A Critical Exploration of Models of Continuous Personal and Professional Development - Coursework Example

Your first and sur Your Due A Critical Exploration of Models of Continuous Personal and Professional Development Introduction Effective continuing personal and professional development has a profound linkage to college growth and development. Effective personal and professional development of teachers not only improves the standards of the college but it also acts a means of motivating the teachers by increasing their morale. This, in turn reduces the turnover for the colleges since the trainee teachers are professionally and personally fulfilled. The models for continuing professional and personal development should be equally accessible to the entire college staff so as to take advantage of the benefits these models provide. These models emphasize on improving the standard of teaching in the colleges and also on creating a learning culture in the college. The creation of a culture of support and collaboration extend the possibilities for self improvement of trainee teachers (Rodrigues 2005). The models for continuous personal and professional development make use of a range of information presented in the development plan of the colleges. These models focus on the needs of the college which are identified through self evaluation. The models also take into consideration the feedback they obtain from the staff and other stakeholders like the students and parents. Performance appraisals which were conducted for the teachers also act as a source of information for these models. The national and local priorities are also taken into consideration. The skill development in the teachers through continuous personal and professional development is done on the basis on well recognized competency frameworks like Dfes Teachers Standards Framework, etc (Kumar 2008). The quality assurance departments make sure that the competency framework being used by these models are of high quality and standard. The continuous personal and professional development processes aim to minimize the hierarchical or the bureaucratic nature of working in the colleges and aim to develop a culture of inclusion. Requirements for Development Models The continuous personal and professional development models are implemented by firstly nominating a leader for the college who takes entire responsibility for the implementation of these models (M.) 1978). The leader receives adequate training which is required for him to manage his responsibilities well. It is this leader who identifies the needs of the college trainee teachers and takes into consideration their performance appraisals. He is responsible to annually give a report to the management regarding the priorities which these development models must address for maximum personal and professional development of the trainee teachers. While planning for personal and professional development, the management of colleges tries to balance the needs of the trainee teachers with the resources the colleges have at hand in order to develop models of high values. The continuous personal and professional development opportunities are known by the process of performance appraisals. The outcomes of these models should be measurable in order to assess their effectiveness. They should also respect the diversity in cultures of the trainee teachers in the colleges. The activities for these models should be provided by trained experts only and should be planned in a systematic manner and should make use of high quality standards. Audio visual equipments should be used as resources because it has been noted that people are able to better grasp the concepts with these modes. The activities for these models should be followed by a comprehensive feedback from the trainee teachers in order to assess the quality of the entire activity. Also, these models should be well updated with any current researches in the corresponding areas and should not be based on outdated information. The continuous personal and professional development models act as a basis for job enrichment and at times provide research opportunities and exam marking experiences. The development leader regularly guides the trainee teachers on developing a proper portfolio for professional development. The trainee teachers are liable to discuss in detail with the leader the process by which the effectiveness of the activity will be most effectively measured prior to the professional and personal development activities. The leader is responsible for following up on the trainer and is also responsible for updating the records on a regular basis. The leader also prepares a report of the effectives of the continuous personal and professional development activities undertaken. The report consists of heads like the increased confidence of the trainee teachers, the increased quality of teaching delivered, increased motivation and evidence of reflective practice and self evaluation (Dale W. Lick 2006). The continuous personal and professional development policy of the colleges should be reviewed annually by the principal bodies. The continuous personal and professional development activities of any trainee teachers should be planned well in advance based on the individual progress report and it should be applicable to his present and future work. There should be a system of peer based auditing in order to accurately measure the effectiveness of the activities which are a part of this model. Sparks and Loucks-Horsley Models of Professional and Personal Development Sparks and Loucks-Horsley (Katherine E. Stiles 2009) talk about five models which trainee teachers have been seen using over the years. In the first model, the teachers design their learning tasks themselves. The teachers set their own goals for learning. This approach believes that people are motivated to the highest degree when they set their learning goals and objectives themselves. In the second approach, a colleague observes the pattern of teaching of the trainee teacher and then provides him with feedback for the same. This method acts as a means of learning for the observer too. The third model suggests that learning happens when teachers develop their skills by means of learning, experimentation and discussion with the other faculties. Another approach is the most commonly adopted one in which a trainer delivers training to the trainee teachers. The trainer designs an appropriate training program which fulfils the objectives of the training and results in development of skills of the trainee teachers. The training programs are mostly followed by feedbacks from the trainees about the effectiveness of the program. Lastly, there is