Professional Development For Teachers Is The Key To Quality Education

By Douglas Cole


One would think that the working environment of educators is very social. After all, they spend all day among people. In most cases, just the opposite is true. Educators often work in isolation. They are overloaded and their classes are too big. There is little time to spend with colleagues. Even worse, the heavy burden that they carry make it very difficult for them to become part of any program aimed at professional development for teachers.

Many people think that educators just teach and that they therefore have a short working day. The facts are that educators carry a heavy work load. They have to be involved in extra curricular activities, they have to attend many meetings and they have numerous administrative responsibilities. In addition, they have to attend school functions and sports events. Most educators have to take some of their work home.

Apart from carrying a heavy work load, educators also have to work within a system that is woefully short of every imaginable resource. There are not enough teaching aids, not enough support staff or educators and definitely not enough funds to provide students with the opportunity to receive an education in a well equipped environment. Educators have very few opportunities to develop professionally in order to advance in their careers.

One of the easiest and cheapest ways in which schools can help their educators to develop professionally is to become part of an instructional rounds system. This very popular system involves small groups of less experienced educators to attend the classes of very experienced or talented educators. The aim is to learn by observing. Numerous educators have testified to the fact that they learned much by taking part in instructional rounds.

Surveys have shown that highly successful educators use technology to help them grow professionally. They belong to forums and discussion groups that focus on educational matters. There they can ask questions, share ideas and learn about the latest developments in the field of education. They make use of the opportunities to attend on line seminars and many are enrolled for formal on line courses.

In many acclaimed schools teachers and students have ready access to the internet. Educators can find teaching aids, exercises, ideas on how to simplify complex learning material and even additional study material. Access to this type of technology definitely help the educator to grow professionally. In the process the students, the school and the entire educational system benefit. The cost of the technology is negligent when compared with the potential benefits.

Educational experts agree that the key to a quality educational system lies in helping educators to grow professionally. It is the educators that form the front line of the entire system. Sadly, they also agree that there are simply not enough such opportunities. They advocate that educators should be given bursaries for further formal studies, that more development seminars be arranged and that the budget for education be revised drastically.

If educators are given opportunities to grow professionally it is just possible that teaching becomes a calling again, instead of just a job. In many ways, the future of a nation can be linked to the quality of education received by the present generation. With enthusiastic and well qualified educators that future can be rosy.




About the Author: