These guiding principles for effective professional development emerged from teacher responses to the needs assessment survey and were adapted into the PDK model and this training module.
| Principle |
Application to Professional Development |
|
Application to PDK |
| Grounded in Research |
Effective professional development adopts and
adapts concepts from research and the stated needs and competencies
of teachers and other stakeholders. |
|
PDK makes available to teachers an extensive research
database and online tools to assess needs and competencies. These
resources were designed following exhaustive research into how professional
development translates into successful changes in practice. |
| Teacher-Directed |
Effective professional development involves the
teacher in setting goals, choosing tasks, and developing assessments
and standards for those tasks. |
|
PDK guides teachers through their own personal
assessment, after which they decide which area of professional development
to pursue. |
| Collaborative Knowledge-Building |
Effective professional development encourages
the teacher to develop new ideas and understanding in conversations
and work with others in order to bring multiple perspectives to bear
in solving problems. |
|
PDK provides collaborative tools, creating an
online community of learners by means of discussion boards and targeted
knowledge databases for research, PDK teacher-generated case studies,
lesson plans, reports, and theory-to-practice tips. |
| Authentic Contexts that Engage Teachers as
Researchers |
Effective professional development is grounded
in the real world. It addresses teachers' interests and needs, allowing
them to examine their practice and develop products of real use to
themselves and others. |
|
PDK has created targeted video investigations
of actual classroom practice, providing a window into real teachers'
decisions, strategies, and reflections. The PDK teacher-research process
encourages teachers to investigate their own classroom practice through
guided activities and provides a forum where teachers can share their
findings with a community of learners. |
| Integrative Approaches |
Effective professional development involves
integrating information of many types and from a variety of sources
to solve problems and address issues related to daily life and work.
|
|
Effective professional development involves integrating
information of many types and from a variety of sources to solve problems
and address issues related to daily life and work. |
| Flexible Models that Accommodate Learning
Differences |
Effective professional development utilizes
an instructional model that is responsive to learner needs and requests
and adapts instruction to suit a variety of learning styles and
preferences.
|
|
PDK responds to a variety of learner needs and
styles by offering flexible delivery methods (mentored workshops,
online work, or a combination of both) and a variety of materials
(print, CD-ROM, online). |
