Professional Development

Professional Development Do it and Remember â€Å"Wherever you want to go, you have no choice but to start from where you are†, (Karl Popper) Abstract This paper will delve into the process of an already implemented and on-going proposal of teacher development at a private girls’ catholic school in Capital Federal. The introduction will state the nature of the project, the problems dealt with and the objectives, as well as the population involved. The Literature Review will provide the background necessary for its implementation, which includes some bibliographical references that served as backbone to the project.To conclude we will describe the results of the implementation of the proposal , the impact it has had on the subjects involved and its possible future changes, the latter based on a survey attached in the Appendix. Introduction Thirteen years ago I was offered to coordinate the English Department of Primary School at a catholic institution. The population inv olved in this task were the owners, the authorities of the school, the administrative staff, the teachers, who in the majority had been working at the school for some time, the pupils and, of course, their parents.On first analysing the situation, I set myself two types of objectives: short term objectives and a long term one. The long term objective the authorities commissioned me with, was to improve the level of English of the pupils. This overwhelming task could only be fulfilled if I set myself short term objectives, which would serve as a scaffold to realise such ambitious goal. It entailed thorough work on the teachers’ professional development, as it was my deep belief that the most important asset a school could rely on for its improvement was the teachers.After sitting in during lessons, holding meetings and getting to know the teachers better, I was able to have a clear insight of what the challenges were and, therefore take an appropriate course of action. 2 Liter ature Review Where to start? After roaming around the school, getting acquainted with the premises, the first task to tackle was create a harmonious atmosphere with and among the teachers and to try to work with them in the same way I expected them to work in their lessons. There were different dimensions to be considered and none was to be overlooked.One of those aspects was the teachers’ expectations with respect to the coordination. The new coordination would certainly bring about changes and I had to find out how eager and flexible they were and if they were not, the challenge would be to provoke the need for change in them. I teach only as well as the atmosphere that I engender. I believe that education is change and that I will not be able to educate unless I am also able to change. (K. Head and P. Taylor (1997- p. 10) For this change to be welcome, the affective dimension was crucial.There was a need to create unstructured time for them to be together and exchange expe rience and ideas: (†¦) many different experiences that shape your life and make you the person- and the teacher- that you are. (K. Head and P. Taylor, 1997- p. 19) Successful teamwork would only take place if each participants’ individuality were respected. This would create the ground for the teachers to feel that they could be themselves and could each contribute, in their own style, to the process of change and development in the area.Personal awareness of their capacities and skills would mainly result from self reflection and by their own questioning of who they are and what they do rather than by any external training agenda. (K. Head and P. Taylor, 1997- p. 1) The coordination’s initial job was to draw information about the teachers’ needs and deeds, to act accordingly. Sitting in on classes provided the coordination with a clear picture of reality. The positive features were to be enhanced and the negative aspects were to be reversed.To release pres sure from teachers, the focus of the coordination would not have to be on the result, i. e, the product of an individual lesson, but on a thorough analysis of the ongoing developmental process. Inspirandose en Sartre (1956), van Lier (comunicacion personal) comenta que en la formacion de profesores les parece util considerar el desarrollo del profesor dentro de un amplio espectro de experiencias (ver figura 1). Tener se relaciona con el conocimiento (de la materia que se ensenan y de pedagogia, del yo y de los demas) y los recursos de que disponen los profesores, hacer con sus destrezas y habilidades para construir oportunidades de aprendizaje, y ser con sus cualidades personales, su vision y su sentido de la mision. (J. Arnold, 1999, p. 22) Ser Tener Hacer Figura 1: Areas para el desarrollo del profesor Consequently the idea of providing workshops that would cater for the needs was implemented. Procedure Planning The implementation of the teachers’ weekly planning of their l essons proved to be effective. The teachers received active feedback, comments, suggestions, praising and criticism and were also able to ask questions and clarify doubts and exchange ideas.One way of seeing how the plans were put into practice was to watch lessons. This was very helpful both, for the teachers and the coordinator, as they showed the needs of the teachers, their individual strengths and weaknesses. Self reflection was fostered by posing the