Professional Development Case Study

Part 1

Professional Development is any reference to a wide variety of specialized training, formal education, or advanced professional learning intended to help administrators, teachers, and other educators improve their professional knowledge, competence, skill, and effectiveness. When looking at effective professional development, it is important that professional development is delivered by individuals who have demonstrated qualifications and credentials in the focus area of the professional development. It's equally important that those who are leading professional development seminars for districts have a full working knowledge and understanding of the community and population in which those who are receiving this professional development

For example, some districts are finding themselves at a crossroads where student learning is being impacted by socioeconomic factors. This includes social and emotional elements that can hinder a person’s learning. It is important in an environment such as this to look at professional development opportunities that address this aspect of learning to provide those who are working with these populations with not only a better understanding of the students with whom we work but the techniques to ably do so. Take, for example, a young woman who is enrolled in one of our classes to enhance professional growth, but she is having financial problems which make it difficult for her to focus on her coursework. If we don’t understand the needs she has that go beyond the classroom, how effective can we truly be? We need to know our students to be able to help them, and as I reflect over what makes professional development so important, it succinctly coincides with Dr. Paine’s quiz and the type of questions she puts forth. When looking at the way she proposes questions, it allows me to consider how much I know about my community, as well as the way I cope and function under certain circumstances myself. Without an understanding of our community, it limits our ability to work effectively with those who need us the most at that academic moment. Through her quiz, she addresses the importance of understanding the community in which we live as well as the potential coping and functioning skills of our student population, no matter what their