What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?
At my current school the issue with quality is related to teacher turnover, a lack of consistency in approaches, and knowledge regarding the PYP curriculum.
What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?
There are opportunities for professional development at my current school, however, most of them are are inappropriate for early years education or IB/PYP related, as all teachers must be IB/PYP qualified. Furthermore, the professional development within the school is just shockingly poor, as it addresses a checklist of topics that are not directly related to the quality of teaching. When it is a relevant topic, usually they are mind numbing and delivered in a non practical way. For example, the differentiation workshop offered by counselors (!) was a wishy-washy lecture on do this don’t do that, rather than employing some of the strategies during the workshop as a mean of modelling. I wonder what other professionals have to go through useless PD sessions, that neither improve their performances nor motivate them.
What are some of your professional goals?
b) Complete the Master’s Program in Early Childhood Studies
c) Expand my abilities to apply current theory findings into practice.
What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?
A Hope: that children in adverse circumstances get the basic needs and education they need.
A dream: to see the play-based learning approach being widely used in early years classroom around the world.
A challenge: to keep motivated!
I believe that improving and learning is inherent to being a human and reflection and taking action is what sets good professional apart, as we strive to be a positive influence in young children’s lives and to promote opportunities for optimal learning, and development.
A resource:
NEXT for TYC: An NAEYC Professional Development Resource
https://www.naeyc.org/tyc/next
Hello Renata,
ReplyDeleteonce again, great post. Those are some great goals you have set and it really sounds you are well invested in these goals and you are on your way to achieve and make a real difference. It is true that inconsistencies have to be acknowledged and talked about so order can take place. In a professional atmosphere there has to be opportunity for now only child learning but also we have to give ourselves opportunity. Great insights!
Cassandra Richards
Renata,
ReplyDeleteOne of my professional goals also is to complete my master's degree. reading through your blog I also see that problem of teacher turnover is a common theme between us.You said that the professional development within your school is “poor’’ What can be done to change that? For the most part the professional development hours that I do are usually beneficial. I must admit though that the last one I went to a few weeks ago was very disappointing. The presenter was great however the topic was just a repetition of something that we did previously. We had to sit there for 8 hours.
Thanks for your blog.
Angela.
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteWould you mind clarifying what IB/PYP is? I'm not familiar with the terms. It's a shame that most of the professional development offered does not cover early childhood. Have you spoken to your supervisor to get more assistance in learning more about the field?