“Learning never exhausts the mind.”- Leonardo da Vinci
There’s no end to learning. It doesn’t end after completing education and starting to work. Individuals that want to upgrade and upskill to become more proficient at their jobs will always do so through continuous education and training. When it comes to schools, teachers need to go for professional development as it not only helps them teach their students better but also makes them effective and efficient, in all aspects of their professional lives. During COVID-19, professional development of teachers is needed more than ever before.
Why should teachers pursue professional development?
Professional development for teachers is important because teacher’s usage of new knowledge in the classroom has a direct impact on students- classroom achievements and productivity increase when teachers participate in professional development. It only helps teachers sharpen their skills and improve their craft, but it also leads to better student success. In my own experience, I have seen the rigorous training programs conducted by Orchids The International School to ensure teachers feel more empowered & belonged to the institution. Relevance with the world & the need of integrating technology in learning is where the need of the hour is.
Here are five reasons why professional development is important for teachers
- It improves students learning
The days of getting knowledge from books are long over. Today, students have access to better tools and services like the internet. Besides, curriculum standards are constantly changing and this makes it challenging for teachers to keep up with new trends and industry best practices. Professional development makes it easy for teachers to create relatively significant and customized instructions for students.
- Teachers learn new ways to teach
When teachers pursue professional development, they get equipped with new teaching strategies. With these strategies, they can make changes to the way they teach in the classrooms. Professional development exposes teachers to new delivery methods and evaluation styles.
- It helps new teachers with skills
Most new teachers may not have the required skills to teach students. While it’s true that they are trained to teach students as part of their teacher education program, that’s insufficient as they lack in several classroom skills. With on-the-job professional training, teachers are skilled and reskilled.
Most experienced teachers have the resources to learn on the job as they spend their whole careers developing new skills, but new teachers don’t have that luxury. This is where professional development comes handy as it gives them the much-needed experience.
Professional development can help both new and experienced teachers learn the skills they need to teach today’s students.
- It helps with the growth mindset
Professional development improves student outcomes and helps promote a growth mindset.
It helps teachers become active participants in their own learning and with this, they are eager to pass on that learning to the students. With professional development, teachers understand that their work is being valued and the school wants them to grow.
- Prepares them for success
Teachers must know their personal strengths and weaknesses and it’s difficult for them to acknowledge that most of the time. Professional development helps teachers to reflect on what they lack and helps them to improve on that.
Students want their teachers to be subject matter experts which means teachers should be capable of answering any questions that students may ask at any point. Professional development programs enable teachers to widen their knowledge in more than one subject area.
