Recognizing ineffective professional development as a critical issue, TAC has convened a number of workshops that address various aspects of professional development, a topic that has direct relevance and impact, both positive and negative, on all teachers' professional growth their willingness to remain in classrooms, and ultimately their ability to improve student learning. Teachers too often have experience a "one-size-fits-all" professional development model, in which someone else decides what they need to learn. And too often, experiences with professional development focus primarily on improvement (i.e., remediation) rather than professional growth and exploration of new ideas, cutting-edge developments in a teacher's field of expertise, or promising new pedagogies. This conventional model seldom meets the particular needs of teachers in specific fields and disciplines, such as mathematics, science, and technology. |
