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When teachers have structured opportunities to explore the complex challenges of their practice through thoughtful exchanges with colleagues, and in relation to relevant research, they (re)discover a passion for learning and their own personal and professional growth that brought them into teaching in the first place.
—Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley, The Fourth Way: The Inspiring Future for Educational Change, 2009 (p. 93)
The Alberta Teachers’ Association has been awarded a conditional grant from Alberta Education to work with education stakeholders in overseeing a major study of teacher PD.
The study, expected to be completed in 2013, will lead to a better understanding of teacher perceptions of efficiency related to their professional learning and development and the range of learning opportunities that teachers identify as best meeting their professional growth needs.
Karen Egge, executive director of the Northwest Regional Learning Consortium and PD project cochair, notes that teacher learning is affected by many variables. A challenge will be to understand the relationship between the range of learning opportunities and teacher engagement in teacher learning.
Michael Podlosky, ATA coordinator of Professional Development, is excited about the study. He said it will draw upon a cross-section of Alberta teachers to
- examine and measure how the structure of a PD activity positively influences teacher efficacy and professional practice;
- demonstrate/develop exemplary processes that reflect the relationship between high teacher efficacy and its influence on student learning;
- study the PD processes that are most likely to positively influence teachers’ ongoing commitment to professional learning based on contextual and individual learning needs; and
- identify resources that give teachers opportunities to enhance their professional practice.
A steering committee of education stakeholders, co-chaired by Podlosky and Egge, will provide leadership and guidance on the project.
