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NSW HSC Online Professional Development Node

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Professional Development: General (Personal, Social, Academic, Professional)

Written by Dr Jennifer Tylee

The broad title of this node reflects the idea that NSW HSC teachers are whole people with many facets to their being and who will bring many aspects of themselves into the teaching profession. The development and growth that occurs in one aspect of a person’s life will be reflected in who they are as a person and therefore also who they are as a professional. This node acknowledges the different aspect of you - the NSW HSC teacher who is a social person as well as a learner and professional person. It encourages you to take hold of your own personal and professional development and direct your learning towards the gaols that you want to achieve. This node acknowledges that you are the best person to determine your learning needs and the direction of your development.

Content

What is professional development?

• The differences between professional development and staff development

• What is personal/professional development?

• The approach to professional/development being taken on this node

What is the benefit of personal/professional development for NSW HSC teachers?

Guidelines for your personal/professional development as a NSW HSC teacher.

Additional material to assist your professional development

• Keeping a personal/professional journal
• template to assist with personal/professional development planning

What is professional development?

Stated simply, professional development is a planned activity designed to improve individual professional performance. The activities can include the following:

• keeping abreast of reading and developments related to your subject area and about the nature of teaching and learning;
• meeting with a colleague or mentor for the purpose of working on an aspect of your teaching proficiency;
• working with colleagues for the purpose of developing new skills or a new unit of work or solving a particular situation or problem;
• undertaking a teacher exchange program;
• conducting action research;
• pursuing a program of personal reflection and change;
• pursuing a degree or taking a course;
• participating in a workshop or conference and taking ideas back for implementation in the classroom;
• participating in teacher-led improvement projects; and
• writing or presenting ideas related to the development of teaching improvements.

The differences between professional development and staff development

The main difference between professional development and staff development is that staff development aims at developing the collective of individuals in an organisation. Staff development can have a purpose beyond individual professional development. There are several purposes for staff development, which can encompass individual professional development, but staff development can have the broader focus of achieving Departmental and School goals. The School or Department generally instigates staff development. You will note in the outline of staff development, provided below, that there is a great deal of overlap between staff development and individual professional development. Sweeny 2001, suggests that some of the purposes for staff development can include:

• curriculum implementation;
• instructional improvement;
• norms, attitudes and skill development; and
• school/organisational development.

1. Curriculum implementation

This is generally associated with the implementation of specific curriculum requirements such as:

• clarifying the content knowledge in a curriculum and the skills to be developed;
• curricular arrangements and materials that organise and embody the curriculum content;
• increasing or updating the content knowledge in a particular curriculum;
• modelling what successful implementation of the curriculum looks like; and
• coaching for technical support and to resolve curriculum implementation difficulties.

2. Instructional improvement

This is generally associated with the development of proficient teaching. Instructional improvement is also the area usually associated with individual professional development. It includes the aspects of curriculum implementation outlined above but also includes aspects that have been outlined by the American National Board for Professional Teaching Standards:

• knowledge of general and subject specific methods for teaching and for evaluating student learning;
• knowledge of students and human development;
• skills in effectively teaching students from racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds; and
• skills, capacities and disposition to employ such knowledge wisely in the interests of the students.

The American National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has refined this broad framework into five propositions:

1. teachers are committed to students and their learning
   • recognise individual differences in their students and adjust their practices accordingly
   • have an understanding of how students develop and learn
   • treat students equitably; and
   • teaching extends beyond developing the cognitive capacities of students.

2. teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students

• appreciate how knowledge in their subject is created, organised and linked to other disciplines
• command a specialised knowledge of how to convey a subject to students; and
• generate multiple paths to knowledge;

3. teachers are responsible for managing student learning

• call on multiple methods to meet their goals
• orchestrate learning in group settings
• place a premium on student engagement
• regularly assess student progress; and
• are mindful of their principal objectives;

4. teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience

• are continually making difficult choices that test their judgement; and
• seek the advice of others and draw on educational research and scholarship to improve their practice; and

5. teachers are members of learning communities

• contribute to school effectiveness by collaborating with other professionals
• work collaboratively with parents; and
• take advantage of community resources.

3. Norms, attitudes and skill development

This aspect of staff development also overlaps with professional development in that it aims at establishing the attitudes and understandings associated with being a professional. In the school setting this includes:

• establishing the norms of continuous adult learning, openness to new ideas and the experimentation with ideas and openness to feedback from peers;
• encouraging responsible and autonomous decisions that reflect the Departmental gaols of student centered, engaging instruction; and
• developing the skills of reflective self-analysis and establishing goals for self improvement.

4. School/organisational development

This is generally associated with school/organisational improvement, but it can also take into account the fact that the processes and success of teacher development depends upon the context in which it occurs. This context can include the surrounding political and social environment (Hargreaves & Fullan, 1992). Sweeny 2001, suggests that school/organisational improvement generally includes the:

• creation of clarity, integration and commitment to the school goals;
• improvement of the quality of interactions and relationships in the school to improve effectiveness;
• improvement of the professional work climate;
• elimination of dysfunctional structures and practices; and
• design of processes to provide feedback in the system to allow for continued development and improvement.

What is personal/professional development?

Personal/professional development takes an individual’s perspective on development and acknowledges that learning and development does not occur outside of development desired by the individual. You as a person cannot be separated into compartments such as the professional and the personal. These compartments overlap. What you think and believe and how you behave at a personal level will affect what you think and how you behave as a professional person. The overlap may not be complete in that you may be able to ‘act’ in a professional manner but if the ‘act’ is not a reflection of your real attitudes and behaviours the ‘act’ will begin to break down.

