Maybe you think you do not have choices in your professional growth. Every so often we should check our assumptions though. Do you really not have choice or are you paralyzed by all the possible choices you actually *do* have?
Could you choose your own Professional Learning?
Of course you could. Just like as students choose to learn things outside of school, so could we.
Why are you not choosing your Professional Learning?
You may not be opting into much more than incidental , unintentional learning because you are “not earning credit.” Remember that the next time you have to tell a students that yes, s/he must use complete sentences.
What level of choice over your Professional Learning would paralyze you?
The reality is that we have likely been in school since the tender age of 5. And we may in fact default to someone telling us how and what to learn. To break out of that structure is tough since that system built us.
You have choice. You may not control if you are given choice while at work, but you can expand your horizons on your own! Some of the easiest ways are: Twitter chats/hashtags, MOOCs or any other online courses, book studies, joining professional organizations {see my post on Professional Learning and Conferences}
Do you really want Choice?
Sometimes it is easier to complain about no choice than to make a choice. After years of being told what to do, we find ourselves paralyzed. It is important to embrace this feeling for a couple of reasons. First, people less qualified than you have been making disjointed and I’ll-informed decisions for you long enough. Second, if you as a professional learner are frightened to make a choice, follow a path, in your personal learning – imagine what students feel like! As an educator you need to make a choice to select intentional, quality learning. You need to feel the anxiety and do it anyway; how else can we expect our students to do so?
Share your Professional Learning Journey
Share the good and the bad; be real. Your journey could inspire another learner. It does not matter if they are an educator or a student.
2017-11-20 at 9:46 pm
It’s really interesting to consider the idea of being paralyzed by all of the choices we have in terms of self-directed PD. You’re so right that there are SO MANY OPTIONS when it comes to directing our own learning as educators. However, what really circles in my head as I read this is: what can administrators do to help educators choose a path that works for them in personalized PD? Mentor teachers along their learning journey? Maybe. Suggest a path for teachers to take based on their own experience? Maybe. What if schools were able to provide a structure for educators’ personal learning journeys.
Thanks for writing this and making me think!
2017-11-26 at 3:09 pm
JP I think it is a fascinating question and I want Administrators to be able to mentor their teachers. However, I am concerned about Admins not “coming up” in an age of self-directed PL. Just as not teaching in a technology-infused setting leaves some knowledge gaps for Admins to mentor teachers in a blended learning, some Admins may need to be educated in options for quality, self-guided PL.