Wake County middle school teacher Bill Ferriter pans the waste of time known as professional development. The idea of professional development is sound. Teachers should continue to improve their subject knowledge and instructional skills throughout their career. In practice, professional development seldom provides teachers the kind of practical, appropriate, and research-based content that can be readily incorporated into classroom instruction.
The public school bureaucracy required him to choose one of two courses, Getting to Know Your Computer or Getting to Know the Internet. Both were far below his ability level, and, I would imagine, a bit insulting for someone who appears to know a lot about educational technology. Mr. Ferriter concludes,
As crazy as it sounds, learning isn’t the priority for most teacher professional development programs. Instead, meeting the requirements for certification spelled out in policy is the priority. That rigid commitment to requirements meant that I learned nothing in the courses that I was forced to take and was certified anyway. Stew in that for a minute, would ya? If you care about seeing students succeed, think about the implication of a nation of educators who are taking courses to meet requirements INSTEAD of taking courses to improve what they know and can do. And if you care about saving cash—an important consideration in today’s tight budget times—think about the the [sic] implications of investing in teacher professional development programs that have little real impact on teaching and learning in our classrooms.
I agree. By improving the quality of professional development for teachers, our public schools would likely improve academic outcomes, increase teacher quality, perhaps decrease turnover, and, most importantly, spend taxpayer dollars wisely.
Who stands in the way? Professional development in North Carolina is controlled by bureaucrats at the NC Department of Public Instruction.
