Delivering training or professional development to your peers requires planning and using research-based practices, including the principles of adult learning, attributes of high-quality professional development, and communities of practice. This lesson provides resources to help you learn more about each of these key components of professional development.
There are five principles of adult learning that are important to consider when preparing to deliver training or professional development. The handout Facilitating Adult Learning from Michigan State University's Organizational Development team outlines the principles as follows:
Review the handout and the suggested techniques to facilitate learning to find two or three you could implement in a training or professional development for peers.
If you prefer a video explanation on the way adults learn, watch the lesson Adult Learning Theory and Teachers as Learners presented by Jody Waltman.
Using research, adult learning theory, the Ohio Standards for Professional Development, and ESSA's criteria for Building Systems of Support for Excellent Teaching and Learning, the Ohio Department of Education's online class High-Quality Professional Development outlines the key attributes to affect educator growth and crucial attitude changes. An overview of essential features of high-quality professional development follow.
Ohio Standards for Professional Development
Indicators of what should be included in high-quality professional development are
ESSA Criteria
ESSA defines high-quality professional development using these criteria:
Read more about high-quality professional development in the Teach With INFOhio Blog post Educator's Guide to Self-Directed, High-Quality PD with INFOhio. This post provides an overview of the class and highlights the features of high-quality professional development found in INFOhio's Learning Pathways and Learn With INFOhio webinars. It will also be helpful when you are preparing to deliver professional development to your peers.
When a group of people with a common concern, problem, or interest come together to fulfill goals, it is called a community of practice. These communities can be in-person or online and focus on sharing best practices and building new knowledge to advance their professional practice (Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium). The INFOhio ICoach Open Space group is an example of a community of practice. You will continue to contribute to this online community even after your training is complete.
Watch the video to learn more about communities of practice.
Take some time to browse the website to learn why these communities are important and how you can cultivate a similar environment with your peers.
Communities of practice are an important component of educator growth to impact student learning. The United States Department of Education, Office of Technology released Exploratory Research on Designing Online Communities of Practice for Educators to Create Value with details on exploratory research about designing and managing these groups.
Read Key Questions for Community Designers in the document from the United States Department of Education linked above to learn more about how you can create a community of practice in your school or district. Consider the INFOhio resources, web tools, and initiatives you have learned about in this training. Reflect on what you have learned in this class about providing training and professional development for your peers. Using this information, write a short summary that answers these questions:
Post your summary in the ICoach 2024-2025 Post 11: Reflecting on Your Learning.
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