Professional development needs to take into account who and what you are. Personal/professional development can include:

• Personal development for the achievement of your own desires and wishes. These desires and wishes can include being a proficient professional NSW HSC teacher. However, your desires and wishes may also include other aspects of yourself that can impinge on your being a proficient teacher. These other, more personal aspects can include:
  • interpersonal and social skills development
  • competency with computer technology
  • health and physical development; and
  • understanding yourself, others and the nature of reality.
• Career development is another aspect of personal/professional development. The term career development may no longer only mean ‘advancement’, that is, the move upward and onward with a higher salary level. Career development has also come to mean the deepening and widening of skills and knowledge where a person can have different responsibilities with an emphasis on gaining personal satisfaction rather than just an increase in salary (although just financial rewards for increases in knowledge, skills and responsibility are important) (MCB 2001).

The cycle of personal/professional development

Personal/professional development is a cyclical process that can be viewed as a series of steps (see the diagram below). You start with a determination of your personal and professional values or philosophy. With this as a starting point and guide you then assess your personal and professional development needs, you determine your personal and professional goals, you plan how you are going to meet your personal and professional goals and you carry out the plan. Then the process commences once again as you revisit your personal and professional values and reassess you personal and professional needs.

The approach to development being taken on this node

This node is seeking to take a personal/professional approach to your development. It asks you to consider your personal self as well as your professional self and to see the links between the two. You are also asked to consider your career and the direction that you want to take in your professional life. However, although links between personal and professional development are made, the emphasis is upon your professional development.

The node is developed around information that is followed by activities for you to complete. Some of these activities include:

• identifying your personal values desires and wishes;
• linking your personal values, desires and wishes to your educational philosophy;
• writing your philosophical statement;
• conducting your professional development needs assessment;
• defining you professional development goals;
• determining the strategies that you will use to bring about your professional development;
• identifying your resource needs and a timeline for your development; and
• determining what will count as evidence for the attainment of your goals.

When you are asked to undertake the activities associated with conducting your needs assessment and defining your goals the emphasis is upon your professional development and what you personally require for development. This means that questions and activities associated with the development of wider personal goals have not been included on this node and you will need to examine these independently.

When you have completed the activities you will have defined your professional development gaols and developed a plan for your professional development. The plan will include activities/strategies that will enable you to achieve your gaols.

Actually implementing your plan and achieving your desired goals is up to you!

What is the benefit of personal professional development for NSW HSC teachers?

Do any of the following apply to you?

• Just now being a NSW HSC teacher doesn’t add to the quality of your life.
• You enjoy being as a NSW HSC teacher but feel that you could achieve more.
• You need to change the direction to get back on track with your aspirations and your life!
• Being a NSW HSC teacher is enjoyable and satisfying – it is a major part of your life and you want that to continue.

If any of these situations apply to you then you should benefit from the approach to personal/professional development that is directed by you. An approach that takes into account your needs and the direction that you want to take in your professional career.

Some of the benefits that you can experience from preparing your own personal/professional development program are derived from the sense of control that you can experience. This sense of control can come from you:

• connecting all aspects of who and what you are so that you can form a cohesive approach to your development;
• determining the areas/aspects of your teaching and yourself that you want to develop;
• deciding an amount of time to devote to personal/professional development; and
• deciding the direction of your career.

Further to these reasons Craft 1996, suggests that some of the reasons for undertaking professional development can include:

• improving performance skills;
• extending experience for career development and promotion purposes;
• developing professional knowledge and understanding;
• extending personal or general education;
• promoting job satisfaction; and
• enabling anticipation and preparation for change.

Guidelines for your personal/professional development as a NSW HSC teacher

The place to start in the development of your personal/professional development is with who and what you are as a person, that is, your desires and wishes. The next step is then to translate these into your professional self and how your professional self reflects your personal self. From this point you will be ready to begin defining your personal/professional philosophy or your vision for yourself or your mission as a person and a NSW HSC teacher. From this point you will be ready to develop your aims and goals for yourself and plan for the attainment of these goals.

Step 1 - Determine your philosophy

Undertaking your personal/professional development will require you to reflect on yourself as a person and as a professional.

Many of the activities in this node require you to think about who you are as a person and professional and what you want to achieve. It is suggested that you keep a personal/professional journal where you record your experiences and your reflections on your experiences. How to go about keeping a personal/professional journal is a part of this node. It would be of benefit to read this material before you proceed with the activities presented below as you will be able to use the activities as journal entries.

There are several stages involved in the process of determining your philosophy. All of the stages require you to think about and reflect deeply upon what you believe and do. It is not a simple process to work out what you think and believe about life and teaching. These are ‘big’ questions. To assist you in determining you philosophy it is suggested that you undertake the stages outlined below. At the completion of this section you will have determined your philosophy and written your philosophical statement. This statement will be a guide to the rest of your personal/professional development.

The stages involved in determining and writing your philosophy are:

• Stage 1 – Identify your personal values, desires and wishes
• Stage 2 – Link your personal values, desires and whishes to your educational philosophy
• Stage 3 - Write your philosophical statement

Stage 1 - Identify your personal values, desires and wishes

It is your personal desires and wishes that provide a guideline for the direction that you want your life to take – for both personal and professional aspects of your life. It is sometimes difficult to determine what these desires and wishes are although some people seem to have this clear. There are activities and questions below that will assist in the process of thinking through some of the issues/aspects involved. You should not consider, however, that these questions could be answered only once. Your current answers are a reflection of your current learning and development. Your answers may change as you learn and develop.

In order to maintain your personal integrity you need to relate your desires and wishes to your personal values – so this is where we will start. A value is a belief, a mission or a philosophy that has meaning to you. Most people who pursue work and career directions that are consistent with their personal values feel satisfied and successful in their professional lives.

