As teachers and educators, we often shorten professional development to ‘PD’, but this can diminish its significance, writes IEU member and Executive Officer of the Teacher Learning Network, Michael Victory.
Professional development is how we become better at what we do – how we gain knowledge, learn new skills, build our career, and grow as a professional.
I argue that we should be expanding our understanding of professional development. There are three layers to think about:
- systemic requirements for professional development
- school-identified professional development, and
- self-identified professional development.
Systemic requirements
Employers have a responsibility to ensure that employees understand relevant legislation, industry standards and codes of practice. This includes health and safety legislation, equal opportunity laws and prevention of violence and harassment. In education, we also have curriculum ‘legislation’, assessment and reporting requirements, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) teacher standards, child safety standards and more.
It may be that systems (for example, Catholic system, Lutheran system, Islamic schools) have additional requirements around understanding the teaching and culture of the religious tradition or the philosophy of that systemic group of schools.
These authorities have a responsibility to ensure appropriate professional development is provided for teachers and support staff to allow them to meet their obligations. The most obvious example is where there is an update to the national or statewide curriculum requirements.
This is where the IEU plays a critical role for you. At a national and state level, the IEU lobbies the systemic authorities on your behalf for the time, money and support to ensure you can meet your professional development needs around curriculum, assessment, and the relevant standards and codes of conduct. The system has the responsibility to ensure all employees are up to date.
School-identified
Each school has unique needs. It could have a high proportion of English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) students, or students with a learning disability, a strong gender disparity (single-sex school), issues related to its location (small rural schools), or belong to a community that has been through a trauma like a fire or a drought.
Most schools now have a cyclical improvement plan which identifies key objectives, seeking performance improvements through research and data analysis to implement goals important to their community. This might include literacy and numeracy improvement or the introduction of a specialist curriculum such as project based learning or the International Baccalaureate.
In these instances, the school must provide the professional development opportunities required by the staff to operate effectively in the desired environment. We know that a teaching degree or certificate qualifications are not enough to enable teachers or support staff to maximise their performance in every school environment. All staff need school-based professional development to support their work in each specific school context.
This is where your local IEU sub branch or chapter needs to be active in pressuring the school to allocate the resources that are needed to support all staff to increase their knowledge and skills. The IEU sub branch can and should have a significant influence on school-based professional development programs.
Self-identified
Schools expect that teaching and education support staff come to them with requisite skills and knowledge. For teachers, these attributes are now defined by teaching standards (see aitsl.edu.au).
A teacher is expected to have a sound knowledge of the relevant subject area (Standards 1-3), teaching pedagogies for different students and environments (Standards 4-6) and a commitment to the profession (Standards 7-8).
All teachers, even those who have reached ‘expert’ status, require ongoing learning to maintain their standards of professional practice. They must keep informed about new developments like artificial intelligence (AI); increase their understanding of student learning (for example, neuroscience); and keep abreast of new workplace technologies such as learning management systems.
Staff also need to develop expertise in specialist areas. For example, they may wish to improve skills in instructional or curriculum design, classroom management, literacy, and numeracy development, working with students with special learning needs, or leadership and management.
Schools should support self-identified professional development, as the whole educational community benefits.
The professional development needs of each teacher are unlikely to be met effectively through whole school ‘in-house’ professional development. How many IEU members have been herded into the staff room or assembly hall for a consultant-led day of whole staff professional development on ‘effective differentiation’?
Each staff member has unique learning needs and goals, just as our students do. Each staff member is entitled to pursue professional goals to enhance their expertise.
All branches of the IEU have committed resources to supporting their members’ professional development. Every member in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia has access to free courses through the IEU Learning Hub and TLN.
IEUA NSW/ACT and IEU-QNT members also have access to a full training and events program. These initiatives are valued by members and the IEU continues to campaign strongly for teachers and support staff to get more time to engage in self-identified professional learning.
IEU chapters and sub branches must also continue to lobby for an increase in, and equitable distribution of the schools’ resources for all staff to engage in self-identified professional development. Yes, there is a teacher shortage, but we cannot allow that to become a shortage in teacher skills, knowledge, or capacity.
You and your students will benefit when the system and the school invest in you and your professional development at all three levels, systemic, school and self.
Michael Victory is the Executive Officer of the Teacher Learning Network and an IEU member. He has a Master’s degree in Education Leadership and recently completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Education. He can be contacted at mvictory@tln.org.au