Professional Development: Change Relies on Attitude

Peanut Butter and Jelly, Macaroni and Cheese, Oreos and Milk, Schools and Professional Development.  Some things go together better than others and my guess is many look at the list above and think the last one really doesn't fit.  This post is about professional development and how as teachers, we can change the way professional development looks and feels and it all develops off of attitude.

My first of year teaching, which ridiculously enough seems so distant now, I remember sitting in staff meetings and professional development sessions bored out of my mind.  Now this is not to say I didn't do my job, or that I didn't like teaching.  I loved my job and still do to this day.  I wasn't finding a purpose in what I was being trained in.  I found the source of the problem though one day.  I was at a training of some sort and had this negative attitude toward the entire session and sat there, probably with a glum look on my face.  After the training I remember driving back to the school reminiscing about all the information and then it hit me.  I actually got something out of this, I actually learned something.  All it took was a little reflection and an open mind.

Now, don't get me wrong, I think professional development can be bad, but many times it's the audience that needs to change not the presenter.  I started to think about this a little more in depth.  These presenters were spending time preparing and presenting and many of us teachers automatically discount what they are saying because we would rather be in our classroom cleaning, organizing, planning, or grading.  These presenters and these sessions are trying to make us better teachers.  Are we that conceded to believe we are already the best we can be?  Even if we can walk out with one or two bits of information that make us think and make us better, I think that's enough to prove something stuck.  Too many times this doesn't happen.

Attitude plays a big role in professional development.  If you are walking in with a negative attitude and already discounting what this person is going to present, then of course you won't gain anything from it.  Walk in knowing you can pull something away, and walk in thinking you will learn something and I guarantee something will stick.  Teachers often times can make the worst students, but that doesn't have to be true.  We have to model good behavior, even when our students aren't watching.  Having a positive attitude and trying to gain something out of a lecture/presentation is modeling good behavior.  If the presenter is not very good, or bogs you down with busy work, then reflect on your own teaching practices.  Do I do the same thing in my classes?  Now I know how my students feel.  If you don't like busy work, or boredom, why would your students?  Use professional development to gain something, and at the very least use professional development to reflect.

The hypocrisy frustrates me, when a teacher complains that the presenter was not very effective and then that teacher goes and teaches their class the exact same way.  Or the presenter hands out a worksheet for everyone to complete and you see the moans and groans on people's faces, and then those teachers go back to their classrooms to make copies of packets and worksheets to give their students.  How do we become better teachers if we refuse to believe someone out there might be able to teach us something?  Many teachers like to think that just because they went to college for 4-8 years that they are the best at what they do.  You show me any teacher and I can tell you there is room for improvement.  We need to get over ourselves as teachers and accept change for what it is.  A lot of what we are doing now will change in the next 3, 5, 10 years, but that doesn't mean it isn't important.  I often hear that argument, "why learn this now, when it is going to just change next year?"  That's the beauty of teaching and education, it's always changing.  But the big picture here is that every job field is changing, but I don't see doctors complaining when some new treatment is introduced, or police officers complaining when they have a new method to track down criminals.  Why don't they complain because they accept and know that these things make them better.

It all comes down to attitude.  The teachers that come into PD with a positive attitude are the ones talking about it afterward over lunch, over coffee, or over twitter.  The ones with the negative attitudes are the ones shyly going back into their classrooms to continue with the monotony.  Change begins with attitude, but it also relies on attitude.