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Chapter 1:
Professional Development versus Professional Learning
Because licensing requirements mandate that Susanne complete twelve hours of training each year, she regularly attends two-hour training sessions. Sometimes she finds them a complete waste of time, while other times she learns possible new strategies. Even then, she rarely ends up trying the new ideas because it is easier to continue teaching as she always has.
In contrast, Karina attends both training and coaching sessions. During each training session, she creates action plans for implementing specific strategies.
She also meets with her coach twice a month to discuss her progress on her action plans. The coach challenges Karina to take risks and try different strategies.
Change is hard, but as Karina has worked on her goals, her students have become
more engaged.
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Professional Development versus Professional Learning
Most professions require employees to undertake some type of continuous learning, an enterprise referred to as professional development (PD). Ideally, it should address current employment needs and practices. Many early childhood professionals know that PD is important, but if they associate the term with hours of excruciatingly dull lectures that have little or nothing to do with their needs or interests, it has a negative connotation. As a leader in early childhood education, you can change that perception by implementing effective professional learning (PL) in your organization. To bring about that change, we need to start by thoroughly examining what PD and PL are and how they differ.
In the field of education, PD focuses on helping learners gain new information and update their content knowledge. It has traditionally focused on one-time “sit-and-get” workshops, seminars, and conferences, though it also can involve more-engaging methods. In the past, PD instructors were seen as all-knowing experts, and learners were expected to passively receive whatever information their instructors presented. More recently, PD providers have begun acknowledging that every learner brings expertise to the learning experience and that adults benefit from discussing ideas. These attitudes and practices form the basis of professional learning (PL), a more-encompassing term that refers to all educational activities that prepare individuals for their professional work. Table 1.1: Comparing PD and PL outlines in more detail how PL differs from traditional PD.
Table 1.1: Comparing PD and PL
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Frequency and Format
These categories are intertwined, so we will examine them together.
PD frequently takes place as a discrete event that lasts a few hours or days, such as a seminar or conference. Professionals come to the event, receive information from an “expert,” and leave. Theoretically, they then go back to their programs and change their practices. However, all too often the motivation to change quickly dissipates, frequently because learners lack time or support for making changes. Other urgent matters usually take precedence. This pattern is unfortunate because a great deal of time, effort, and money go into preparing most PD events.
In contrast, PL involves an ongoing process of inquiry and reflection. It occurs over longer periods of time. Some examples include participating in a coaching partnership over a nine-month period and attending a monthly CoP for several years. Instead of attending separate, unrelated training sessions, learners attend series of training sessions on related topics and receive coaching with the same focus. Additionally, learners interact in person or virtually through professional learning communities (PLCs) or communities of practice (CoPs). Intentionally focused PL leads to greater improvement in teaching practices.
Focus
In both PD and PL, participants gain new information and update their content knowledge. PD’s focus usually stops here, but PL emphasizes helping participants to learn, evaluate, and change skills and practices. While PD typically only provides information, PL teaches participants how to incorporate that knowledge into what they do every day. For example, a PD session might consist of a lecture on the importance of positive discipline in the classroom. A PL session on the same topic, however, would likely include discussions, case studies, and practice time to help participants learn how to effectively implement positive-guidance strategies in their own classrooms. Participants would also learn about and practice these skills during coaching and PLC or CoP sessions.
Expertise
In traditional PD, the instructor is considered the expert. He disseminates all the information that learners “need.” In PL, trainers honor learners’ expertise and not only invite but expect them to share it. Learners also share expertise with peers in PLCs and CoPs. During coaching sessions, coaches encourage teachers to be reflective and find answers within themselves. Coaches also acknowledge each teacher as the expert on the children in his classroom.
Presentation Style and Components
Because these categories are intertwined, we will examine them together.
In traditional PD, the presentation style is frequently passive. The instructor uses a direct-instruction, one-directional approach, such as lecture, based on a one-size-fits-all philosophy. Learners “sit and get.” When supervisors mandate such prescribe...