Personal values can range from belief in hard work, self reliance and punctuality to the more psychological values such as concern for others, trust in others and harmony of purpose. To assist you with the exploration of your personal values and the relationship of these to your professional philosophy, complete the following activities.

Activities

1. Read the following common list of values and rate each value listed using the following scale:
   1 – things I value very much
   2 – things I value
   3 – things I don’t value very much

Value	Rating 1-3	Value	Rating 1-3
Adventure		Innovation
Artistic creativity		Integrity
Calm, quite, peace		Knowledge
Change and variety		Make decisions
Cleanliness and orderliness		Maximum utilisation -resources
Commitment		Openness
Community		Perseverance
Competition		Positive attitude
Concern for others		Progress
Continuous improvement		Quality of work performance
Cooperation		Recognition
Creativity		Resourcefulness
Discipline		Respect for the individual
Excitement		Results orientation
Faith		Satisfaction of others
Family welfare		Security
Fast paced		Self-reliance
Financial gain		Service to community/society
Freedom		Simplicity
Fun		Stability
General creativity		Supervision
Global view		Teamwork
Gratitude		Time freedom
Hard work		Tolerance
Help others		Trust
Help society		Truth
Honesty		Work alone
Independence		Work under pressure
Influence people		Work with others

2. Has the list missed things that you consider important? If this is the case then add them to the list and rate them the same way that you did the others.
   
3. From the list that you valued very much (that is, 1) identify what you consider to be the five most essential values.
4. From those items that you rated as not valuing very much (that is, 3) identify five values that are the least important to you.
5. When you have completed the activities outlined above you will have developed a picture of what your personal philosophy/values are like. Summarise your personal values.
6. You now need to link our personal values to your desires and wishes. First, think of what you really wish for - what you deeply desire. If you find this difficult undertake the following:
   
   • Imagine that you are very elderly and that you are coming to the end of your life. What would you like to have achieved during your life? What would you most like to have remembered about you? Write down these things.
7. Re-read your personal values and your desires and wishes. Are they consistent or do they contain inconsistencies? If they contain inconsistencies reflect upon this and attempt to understand the source of the inconsistencies.

Stage 2 - Link your personal values, desires and whishes to your educational philosophy

This is the step where you relate who you are as a person to who you are as a professional teacher. In the Professional Development: Portfolio node of the HSC online material you are asked to develop your educational philosophy. If you have not done this you might consider doing it now by answering the questions below. If you have completed this as a part of developing your professional portfolio then now might be an occasion for revisiting what you wrote.

• What is knowledge and knowing?
• What is learning – especially for HSC students?
• What is the learning process?
• What is teaching- especially for the NSW HSC?
• What is the teaching process?
• How is my understanding of knowledge and knowing reflected in what and how I teach?
• What is assessment?
• How do my assessment practices reflect my understanding of the learning and teaching processes?
• What are the roles of the NSW HSC teacher?
• How does what I do in my teaching roles reflect what I believe about the learning and teaching processes?
• How do I organise my teaching?
• What classroom processes do I use?
• What are my behaviour management practices?

Activity

Having answered the questions above you are in a better position to analyse what you think, believe and do as an HSC teacher. This then provides a point of reflection and can be related to your personal values, desires and wishes that were developed in the previous step. To assist in this process you might find it useful to answer the following questions:

• Does your educational philosophy reflect your personal values, desires and wishes? If not, what do you think is the basis of the inconsistency?
• Does what you do in the classroom actually reflect what you believe about teaching and learning? If not, what do you think is the basis of the inconsistency?
• Are your classroom processes and behaviour management practices consistent with your beliefs about the nature of learning and teaching? If not, what do you think is the basis of the inconsistency?
• Are your classroom processes and behaviour management practices consistent with your personal values about people and life? If not, what do you think is the basis of the inconsistency?

In undertaking this activity you will have developed a good understanding of your ‘real’ educational philosophy and how this relates to your personal values. You may have begun developing ideas about your personal/professional development but before you put these into goals and a plan you need to consider the direction that you want for your career development. However, if you have thought of ideas for your development write them down in your personal/professional journal. You will come back to these ideas in the next step.

When considering the direction that you want for your career development you may find it helpful to answer the following questions:

• What is your vision for your best possible career future?
• If you knew that you could not fail what is the first position that comes into your mind? Are you surprised by what has come into your mind? Is what you have written consistent with the vision you have for your best possible career?
• To what sort of career position do you aspire?
• What three words would definitely appear in a position statement for the career position to which you aspire?
• Is the direction that you envision for your career consistent with your values, desires and wishes? If not, what do you think is the basis of the inconsistency?

Stage 3 - Write your philosophical statement

Having undertaken the stages above you are in a position to write a statement of your personal/professional philosophy. This statement will act as a guide for your personal/professional development. It will assist you in assessing your development needs and in determining long and short-term goals.

Activity

1. Spend some time reflecting on the answers that you have provided in Stages 1 and 2 above. Are there any themes or recurring ideas that are present in what you have written? It is probable that these recurring ideas represent the essence of what you believe.
2. Carefully read the recurring ideas. Do they link together in some way? Can you see a relationship between the ideas? Can they be groups to present an overarching theme or group of beliefs? Having undertaken the analysis of your answers you are in a position to produce a succinct statement that draws together all of the elements of your values and beliefs.
3. When you have written a statement place it aside for a week and then come back to the statement. Ask yourself – does this statement reflect me? Does it encompass what I really think and believe? Is it sufficient to provide a guide for my development? Are there aspects that need to be changed, added to or taken away? Could I have written aspects better? When you are satisfied with what you have it is time to move to the next step in your personal/professional development process.

