Am I fully developed?

November 22nd, 2019, was a PD day ... A Professional Development day. No Big Deal, you say? Well, it was to me ... It was the LAST one of my educational career. I've always had a devilish side, one that I keep bottled up most of time because I'm wary that releasing it might bring strife, but I have often wondered about the term Professional Development. I get the Professional part ... That's a part of the whole educational system. But the Development part still gets me because I rarely have any say in what I'm developing.

For those not in the educational system, this is how it typically works:
We get notice at the beginning of the year which days in the school calendar will be PD and then the Board determines what each day will feature. Most days, the topic is chosen based on the Board Strategic Plan or Board Initiative and we all "develop" using that information. Some days they give us a choice of THIS or THAT and that, IMHO, is better, but more than half the time, the topic is decided for us.

Now, having explained that, there is opportunity for Professional Development at any time of the year on any subject I wish but it is usually self-funded with options to apply for some financial support from a PD fund ... It's a limited amount of cash and gets divided equally to all that apply. The issue I have with that is it requires me to miss instructional time, something that my coaching self does with all too often regularity, making it not a great choice. I have exercised that option a few times and really enjoyed the new information and/or skills I acquired.

I have to admit that there have been some PD days here and there that are either interesting or useful ... or both! The one that I just experienced had great potential and I definitely came away with a couple of gems that I can apply to my classrooms right away. My only reservation about this one was a lack of time to appropriately delve into the "meat and potatoes" of its information. The best thing about it, IMHO, was a single sheet that contained a lengthy list of strategies, tools, and resources based around planning, executing and evaluating lessons. Put a feather in your cap, PD planners!

Unfortunately, some of the PD I've sat through over 29 years was not quite the same success. Let me be clear, I totally understand that someone passionately organized the information and truly felt it was vital that teachers know its concepts and skills, but often it was a "buzz" topic ... one that was a long-held educational practice that someone had cleverly re-packaged in new terms and diagrams. For those sitting at the table who were relatively new to teaching, I would guess that it would be informational and interesting. For those sitting beside them with a few more years of experience, it was revisiting something that was already a well established routine. Adding to that, what an HPE teacher feels would be useful will likely not match up with what an English teacher or Biology teacher feels would be useful so trying to cover everyone off with the same concept is doomed right off the hop.

I've always had the character flaw of voicing my opinion, be it popular or not, so I imagine if someone in senior admin from the Board sees this post, they may be a little put off. Teachers are always cautioned that we are employees of the Board and we have to behave as such ... If I offended someone with these thoughts, I hope that they can get past it quickly, but I deeply believe that honest feedback will ALWAYS be better than passive sheep-like allegiance ... likely my coaching experience coming through.

Be that as it may, I would attest that, after 29 years, I am fully developed.