As I have started doing preliminary research for my dissertation I have discovered that high quality, relevant and sustainable Professional Development (PD) opportunities for principals (and building leaders in general) are limited. How is that possible? Principals are supposed to be visionaries! Principals are supposed to be transformational in their leadership! Principals are supposed to be responsible for the learning and growth for all those around them! How can all that be accomplished without proper support through high quality PD? I'm not 100% certain but what I do know is that upon reflecting on the various workshops and conferences I have attended in my eight years as a building leader, not many of them have given me knowledge or information or resources to best support my role as an instructional leader (except for Twitter, which has led me to this potential dissertation study)! It's no wonder finding effective principals who are good at their job and are willing to stay in the position for an extended period of time to support growth, change and learning is more the exception and not the rule. Is this because they lack support? Is it because they lack the "necessary" skills? Or is it because they lack high quality PD??
I am not sure what the reason is for the lack of effective instructional leaders but here is the bottom line- principals (and all building leaders), possibly more than all others in the organization, need high quality professional development so they can meet with success in their efforts to be effective instructional leaders (Research shows that teachers have access to better PD at a ratio of at least 3 to 1)! The expectation of principals today is very different than it was twenty years ago, ten years ago and even a year ago! Being a school leader today is hard and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier. A fellow NYS Principal and friend (thanks to my Twitter PLN), Peter DeWitt recently wrote a post about this very issue - check it out - Why Would Anyone Want to Be A School Leader? Principals are expected to be active and knowledgeable instructional leaders who are agents of change in their roles as transformational visionaries (what the heck does that even mean?!? Aren't we supposed to be home by 3pm and have the summers off? Think again!).
To help principals meet these lofty goals (some would say unrealistic and unattainable), we need to provide our principals with useful, relevant and accessible PD! Research shows that principals learn best when they function as part of a cohort/group and when they can personalize the learning to their specific school, staff and students. Unfortunately, one day workshops, conferences and even courses at the graduate level usually don't accomplish this goal- this sort of "shot in the arm" PD has not been proven to work so we must change it now! Although I am sure there are many opportunities to create this type of PD experience (book clubs, action research teams, etc.), in my mind Twitter is the best way to go! It is free, timely, relevant, current, it can be personalized and it allows you the chance to develop your own PLN - Professional/Personal Learning Network (cohort or group if you will) to learn in the way that makes sense to you!
So- this is a call to all principals and building leaders - the time to cease control of our PD has come - join Twitter and let's start changing our schools and doing what's in the best interest of our children one tweet at a time!
Tony, we definitely need to talk about PELS (the Penn Educational Leadership Simulation) Program! We are also working to create mechanisms for high quality Ed Leader PD. Thanks for sharing this important message through your blog, too.
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Eric B.
Cohort 7
Tony, we definitely need to talk about the PELS (Penn Educational Leadership Simulation) Program. We are right on the same wavelength with regard to high quality mechanisms to support ed leader professional development. Like what you have talked about (and done) with Twitter, we are trying to capture the experiences of those in the field as a source/resource for what we have termed Peer-to-Peer Professional Development (P2P-PD). Thanks for bringing attention through your blog to this very important issue!
ReplyDeleteEric B.
Cohort 7
Tony,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this passionate post and excited that you are on your way to a dissertation topic! I think part of the problem is that not only is PD for school leaders so infrequent, but it’s also inadequate. The conference or workshop experience is rarely ever “situational” which according to much of the adult learning theory research is key. Also check out Tom Rodgers dissertation in 2004 on his work with superintendents and communities of practice. I can fill you in much more on this.
I think we play two major roles as leaders: (1) the management piece (day-to-day stuff); (2) Visionary work. # 2 is the one where traditional PD is simply irrelevant. Part of visionary work means figuring out where we need to go! And, I’ve often referred to leadership as a conversation; but the question remains – who do you want to be in the conversation with - conference goers or the believers who are accelerating their learning every day through a massive global collaboration. The power of social media is profound and as you know leads to a discovery of ideas of which many are either perfectly situational for the time (serendipitous learning???) Best part, you don’t have to go anywhere, it comes to you!
And, think about the social capital we create in these spaces! Talk about sustainable and scalable learning in a time when most don’t even know what they don't know!
Bill
@DrBIllBrennan
Great post-Twitter is phenomenal and I have learned so much in such a short time- great PD for sure. I would also recommend looking at the following book "Intentional Interruption
ReplyDeleteBreaking Down Learning Barriers to Transform Professional Practice
Steven Katz (Director of Research & Evaluation, Aporia Consulting and Faculty Member, Ontario Institute of Studies in Education
Ontario Institute of Studies in Education)
Lisa Ain Dack (University of Toronto. In our school District many principals are involved in a year long Professional Principal Learning Community with Steven and it is the best PD I have had in my 10 years as an administrator. The work is amazing and the learning incredible and it is all based on what we as administrators can determine through very hard work, what our problem of practice is, at the table. We use inquiry to determine if we are accurate in our work and every time we come to the table we learn, learn, learn, hold our heads, think, talk and learn some more.
Great Post Tony!! I have gleaned so much from my experience on twitter, it has truly been a life-changing experience for me. The connections have been incredible and the fact that it is there for me 24/7 is what makes it so attractive. The only thing that I find to be a downfall (at times) is that I still crave that face to face contact, of course now I want it with the amazing new members of my PLN. I think one of the best ways to address this need (or want) is the #edcamp model. I truly hope to meet many of my #PLN members at #edcampLeadership this summer. Had the chance to meet many of them at #ASCD13 in March, but that is a pricey endeavor, whereas #edcamps are free (except for the long drive I will have). So glad I was able to connect with an exceptional Ed Leader such as yourself....all thanks to twitter.
ReplyDeleteTony, you have hit the nail on the head. As a brand new administrator, I have quickly ascertained that my PD is non-existent and thus am quickly trying to determine how best to leverage Twitter. This is a great dissertation topic and very needed. Thanks for stating "out loud" one of the issues we need to solve in education in order to move our schools forward and best serve our students.
ReplyDeleteTony, thank you for this very timely post. As a brand-new administrator I have realized that my PD is virtually non-existent. Thus, I am working to determine the most effective ways of leveraging Twitter to fill the gap. I think this is a fantastic dissertation topic and wish you much luck with it. Only by naming this issue can we begin to fill the void and move our schools forward, ultimately serving our students (and society) better.
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