Step 2 - Conduct your needs assessment

As you were working through the previous step you probably became aware of areas where you could develop further and you may have come up with ideas for your development. These ideas may reflect needs that you have already identified for further development. To gain more thorough understanding of your professional development needs you need to conduct a systematic needs assessment. Much of the work in this section is associated with identifying your professional needs. You will need to add you personal life needs to those identified in this section.

Activity

1. The following groups of questions are designed to assist your reflections about your teaching and can be used as a way of assessing your development needs. There are many questions and they are not designed to be overwhelming or threatening. They are designed to assist with your reflections about what it is that you might need to develop. Take the time to work your way through the questions. You could use this activity as an entry in your personal/professional journal. The groups of questions are based around proficient teaching as outlined by the American National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The questions themselves have been adapted from work by HERDSA 1992.

• knowledge of the subjects to be taught, of the skills to be developed and of curricula arrangements and materials that organise and embody that content:
  
  • What do you do to keep your expertise in the subjects you teach up to date?
  • How do you stay in touch with the development in teaching in your subject areas?
  • How confident do you feel about the curricula arrangements and materials that organise and embody the content of the NSW HSC subjects that you teach?
  • What opportunities do you have to discuss aspects of teaching and learning in your subject areas with colleagues?
  • What opportunities do you have to receive feedback from colleagues about your teaching in your subject areas?
  • What activities do you use to reflect upon the teaching in your subjects and identify areas for development?
  • Do you attend seminars, conferences or courses that focus on teaching and learning in your subject areas?
• knowledge of the general and specific methods for teaching and for evaluating student learning:
  • How do you find out about the approaches that students take to their learning in your subjects?
  • How do you go about developing your skills and expertise as a teacher?
  • How do you frame questions to help students learn effectively?
  • How do you encourage questions from students?
  • How do you respond to the questions that you receive from students?
  • How do you check that the explanation that you provided to a student’s question was clear to the student?
  • How do you find out about the ways that your teaching affects the approach students take to learning in your subjects?
  • How do you use the information obtained from student assignments and examination work in evaluating your teaching?
  • What do you do to provide immediate feedback to students to help them improve their performance?
  • How do you ensure that your assessment methods accurately assess the learning that you intend to assess?
  • How do you assist students to assess their own work?
  • Do you identify for students the specific strengths and weaknesses of their performances and offer feedback on how to improve?
  • Do you make a conscious effort to be an effective role model for thinking and practice in your subject areas?
• knowledge of students and human development:
  • How do you build upon student’s life experiences in your subjects and in your teaching?
  • What opportunities do you give students to choose aspects of course work or assessment that is relevant to their interests and experiences?
  • How do you encourage students to make effective use of libraries and learning technologies?
  • In what ways do you assist students to reflect on the values that they hold?
  • In what ways do you provide personal assistance to students, and/or refer them to a range of resources and assistance that may be available to them?
  • How do you allow for students’ preferred learning styles?
  • How do you respond when students indicate difficulty with the subject content or your teaching pace, emphasis or style?
  • How do you manage the behaviour of the students in your classroom?
  • How do you take into account students’ developmental needs?
  • How do you provide a secure environment for the learning?
• skills in effectively teaching students from racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds:
  • Do you note the diverse backgrounds of students in your classes?
  • How do you respond to the learning needs of students from racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds?
  • How do you ensure that you treat all students equitably?
  • How do you indicate to students that you respect their values and beliefs without necessarily accepting those values and beliefs?
  • How do you assist students to develop ethical values and beliefs?

1. Re-read your responses to the questions. Are there some areas in your teaching that need more attention than others? Write down those areas.
   
2. The questions above look at proficient teaching but this is not the only way of conducting a self-development needs assessment. The table that is presented below is a checklist approach for identifying personal/professional development needs. The table covers some of the same ground as the questions above but it includes broader aspects of the teaching profession. Use the table as a checklist of areas where you think you could benefit from further development. There is a section at the bottom of the second column for you to add others that are related to you personally that have not been included on the checklist.

Learning and teaching	Administration and management
Subject content	Managing people
Teaching strategies	Budget planning
Classroom management	Budget management
Student learning styles	Coaching and mentoring
Learning technologies	Giving and receiving feedback
Cooperative learning	Counselling skills
Engaging student's attention	Managing meetings
Student welfare and support	Managing teams
Reflective teaching practices	Interviewing and selecting staff
Assessment and reporting	Personal skills
Monitoring and evaluation progress	Effective interpersonal skills
Recording student progress	Managing conflict
Giving effective feedback	Time management
Assessing and reporting strategies	Personal organisation skills
Writing meaningful reports	Stress management
Assisting students assess their work	Working within a group
Educational leadership	Assertiveness
Creating a vision	Project management
Strategic planning	Effective speaking and presenting
Effective communication	Self-reflection on performance
Managing change processes	Effective values and direction
Effective problem solving	Have personal life goals
Strategic planning	Career development
Leading effective teams	Personal / professional philosophy
Conflict and crisis management	Goal setting
Curriculum leadership	Plan development and action
Understanding policy issues	Teaching portfolio
Staff assessment and reporting	Interview technique
Involvement in the wider community	Networking
Learning technologies	Other
Communications - email, internet
Word Processing
Keyboard skills
Spreadsheets
Databases
Desktop publishing
Presentations
Multimedia

3. Having being through the checklist and the previous questions you are in a better position to work out what it is that you want to work on developing. Make a list of items that you marked on the checklist and all the questions that made you think you could develop further in that area. The list may seem daunting, but don’t be discouraged – you don’t have to develop all areas at the one time.
4. At this point it would be a good idea to have another read of your philosophical statement. Is there a correlation between what you have written and the areas of yourself that you want to develop?

