Dani Davis

Article review 1

January 24, 2004

 

Citation

 

AR1: Jackson L, (2003), Teacher Training:  Delivering Relevant Staff Development.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/teacher_training/teacher_training004.shtml

 

Introduction

 

In the article Teacher Training:  Delivering Relevant Staff Development, Jackson tackles the issue of providing all teachers with productive staff development sessions. The author’s purpose in writing this article is to assist school staff in providing staff development opportunities that are relevant and worthwhile to all participants.  In this Article Lorrie Jackson breaks down the components of successful staff development sessions into eight categories:

 

1.  Know Your Audience

2.  Do A Baggage Check

3. Refine Your Message

4.  “Edutain” With Caution

5.  Share Success

6.  Get Hands-On

7.  Remember Your Ps and Qs

8.  Relevance Isn’t Optional

 

In the following paper, I will summarize and discuss these eight categories, in hopes that the reader will find tips to help them design relevant staff development training sessions.

 

Summary

 

Know Your Audience

 

Jackson points out that it is very important to know who your audience is before choosing what to present in a staff development meeting.  The presenter should be aware of several key factors such as:

 

Ÿ         “Grade Levels and/or content areas taught.”

Ÿ         “Positive and negative experiences with the training topic.

Ÿ         “Other current demand on their time and/or resources.”

Ÿ         “School and district priorities and goals.”

Ÿ         “Available resources.”

 

Knowing the grade levels and content areas that your audience teaches, helps presenters refine their presentations. This way they address only those topics that are of concern to the given teachers’ area of teaching expertise.  It also helps to prevent trainers from losing the interest of participants, due to delivery of irrelevant material.  Instead, teachers will leave the staff development training enthused because the material presented was both “meaningful and effective” to their teaching environment.

 

Being aware of prior positive and negative experiences with the training topics helps presenters to dispel the resistance to their presentation, because they have the opportunity to address these experiences from the very start of their session.  By validating the audience’s misgiving and assuring them that they will have a positive experience this time around, the presenter begins to gain the trust and respect of the audience members.

 

There are many demands put on a teacher’s time.  Therefore, it is important to present material in a succinct and timely manner.  Trainers need to focus their instruction on the main point, leaving out any unnecessary of extraneous information.  This leads to quick, yet relevant learning that prevents teachers from becoming frustrated because they feel that time is being wasted.

 

Aligning the presentation to the school and district goals enables presenters to deliver their instruction to fit the given school’s teaching model.

 

It is also necessary to consider the resources available to the participants.  Presenting information that is not able to be utilized with the resources available to the school staff makes the information less useful to them.

 

Do A Baggage Check

 

All teaching staff members have had negative experiences with staff development at one point or another.  Addressing these experiences can help trainers to have a more successful session than their predecessors   when presenting information on a topic similar to one that produced a negative experience in the past, Jackson states that trainers should start by making a statement like this: “Shake your head if you remember the ABC grading program we used last year.”  Then give the audience an opportunity to state any complaints that they may have.  Validate these concerns be telling the staff that these problems are the reason why something new is going to be tried.  At this point the trainer will be able to “redirect the discussion” and present their information because the negative feelings and concerns have been heard and addressed.

 

Refine Your Message

 

Presenters are often “experts” in the field in which they are presenting.  Therefore, they often become “longwinded,” as they try to share all that they know on a given topic.  This is a bad idea because many times the audience dose not need or want all of your “well-meaning” knowledge.  They want all of the important points and the basic ideas which pertain to their setting.  Presenter should not try to share everything that they have learned through years of experience into a forty-five minute session.  As a general rule if someone wants to know more they will ask.

 

“Edutain” With Caution

 

There is a “delicate balance” between entertaining and a loss of credibility.  A little humor and a few door prizes can make staff development meetings fun, but a little goes a long way.  Presenters begin to loss their credibility, if the audience feels that the meeting has become “useless and a waste of time.”  It is best to go with “two or three substantial giveaways.”

 

Share Success

 

Sharing personal successes in the classroom is a great way to make the training purposeful and relevant to the audience.  This can be done in three ways:

 

Ÿ         Beta test with teachers.

Ÿ         Paint a picture.

Ÿ         Keep an eye on the time.

 

Before a presenter arrives at the session, they should find a few teacher within the school who will beta-test and use the material that will be presented at the session.  Have those teachers share their experiences with the new material at the staff development meeting.  Teachers listen to their colleagues more willingly than they do an outsider.

 

Use videos and photo to “paint a picture” of how this material has been successfully used in the classroom.  It can also help to have teachers write testimonials regarding how they implemented the materials in their classrooms.

 

It is important for teachers to mention how long it took for them to implement the program in their classrooms.  Nobody is going to want to spend days of their own time into setting up the program in their classroom.

 

Get Hands-On

 

The best professional developments are interactive.  Turn the audience members into “participants.”  Ask people to share experience, act out scenarios, or practice a newly learned skill.  Working in small groups also gives teachers a chance to discuss ideas and share there solution to given problems.  “The most successful hands-on approach occurs when attendees are able to start or even complete a real task during the session.”  This allows them to witness first-hand the benefits of implementation in their classrooms.

 

Remember Your Ps And Qs

 

“Treat the teachers with respect” by “listening to their concerns and offering solutions.”  Do not approach the meeting with a do it my way or take the highway attitude.  It is important to remember that the staff is giving you an opportunity to join their team.  No one person’s thoughts and ideas are any more valid than any other person’s.  So, presenters should join the team by becoming an active listener who addresses concerns and helps to find solutions.  This can be done by doing the following:

 

Ÿ         “Start every session on time.”

Ÿ         “End every session five minutes early.”

Ÿ         “Teach to the learners- Multiple intelligences.”

Ÿ         “Actively seek out teachers’ opinions.”

Ÿ         “Seek teacher participation in decisions.”

Ÿ         “When in doubt do without.  Sometimes the best training is no training at all.”

 

Relevance Isn’t Optional

 

Relevance is the most important factor when designing a professional development activity.  If the participants do not recognize the relevance of the instruction, everyone’s time is being wasted and nothing will be gained.  However, if the tips mentioned above are used to provide relevant and engaging instruction, the possibilities are virtually endless.

 

Implications of Staff Development by Author

 

The author feels that following these tips will help staff development designers to provide staff development sessions that are worthwhile and relevant to teachers. 

 

My Reaction

 

I am inclined to agree with Jackson.  Relevancy of presented material is extremely important in staff development sessions.  It is vital that the presenter consider the audience to which they will be presenting Otherwise, we are spending time on material that does not pertain to our specific situations and therefore, the information will more than likely not be used effectively.  I also agree that engaging participants in the activities helps them to not only learn, but to also discover how the information can be best implemented in their individual classrooms.

 

Jackson does however miss an important factor of staff development meeting.  She addresses staff development in one big all-school session.  There is much to be said for small group departmental meeting, where each group has presenters who deal with material relevant to that group.  If there is only one topic is being presented to an entire school’s staff.  It is highly likely that some people will find the material to be irrelevant, regardless of how much the presenter knows about the audience beforehand.