons why professional development for teachers is important:
- It directly and indirectly affects the learning ability of the students.
It’s no secret that the best students are often the result of a good teacher, so it’s a no-brainer when teachers have the tools to make them better.
Equipping or giving teachers access to this would greatly help, especially if students suffer below-average or low grades.
- It improves the chances of success for new teachers
The teaching profession is known to be very difficult. They need hands-on experience and may need to gain skills to tackle any problem.
Pd for teachers helps new teachers and old ones alike to help overcome most problems that come their way and also helps them shape a promising, long career.
- It promotes a mindset of growth
Pd for teachers help encourage the teachers because of all the valuable skills they get from it. The skills gained from it help them navigate their careers way easier than they would have without it.
This helps build that growth mindset, bringing out the best in the students.
How to make PD for Teachers professional and Interesting
Regarding PD for teachers, it has to be very efficient and engaging if you are hoping for the best results. Certain things must be put in place to achieve effectiveness and also grab the attention of the teachers, and they are;
●Make it memorable: Every educator has a unique classroom and therefore has unique struggles. This is where a lot of professional development opportunities fall short. They broaden the problems and become irrelevant to most of the educators present.
To help fix this, you can make these seminars interactive, allowing questions. This would make the development program much more interesting and helpful.
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●Get the Teachers Invested: To do this, you must understand that these teachers should be treated as teachers and nothing less. So giving them respect has been shown to go a long way in boosting morale.
You should also put it at the back of your mind that they aren’t robots but people with feelings and wants. So any form of entertainment is a welcomed development.
●Make it a continuous thing: Many of these programs happen occasionally, and this causes the lessons learned and enthusiasm built to either diminish or vanish.
Making it continuous will help engrain the values you try to perpetuate in the teachers and, by extension, the students.
Conclusion
PD for teachers aims to help improve the educational sector by getting the best out of the students and teachers, so its importance should not be taken for granted.