the Inquiry approach which is based on the concept of reflective action. The trainee teacher in this approach identifies the problem, collects and analyzes the data then makes necessary changes. This approach believes that self evaluation is the greatest form of learning. Reflective Practice Model of Development This method is one of the proven best approaches for trainee teachers who are at an introductory stage. Reflective practice is all about analyzing your experiences, opinions and feelings and using this analysis for planning your future actions (Bolton 2010). Reflective practice consists of giving a thought on one’s own understanding and experiences while being taught by skilled trainers. After Schon introduced the concept of reflective practice in the year 1996, many colleges adopted this approach towards personal and professional development of the trainee teachers. Many colleges have a checklist which contains items on which the trainee teachers need to reflect. Boud and Walker (David Boud 1985), though, have opposed the reflection on demand mentality. They also say that the process of reflective practice lets go of the necessary content of teacher training. Also, Baud and Walker suggested that the approach of reflection requires the teachers to disclose the facts which certain trainees might not be comfortable disclosing. The approach of reflective practice can only succeed when there is an existence of trust between the trainer and the trainee. Reflective practice is also used for implementing the model of Action Research. Action research is a well recognized program used for the development of trainee teachers in colleges. In this approach, the facilitator encourages the trainees to put to practical use the theoretical knowledge they have gained into their classrooms (Leslie Swartz 2002) .The trainees record their experiences and then analyze their strategies and styles of teachings with their facilitators and the other fellow trainees. The advantage of this approach is that the trainee is able to improve more and more because he is critiques not just by his mentor, but also by fellow colleagues (Docking 2008). Ojanen (Ojanen 2006) in the year 1993 conducted a research on how the teacher educators can coach the student teachers for their development with the help of reflective practice. It was figured out that the most effective techniques are encouraging the student teachers to share their experiences by means of group discussions, role plays, and maintenance of journals. Techniques of reflective practice through which teachers can scrutinize their preconceived notions and ways such as forming of teams or groups in which peers discuss these issues have turned out to be very effective ways of personal and professional development as per Licklider’s Adult Learning Theory ( 1997). Licklider (J. C. R. Licklider 2008) has suggested that these techniques of reflective practice are an important component of developing adult wisdom. Rearick (Rearick 2008) described that forming a critical learning community helps the trainee teachers reflect on their own experiences, share their views about the teaching strategies, and increased their knowledge. Developing of portfolios has also become one of the widely used tools for reflective practice by the trainee teachers. These portfolios are a means of compiling their important works which depict their professional growth. These portfolios are a compilation of works depicting the competencies of trainee teachers. These portfolios are a tool of reflective practice because while designing a teaching strategy for themselves , the portfolios will help the trainee teachers in identifying which teaching practices worked and the reason behind it. Another way of integrating reflection into practice is partaking in the professional development programs. These programs are not always filled with theory of teaching styles and techniques , they many a times also focus on the attitudes of teachers. Such programs encourage the teachers to focus on not just on how they are teaching, but also on why they instruct or lecture in a specific way (Celia Adams 2006). Reflection helps the trainees to better understand and critique their style of teaching which in turn increases their effectiveness in the classrooms and leads to both personal and professional development of the trainee teachers (Schön 1983). The increased awareness and heightened understanding gained with the help of reflection helps the trainee teachers throughout their professional careers. This also leads to the development of knowledgeable judgment making skills , and a proactive approach to teaching. Lastly, the confidence level of the teachers is highly boosted as a result of these developments. Works Cited Bolton, Gillie. Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development. Chicago: SAGE Publications, 2010. Celia Adams, La Trobe University. Reflective practice: the use of the visual journal for the trainee art therapist at clinical placement. Detroit: La Trobe University, 2006. Dale W. Lick, Carlene U. Murphy. The whole-faculty study groups fieldbook: lessons learned and best practices from classrooms. Dallas: Corwin Press, 2006. David Boud, Rosemary Keogh, David Walker. Reflection: turning experience into learning, Volume 1985. San Deigo: Routledge, 1985. Docking, Sylvia. Reflective practice: developing reflective practice skills. Chicago: SAGE Publications, 2008. J. C. R. Licklider, Council on Library Resources. Libraries of the future. Massacheuchetts: M.I.T Press, 2008. Katherine E. Stiles, Susan Mundry, Peter W. Hewson, Susan Loucks-Horsley, Nancy Love. Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics. Dallas: Corwin Press, 2009. Kumar, Arti. Personal, academic and career development in higher education: SOARing to success. New Delhi: Taylor & Francis, 2008. Leslie Swartz, Kerry Gibson, Linda Richter, Tamara Gelman. Reflective Practice: Psychodynamic Ideas in the Community. Houston: HSRC Press, 2002. M.), Sister Mary Cynthia Leary (R. S. A model Mercy Clerkship Program for personal and professional development. Michigan: Michigan State University. Dept. of Secondary Education and Curriculum, 1978. Ojanen, Tiina. From skill to will: the influence of social goals and schemas on social adjustment in early adolescence. Houston: Turun Yliopisto, 2006. Rearick. Dissertation abstracts international: The humanities and social sciences, Volume 53. Michigan: University of Michigan, 2008. Rodrigues, Susan. A model of teacher professional development: the Partnership in Primary Science Project. Michigan: Nova Publishers, 2005. Schön, Donald A. The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. Michigan: Basic Books, 1983. Read More