CH-CH-CH-CHANGES... SUPPORTING ONGOING TEACHER PRO-D IN ICT DURING TIMES OF GREAT CHANGE

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Change is a long term and complex process.  It is not an event. The current context in British Columbia's education system is one overflowing with change.  As of 2016, BC's K-9 new curriculum was officially implemented.  2019 should see the full implementation of the Graduation program.  Assessment frameworks are changing and new reporting standards are being posted as I write.  In 2015, the Ministry replaced BCeSIS with the MyEdBC student database and as many will recall, the transition did not go smoothly.  In my school district, we have implemented a new tech platform called "Scholantis" as of 2016 which replaced a system that had been in place for over a decade and was familiar and effective for staff; the new system is less so.   All this change is, in my opinion, impacting ongoing teacher professional development.  When multiple initiatives are being implemented at once, teachers feel overwhelmed with change and are less likely to dedicate themselves to the consolidation and development of ICT or anything else for that matter.  (Daly, Pachler, Pelletier, 2012)

When planning ProD for teachers, it is necessary to keep the current climate in mind. Therefore, one way to address how to support ongoing teacher learning is to survey the staff.  As mentioned in my previous post, as ProD Chair, I survey the staff annually to get their feedback on the year and also ask them to share their personal learning interests so that we as a committee, can design a year-long plan that attempts to respond to the majority's needs.  I also share ProD opportunities via e-mail, I am a regular item on the monthly staff meeting agenda and am available to respond to queries and give suggestions to individual staff members on all things ProD.

Another great way to support ongoing teacher ProD is to offer self-directed ProD (SDL).  We know that students learn differently and teachers are no exception.  Teachers should have the autonomy to select what the focus of their professional learning will be.  Teachers need to be at the center of their own learning as explains Andy Hargreaves (2007) in "Five Flaws of Staff Development and the Future Beyond":

Teachers will be the drivers, not the driven—using objective evidence to help them improve, but never undervaluing their own experiential knowledge because of it. Professional learning communities will not be places for devising quick-fix solutions to disturbing data exposed by test score results, but places where wise and critical teachers engage with each other over their accumulated (though not unquestioned) knowledge using a wide range of data (not just test scores) to devise more powerful strategies that help all children learn.

Despite SDL being supported by the BCTF, this type of professional development is not always popular with district administrators or local unions.  It can be perceived as letting teachers do whatever they want on a ProD day and not actually be engaged in professional learning.   It also has an accountability piece that some unions argue infringes on teacher autonomy.  Three years ago, our school experimented with this type of learning.  We set aside 2 full days for staff to engage in SDL and we also have 8 late starts throughout the year to do staff collaboration and on our last ProD of the year, we had a "Celebration of Learning".  On this day, six different collaboration groups shared their learning with staff in quick 30 min. talk-back like sessions.  Groups were either subject based (P.E.), or topic based (Assessment).  Sessions were done in a variety of spaces and the staff rotated from class to class to hear what others had been working on all year. We ended the celebration with a catered lunch and had some cake!  The feedback from staff was mixed.  Those who engaged loved it.  Those who did not, preferred either having more structure and guidance or preferred not sharing their learning with others and therefore did not participate.  I think there is much potential here and would love to see something more formal organized where teachers would complete individual year-long learning plans and engage in deep, meaningful conversations with peers and /or administrators about their plan.  Another work around we have in our district is that all school based ProD happens in the morning and all afternoons are for SDL or district workshops.

As far as technology is concerned, some more "seasoned" teachers have been slower to jump on the bandwagon of change.  In fact, five years ago, we had a new principal start at my school who inquired about the ProD committee doing a session on how to use Power Point.  I giggled and asked why as I said to her that anyone who was at least 40 years old and under knew how to use Power Point.  Turns out, our counsellors were still using an old fashioned overhead projector when presenting to grade 7 feeder schools.  This is a perfect example of how different the needs are regarding technology.

Doing Pro-D on technology is always so challenging given everyone's different comfort and skill levels.  Therefore, rather than teach how to use said technology, we have found it more useful to address how technology enhances teaching and/or learning.  For example, four years ago when I attended the CUEBC (Computer Using Educators of BC) conference, I saw Will Richardson speak.  He shared Ruben Puentedura's SAMR model.  In this model, Puentedura points out how technology can SUBSTITUTE, AUGMENT, MODIFY or REDEFINE teaching and/or learning.

We introduced this to our staff and had them work on a Frayer model and encouraged individuals to push their use of technology from SUBSTITUTION/AUGMENTATION to MODIFYING/REDEFINING.

More recently, we offered a Top 10 Tech tools sharing session.  Understanding that teachers learn best from other teachers, we asked 10 individuals to share how they are using technology to enhance teaching/learning.  Some shared how to use Twitter, others showed how to use tablets like a smart board or how to use Google Forms in your classroom.  I shared the usefulness of blogging to track student learning.  We all had 5 minutes so presentations were brief and to the point.  Afterwards, teachers had free time to chat with other teachers to see how they could use the tools in their classrooms.  This was a very effective way of tackling technology and was also well received by the staff.

Finally, our district has a contract with Apple for our computers.  Last year, they offered free "Genius Bar" sessions on iMovie, GarageBand, Green Screen, etc. on Sunday mornings for any teachers from our district wanting to sign up and learn more.  Making this available to staff was great.

Supporting the ongoing ProD of ICT for teachers is necessary as we move forward and implement our new curriculum that is meant to prepare our students for the 21st Century.  Sadly, all this learning takes time and money... two things that are short in supply these days.  Teachers, in BC particularly, are stretched in this time of awesome change.  Therefore, patience, understanding, support/encouragement and additional time (a lot more time!!!) are all needed to ensure teachers remain engaged on their lifelong ICT learning journeys AND survive this crazy wave of change.

SOURCES:

BCTF. 2018. "Self-Directed PD". BCTF Research.

Daly, C., Pachley, N., Pelletier, C.. 2009. "Continuing Professional Development in ICT for Teachers: A Literature Review. January 2009.  London:  WLE Centre, Institute of Education, University of London.

Fullan, M.G. 2001.  The New Meaning of Educational Change (3rd Ed.). London: Routledge Falmer.

Hargreaves, Andy. 2007. "Five flaws of staff development and the future beyond." Journal of Staff Development (24). July 2007.

Puentadura, R. (2016). "How to Apply the SAMR Model with Ruben Puentadura". Common Sense Ed. 6:53 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQTx2UQQvbU