What you have at the completion of this section is a list of the areas of your needs for development. Most of the needs that have been presented are associated with your professional life. However, if you have also undertaken a needs assessment for your personal life, you will have a comprehensive assessment of where you want to develop as a person and a professional.

Step 3 Define your goals

In this step you are transferring the information that you gained about your needs to goals that you can place into a plan for action. A goal is a simple and clear statement about the accomplishments to be achieved. The statements are then transferred into the specific activities required to achieve the goals. The processes involved in Step 2 will probably have produced a large list of developmental needs. Step 3 then is involved in breaking down the large list of needs into the ones that will, at least at this stage, offer you the best returns in terms of the direction that you want to proceed.

Activity

1. Review the list of aspects that you considered in need of development. Are there areas of overlap? Are there some areas that need more attention than others? Place your needs in order of priority.
   

   Your areas and list of personal/professional development may look like the following example. However you shouldn’t see this as the only way to develop your personal/professional needs list. You may have some other approach in mind and you should feel free to use your own ideas.

   Example: personal/professional development needs list.

• learning technologies:
  • general computer and keyboard skills;
  • develop teaching and learning strategies using computer technologies; and
  • develop information processing for planning and administrative purposes.
• evaluating and encouraging student learning:
  • develop questions that take into account student’s learning styles
  • develop a systematic approach to monitoring student’s progress; and
  • identify student’s strengths and weaknesses and provide specific feedback about how to improve.
• personal skills:
  • develop project management skills; and
  • improve assertiveness.
• Career development:
  • develop a teaching portfolio; and
  • develop interview skills.

1. Review your top priority areas that you listed in activity 1 above. Are there areas that are more appealing to you than others? Are these areas in which you could reasonable develop?

   It may be advisable to start with these areas. It is easier to commit to development if it doesn’t seem too overwhelming and it is in an area of interest. However, this is not the only aspect that you will need to consider.

2. Are there constraints upon the areas that you can reasonably develop? The constraints could be time, resources including financial, policy directions or others.

   To this stage we have not really considered the needs of the School and the Department. Our concentration has been on the development of who and what you are and what you want both personally and professionally. However, your personal needs have to be tempered by the needs of the organisations of which you are a part. Organisations set the boundaries for whether or not our personal aspirations are realistic and timely.

3. Are there constrains being placed upon you from either the organisations of which you are a part of from other areas? What does this mean in terms of what you can reasonably undertake in a personal/professional development plan? Refine your priority list to the areas that you can reasonably develop.

   At this stage you have your priorities developed and the next stage is the development of goals for your development.

4. List your priority areas and write the goals for their development.

   An example, for the personal/professional development needs associated with learning technologies, has been provided below.

Professional development	Goals
Learning technologies
general computer and keyboard skills	- become a competent user of a word processing program - increase understanding of computer based technologies
teaching and learning strategies using computer technologies	- increase understanding about using computer technologies in teaching and learning - increase understanding of strategies for using computer technologies in the classroom - select at least one strategy and use it in the classroom
information processing for planning and administrative purposes	- increase understanding about the current information processes used for planning and administration in the school - examine alternative ways of using information technology to enhance information processing - adapt an alternative way of information processing using information technology

5. List your priority areas and write the goals for your development in the column next to it. You might like to use the template that is provided.

Step 4 Develop a plan

This step is the development of a plan of action that will enable you to reach your goals. The plan includes the professional development strategies that you intend to use, the resources that you will need, the timeline for the implementation of the strategies and how you will know when you have achieved the goals. You need to make sure that your plan is sufficiently detailed to enable it to be used as guide for the achievement of your goals. You also need to have some indication of when you have achieved the goal. That is, what evidence will you have that you have achieved your desired goal?

The strategies that you use might include any of the following:

Action research project	Participation in a network
Applying for a new position	Piloting an innovation
Attending a course/training program	Program of professional reading
Attending a seminar or workshop	Professional interaction network
Computer training package via internet or CD ROM	Reflective writing
Developing a colleague or mentoring relationship for the development	Teaching a skill to a colleague
Teacher exchange	Teacher support groups
Giving a presentation to colleagues	Team teaching
Giving or seeking feedback	Tertiary or formal study
Informal discussions with colleagues	Training videos
Interviewing others about their teaching and learning practices	Visiting another workplace
Involvement in selection panels	Writing ideas on improvement
Joining a discussion group	Writing proposals
Learning a new skill from a colleague	Participating in a planned professional development activity
Observing the work of a colleague	Others
Micro skills teaching sessions

An example of a plan for achieving learning technologies, professional development goals, is provided below.

Professional development	Goals	Professional development strategies
Learning Technologies
general computer and keyboard skills	- become a competent user of a word processor program - increase understanding of computer based technologies	- work through self paced interactive training programs - use the assistance of coaches and staff with expertise - enrol in a general computer skills course
teaching and learning strategies using computer technologies	- increase understanding about using computer technologies in teaching and learning - increase understanding of strategies for using computer technologies in the classroom - select at least one strategy and use it in the classroom	- professional reading program - participate in a program/research project - participate in a professional development network or discussion group - work with a team to develop an approach to use in the classroom and implement this approach
information processing for planning and administrative purposes	- increase understanding about the current information processes used for planning and administration in the school - examine alternative ways of using information technology to enhance the information processing - adapt an alternative way of information processing using information technology	- work with other school staff to determine what is already being undertaken - interview staff about the effectiveness of current system - seek the advice and assistance of others for the development of other possible approaches - visit a site that has different processes in place - undertake a program of professional reading about information processing for planning and administrative purposes - write a proposal for the adoption of an alternative approach

The strategies presented above will have associated required resources. The resources may be the availability of appropriate technology, suitable staff expertise or training programs and so forth. This aspect needs to be taken into consideration when writing the strategies, as they need to be based on realistic estimations of what will be involved and the resources that will be necessary for carrying out the strategies.

