Good Quotes

I confess, I skim through most professional readings.  I don't like a whole lot of jargon or too many stats.  This one however, caught my attention and I read every word. It is straight-forward, easy to digest, and most importantly says what needs to be said.  I only hope that the decision making people in education have seen it too! Here are but a few of the great passages from this article.  I have only selected the words that can be applied to all PD.  The foundation of the article about Historical Thinking is also fascinating and so true.  I see parallels to many Social Studies units throughout the grades.  (My thoughts are in italics.)

Historical Thinking and Teacher Professional Development: The Poor Cousin of Curriculum Reform By Carla Peck

Although many provinces and territories invest a great deal of resources in developing new curricula, in many cases much less is spent on providing professional learning so that teachers are able to transform their teaching to meet the new requirements of the curricula. This is a fundamental flaw in curriculum reform and needs to be addressed. What is the point of investing all of that time, energy and money into creating innovative curricula if teachers are never provided with opportunities to learn how to unlock the potential of the new curricula?   (So many professional resources, so little professional development.)
One-off professional development opportunities are not enough. While one day sessions may spark a teacher’s interest, what is needed is long term, sustained professional learning (For every workshop I've run or been a part of, I always wish there were two or three follow-up sessions with the same group of people.)
research suggests that beginning teachers require more professional development than their more experienced peers (Absolutely! I've met many new young teachers who graduated during the limbo years of teacher's college. They can use technology personally, but they haven't had the modelling or instruction on how to use it as a teaching tool.)

I hope these quotes entice you to read the entire article!