teachers questions on problems to consider and analyse. This type of work was demanding. It was carried out for two years, but then changed to personal chats which, though more time consuming, were more profitable and welcome. Collaborative work.Sharing ideas and achievements was an important part of the process. A travelling copybook was one of many resources used along the way. With the motto No teacher is an island (M. J. Wallace, 1998, p. 207) the copybook circulated among the staff. Teachers were encouraged to state the natur e of a problem they had. The copybook passed on the 4 rest of them who, voluntarily, tried to give a solution to their colleagues’ problem, or, if they couldn’t, just support. (†¦) professional isolation is ultimately a barrier to professional development (M.J. Wallace, 1998, p. 207) Enhancing teachers’ expertise The identification of individual assets led to, what Wallace calls: useful division of labour. Specifically this resulted in Drama lessons, provided by a teacher who was also an actress, Cooking lessons, a teacher whose family was in the catering business, just to mention some of a variety of contributions; each teacher with their special talent. Workshops In this process, the coordination saw the need to provide teachers with the state of the art in the area of ELT.In order to do this, the teachers were invited to attend in-service courses which sprang from an exploration of their needs. Guided by the motto â€Å"you learn by doing†, the te achers were not lectured on the different trends but experienced their application during the workshops; if they happened to be interested in the theory behind the practice, they could always resort to the detailed bibliography provided. It was important to raise the teachers’ awareness as to the theory behind their action so that they had the tools to choose and change.Teachers use their intuition a lot to tackle different issues in their daily work, what Head and Taylor call action-knowledge. They should become aware that there is always a theoretical background to what they do, and that the awareness of this will broaden their scope of choice in the classroom situation. Teachers’ language proficiency was another issue to consider and develop, as most of them had finished their teacher training courses and had stopped studying English systematically.The workshops were also oriented to improving their language skills. Conclusion The ultimate objective of the coordinat ion can be said to have been reached, though not completely. Its success can be measured externally by an International Exam the pupils sit at the end of their Primary School: Cambridge Preliminary English Test. After a lot of hard work, this has been a great achievement. The teachers were given a questionnaire to complete (Appendix 1) whose results are under analysis.However, the teachers’ immediate reaction to the task resulted in more food for thought than the actual written completion of the questionnaires. The teachers 5 expressed their satisfaction with what had already been done as regards their professional development, and couldn’t suggest any further subject for future courses. This may have two readings: on the one hand, teachers also have a sense of achievement; on the other hand, it should encourage the coordinator to go on with the exploration of possibilities for development and improvement of the teaching staff.To conclude, though we feel that the long term goal was partly achieved, as a result of the implementation of the short term ones, it is clear to us that teacher development should be an on-going, never-ending, life-long process. Appendix 1 Professional Development: Survey- November, 2003 6 Dear teachers, I would be very grateful if you could fill in the following questionnaire and give it back to me as soon as possible. 1. How long have you been teaching English in this school? Write X where appropriate) 1 year More than 2 More than 5 More than 8 2. Have you attended courses for Professional Development at school or elsewhere? Yes: No: If your answer is yes, which courses can you mention? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 3.Have your teaching strategies changed in some way as a res ult of the courses? If so, in what way? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 4. What aspects of the school have contributed to your professional development ? give each a mark from 1 to 5, 5 being the most relevant aspect) Choice of text-books: Project work: Collaborative team-work: Coordination meetings: In-service training: Others: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 5. What type of course would help develop your teaching further? Make suggestions. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ ____________ Appendix 2 Budget The school paid a salary to the coordinator to perform her duties as such and to help the teachers develop professionally. The teachers, on the other hand, were â€Å"invited† to participate in the workshops and the owners of the school considered that the teachers’ participation in in-service workshops was a fringe benefit for them. References Head, K. and Taylor P. , 1997, Readings in Teacher Development, Heinemann, Oxford Arnold, J. , 1999, La dimension afectiva en el aprendizaje de idiomas, Traduccion de Alejandro Valero, CUP, Madrid. Wallace, M. J. , 1998, Action Research for Language Teachers, CUP, UK.