After developing the strategies and determining the necessary resources you will need to develop a time line. Some aspects, such as interaction with colleagues or professional reading programs will be ongoing. Other aspects, such as writing a proposal, will have time boundaries. These need to be determined.

The final aspect of the plan is the evidence that the goals have been achieved. An example is provided below for the learning technologies professional development.

Professional development	Goals	Professional development strategies	Evidence of attainment
Learning Technologies
general computer and keyboard skills	- become a competent user of a word processor program - increase understanding of computer based technologies	- work through self paced interactive training programs - use the assistance of coaches and staff with expertise - enrol in a general computer skills course	- completion of the interactive training program and general computer skills course - enhanced materials to use as classroom handouts - word processed proposal documents
teaching and learning strategies using computer technologies	- increase understanding about using computer technologies in teaching and learning - increase understanding of strategies for using computer technologies in the classroom - select at least one strategy and use it in the classroom	- professional reading program - participate in a program/research project - participate in a professional development network or discussion group - work with a team to develop an approach to use in the classroom and implement this approach	- collection of resources associated with the issues in using computer technologies in teaching and learning - written reflections on understandings about strategies for using computer technologies in classrooms - written outline for the use of one strategy for using computer technologies in the classroom - reflections on the use of the strategy in the classroom
information processing for planning and administrative purposes	- increase understanding about the current information processes used for planning and administration in the school - examine alternative ways of using information technology to enhance the information processing - determine the feasibility of adopting an alternative approach	- work with other school staff to determine what is already being undertaken - interview staff about the effectiveness of current system - seek the advice and assistance of others for the development of other possible approaches - visit a site that has different processes in place - undertake a program of professional reading about information processing for planning and administrative purposes - write a proposal for the adoption of an alternative approach	- a report summarising the current information processes used for planning and administration. The report is to include problems associated with the current approach, an evaluation of possible alternatives and recommendations - the implementation of an alternative approach

Activity

1. Use the template that has been provided and develop your own professional development plan. This will involve putting together the goals, strategies, resources, timeline and evidence of attainment. The plan does not have to be comprehensive and all that you might want to undertake at this stage is development in one thing. This is fine. What is important is that you write a plan that you believe you will be able to undertake.
2. Use the plan as the starting point for the implementation of your program.

Step 5 Implement the plan

This is the step where you have to actually carry out the planned actions. You might find it useful to engage the assistance of a colleague or mentor to help you ‘stay on track’. The use of a colleague or mentor is contained on the Professional Development: Portfolio node. You might find the information there useful.

Step 6 Evaluate your development and revisit your philosophy

Congratulations, if you have reached the evaluation of your development step you have successfully completed all or at least part of your development plan. It is time to revisit you philosophy but it is also time to evaluate the planning process itself.

You will have kept reflective notes about the planning process and these will be useful as you work towards developing another plan for your professional development.

Activity

1. What were the strengths and weakness of the program that you planned? In what ways will you change how you approach the planning process this time around? How realistic were your expectations of what you could achieve given the constraints of time and resources? Are there other aspects of personal/professional development that you would include next time?
2. Begin again the process of undertaking your own personal/professional development.

Conclusion

Taking control of your own personal/professional development can be a very satisfying undertaking. It is in this process that you are able to control what it is that you learn and you can undertake the learning in a way that is meaningful for you. The learning will also be related to your values and goals in both personal and professional aspects of your life. Although the examples and the emphasis in this node have been on your professional development you are able to include aspects that affect your personal life as well.

Enjoy the learning.

References

Craft, A. 1996, Continuing professional development: A practical guide for teachers and schools. Routledge, London.
Hargreaves, A & Fullan, M. 1992, Understanding teacher development. Cassell, London.
HERDSA, 1992, Challenging conceptions of teaching: Some prompts for good practice. HERDSA, Canberra.
MCB 2001, Achieving action goals, MCB University Press. http://www.mcb.co.uk/services/coursewa/ada/iad1.htm
Sweeny, B. 2001, Staff development purposes. Best Practice Resources. http://teachermentors.com

Bibliography

Barth, R. 1990, Improving Schools from within. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Fullan, M. & Hargreaves, A. (Eds.) 1992, Teacher development and educational change. Falmer Press, London.
Guskey, T.R. 2001, Results-orientated professional development: In search of an optimal mix of effective practices. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/rpl_esys/pdlitrev.htm
Guskey, T.R. & Huberman, M. (Eds.) 1995, Professional development in education: New paradigms and practices. Teachers College Press, New York.
Orlich, D.C. 1989, Staff development: Enhancing human potential. Allyn & Bacon, Boston.
Resnick, L. 1987, Learning in and out of School. Educational Researcher, 16(9), 13-20.
Rosenholtz, S.J. 1989, Teachers’ workplace. Longmans, New York.
Rouda, R.H. & Mitchell, E.K. 1995, Needs assessment: The first step. Development of human resources, Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Journal, 1995.
Sparks, D. 2000, Six ways to improve professional development. National Staff Development Council. http://www.nsdc.org/library/results/res9-00spar.html
Sparks, D. & Hirsh, S. 2001, A national plan for the improvement of professional development. National Staff Development Council. http://www.nsdc.org/library/NSDCPlan.html
Watkins, K. 1991, Facilitating learning in the workplace. Deakin University Press, Geelong.

