What administrators and decision makers should implement to overcome the above issue is, providing educators with quality training and awareness of technology’s advantages. This concept refers to a popular word so called, “Professional Development”.
Professional development involves the acquisition of skills and knowledge both for personal development and for career advancement. Professional development of educators means a lot to education. Spending in teachers’ development goes far beyond compensation. Teachers are the heart of students’ education, so, it’s nothing but a great investment if administrators conduct their professional development programs. Professional development programs follow content knowledge and quality teaching, research-basis, collaboration, diverse learning needs, student learning environments, family involvement, evaluation, data-driven design, and teacher learning. Let’s learn how professional development of teachers can benefit education.
Student Achievement:
Research shows that quality teaching and school leadership are the most important factors in improving student achievement. Educators need to continually expand their knowledge and skills to implement best educational practices. Professional development programs help educators drive students to learn at the highest levels. It’s a great strategy that schools and districts should follow to strengthen educators’ performances.
Effective Teaching:
Effective teaching is the result of hard work, practice, reflection and study. It attracts students and drives them to learn in a great way. Some teachers are naturally gifted while many others have to upgrade themselves to become great teachers. A teacher should be capable of estimating students’ learning ability, learning style and interests. Professional development is the only solution to gain such qualities, this not only supports teachers’ learning but indirectly supports students’ learning as well.
Adoption of Latest Educational Technologies:
Most of the teachers were graduated many years ago, they have learnt only through traditional classroom methods when they were in schools and colleges. They’re experienced teachers and are capable of making students learn in a great way. As we know, today’s education system is being supported with all EdTech approaches that provide students with a great learning environment. Technology in the hands of such teachers becomes a powerful weapon to enhance student learning. Professional development programs are a great solution to train educators to use classroom technologies effectively. Latest advancements in educational technology reduce educators’ efforts and help them work on what really matters, they learn to adopt the usage of such technologies which helps them improve their performances.
Collaboration with students, colleagues, parents and other educators cause exchange of ideas, personalized instructions and greater improvement of learning outcomes. There are many more social networking platforms that are designed keeping educators in mind.
Professional development provides educators with ongoing opportunities to continuously improve their knowledge and skills with which they can adopt the best learning practices that drive students to learn better. When educators learn, they become capable to help students learn even more. Continuous professional growth for educators always matters, so, we can say it’s a great investment that always lead to benefits. We hope this information is useful for you to know how important it is to focus on the professional development of educators. We’d like to have your personal views on how professional development of teachers has made or makes a difference in education. Please feel free to share with us in the comment box.
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