Additional material for your personal/professional development

In this section there are two aspects that you will find useful as a part of the process of undertaking your personal/professional development. These are guidelines on keeping a personal/professional journal and a template that you can use for your personal/professional planning.

Keeping a personal professional journal

(The following has been adapted from material developed by Tylee 1998.)

Keeping a personal/professional journal reflects the idea that we are whole people who develop and learn in all aspects of our lives and that this development and learning is available for our professional lives. This aspect of the professional development node provides information and guidelines about keeping a personal/professional journal. The node will assist you in starting the process of keeping the journal and it will provide guidelines about practical issues and about some initial suggestions for writing and reflection. It will be up to you to actually do the writing, reflecting and developing.

Contents

1. What is a personal/professional journal?
2. How do I keep a personal/professional journal?
3. Guidelines for keeping a personal/professional journal.
4. Initial suggestions for writing and reflection.

Introduction

A personal/professional journal is a tool that assists professionals in any field reflect upon their practice and themselves as professionals so that they can gain an insight into themselves and what they do – both personally and professionally. The journal kept for professional growth emphasises what occurs in the course of professional activities. However we are not separated as people into the personal and the professional, we are one and what we are as people is brought to our professional lives. The personal/professional journal brings together who we are as people in both our personal and professional selves.

... the most general and important reason for keeping a personal-professional journal is that is helps the author to better understand him- or herself, teaching, and the nature of the profession as well. Holly, 1989, p.9.

Writing a professional journal is one of the most suggested strategies for encouraging teachers to take a more reflective approach to teaching (Lewison 1997). This is because the journal stands as a written record of practice, the journal provides the teacher with a way to revisit, analyse and evaluate their professional experiences over time and in relation to broader issues (Cochran-Smith & Lytle 1993). Many of the theories that we hold about the nature of teaching and learning are implicit, unconscious and not readily open to examination (Lester & Mayher 1987; Schon 1987; Smyth 1989; Tefft, Berghoff, Martens & Lewison 1999). Becoming aware of our implicit assumptions about life in the classroom will enable us to examine our ideas about the nature of teaching and learning. The act of reflecting on our assumptions will assist us to become more skilled and effective as teachers.

What is a personal/professional journal?

A personal journal is an attempt to gain an understanding of ourselves, the way in which we see the world, the way we interact with others, the perceptions that we hold and some of the reasons behind these perceptions and interactions. It is very personal and the process of writing is like talking to a very close and trusted friend. Anything and everything can be discussed, analysed and reflected upon. There is no judgement, only support as we explore who we are.

A part of the process of exploring ourselves in a personal journal is to write about oneself, one’s history, one’s family and so forth in a systematic and reflective way. This process of personal exploration and reflection can also be a part of a personal/professional journal. The emphasis in the professional journal is upon the part of oneself that is brought to one’s professional work situation. The emphasis in the personal/professional journal is upon the events and interactions that occur in one’s professional capacity. However, this ‘professional self’ is not separate from one’s ‘personal self’ and the broader understanding of who we are as people significantly impacts on who we are as a professional person.

The personal/professional journal uses observations and reflections about interactions that occur in one’s professional capacity to gain a better understanding of oneself. Gaining this understanding will enhance one’s capacity to teach students and this process can be facilitated if the journal also includes a systematic exploration of one’s personal self, asking the question – How does this impact on my professional self?

A personal/professional journal then is a:

... chronicle of events as they happen, a dialogue with the facts (objective) and interpretation (subjective) and perhaps most important, it is an awareness of the difference between the facts and interpretations (Holly, 1984, 4).

It is a flow of impressions plus the descriptions of the circumstances, others, the self, motives, thoughts and feelings and so forth. It is a dialogue with oneself that aids in developing professional and personal self-awareness. Time provides a perspective into the events and our impressions that enables a deeper understanding of others and oneself. This therefore provides a greater awareness in our personal and professional lives.

How do I keep a personal/professional journal?

Although there are no hard and fast rules for keeping the journal there are some guidelines that may assist the beginner. As you develop your style the guidelines will be less important. What is important is that you develop a method that enables you to reflect on the facts (objective) in the situation and your interpretation (subjective) of the situation. The method that you use should also allow you the flexibility to add extra information about your interpretation of the situation and why you may have interacted as you did.

Guidelines for keeping a personal/professional journal

Practical aspects

There are a few practical aspects that need to be considered after you have decided to keep a journal.

• The form of the journal – Are you going to use a book or a word processor or both? Using a book means that it can be readily carried with you and is accessible for when you want to ‘jot’ an entry or have some time to write. However, a book is inflexible in its approach in that you are unable to return to an entry when new insights occur and add to the existing material. A word processor enables a review of material some time after the original was written and the addition of reflections that relate to an interaction along with the original entry. It is possible to have a ‘jottings’ notebook that is carried with you but that the main form for the journal is the word processor.

• The ‘when’ of journal writing and reviewing – How often are you going to make a journal entry? How often are you going to review the journal entries? In order to gain the most out of keeping a journal you need to decide when you will write into the journal. You need to make regular entries into the journal and review the entries on a regular basis. You may decide that you will make an entry into the journal every day or once a week. The more often that you use the tool the greater will be the potential benefit. It is advisable that you attempt (at least initially) to make entires every day or every second day because in the initial phases you may want to write about your history, your family and so forth and how you think that these influence your personal and professional interaction. As you develop you journal writing you can reduce the number of times a week that you make an entry but it is still advisable that you select an interaction and make an entry at least once a week. You also need to give some thought as to how often you will review the entries. The journal needs to be reviewed at regular intervals so patterns in behaviour and recurring themes may be observed and built into your reflective process. Initially this could be once a fortnight then once a month and later in the journal writing once every three months. The important point here is that you know how often you are going to write in and review the journal and then commit to that as a minimum. You can increase the number of times you write an entry and review the material but try not to decrease the number without considering the reasons for the decrease. Take the time to think, reflect and write and the rewards in terms of self-awareness will be yours.

• The ‘what’ of journal writing – Are you going to include personal material as separate journal entries or are you going to focus on professional interactions and only include personal material as it relates to professional interactions? You need to give some consideration to the material you will include in the journal. Will the journal include writing about your history, your family and your activities for example or will it only include these if they directly relate to interactions in the workplace? A fuller understanding of yourself can be gained if you include personal material that may not (at least initially) appear to be directly related to your professional interactions. However, to include the personal material and to relate that material to the professional interactions takes time and commitment. This may not be something that you are able to provide at this stage, in which case a great deal of benefit can still be gained by concentrating on the professional interactions. The personal material will develop in the journal over time as the professional interactions raise personal issues. You also need to choose the actual professional interaction that you will write in your journal. It is not possible to write entries about all of the interactions that occur in the course of a day or a week. Although any interaction will provide us with information it is important to select interactions that are most likely to assist us in gaining insight and understanding of ourselves. This means that interactions or lessons in which we felt uncomfortable or in conflict with ourselves or others, where the other person/s or student/s did not completely understand us or where we felt that something was missing or not quite right are likely to provide us information about ourselves. These interactions are a good place to start but if you cannot come up with one of these then simply choose any interaction. The important thing is to get started writing a journal and including ‘difficult’ interactions or lessons as they may arise.

• The ‘how’ of journal writing – What method are you going to use to record the event and your interpretation of it? It is suggested that you try to isolate the objective and subjective aspects of the situation from the beginning so that you can clearly see the difference between the facts and your interpretation of the situation. There are a number of ways that you can do this. Select one of the methods that you think will work for you and try it – you can then modify the approach as you practice making journal entries and in effect you will develop your own journal entry style. One method is to use the left hand side of the page for the objective (that is, all the descriptions of the circumstances) and use the right hand side of the page for the subjective (that is, your thoughts, feelings, motives and so forth). Another approach is to use the top half of the page to outline/describe the interactions and the circumstances that surrounded the interactions and follow this by your interpretation of the interaction. Initially it may be difficult to isolate the objective from the subjective in writing the journal entry, so you might want to use a highlighter – one colour to indicate the objective and another colour for the subjective. At the completion of the entry, if you are using a paper book form, it is advisable to leave some space for the addition of later reflections.

Activity: Practice journal writing

The aim of this activity is to have you plan how you will write your journal entries and to practice writing a journal entry with the separation of the facts from the interpretation.

Process

1. Think of an event/situation, for example, a conversation with someone, a lesson, something that was done or not done by someone or yourself and so forth.
2. Work out how you will isolate the objective from the subjective. Will you use separate columns or will you use a highlight pen to draw you attention to the subjective elements of your description, or do you have some other method?
3. Write a journal entry surrounding that event/situation. Include, for example: Objective - a detailed description of the event/situation - who was involved, relevant surrounding circumstances, the date and time, what was actually said or done and so forth. Subjective - your impressions, thoughts, feelings, motivations and so forth.
4. Write down what the event/situation revealed about yourself and/or others.
   Review your entry and answer the following questions. How successful were you at identifying and separating the facts from the interpretation? Do you need to work on this part? If yes – how do you intend to do this?
   As soon as you are able, write another journal entry. Again plan how you are going to separate the facts from the interpretations. You may want to write this entry into your actual journal.

Initial suggestions for writing and reflection

Some general areas for personal reflection are included earlier and you may like to start with these general areas before embarking on areas that relate to your professional life. Some areas for reflecting on your professional life are:

• your expectations of teaching the NSW HSC;
• your ideal assignment in teaching;
• the personal benefits that you gain from teaching;
• what is your idea of the characteristics of the effective NSW HSC teacher;
• what do you think are the characteristics of an effective helper;
• what are the similarities between an effective NSW HSC teacher and an effective helper;
• any personal needs which you have that may interfere with you interactions with your HSC students;
• your expectations of HSC students;
• your ideal HSC students and dreaded HSC students;
• what for you makes an ideal HSC student and a dreaded HSC student and what does this say about your teaching expectations of HSC students;
• how do your expectations of HSC students influence your perceptions of HSC students; and
• how do your expectations influence your interactions with HSC students.

You can also use questions associated with your understanding of the nature of knowledge and teaching and learning that are contained in the portfolio node.

Reference

Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S.L. 1993, Inside/outside, teacher research and knowledge. Teachers College Press, New York.
Cousin, P., Berghoff, B, Martens, P. & Lewison, M. 1999, Why do we find writing so hard? Using journals to inquire into our teaching. The reading teacher, Newark.
Holly, M.L. 1984, Keeping a Personal-Professional Journal, Deakin University Press.
Lester, N.B. & Mayher, J.S. 1987, Critical professional inquiry. English Education, 19, 198-210.
Lewison, M. 1997, Writing became a chore like the laundry: The problems and potential of using journals to encourage a reflective approach to teaching. The professional educator, 19(2), 13-31.
Schon, D.A. 1987, Educating the reflective practitioner. Jossey Bass, San Francisco.
Smyth, J. 1989, Developing and sustaining critical reflection in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 40(2), 2-9.
Tylee, J, 1998, Therapeutic communication: Workbook. http://www.education4skills.com/