Teacher

Development
Plan
Teacher Development Plan

Teaching development plans allow you to take control of your own goals by
providing you an outlet to set, track, and manage them. There’s always room for
improvement and a development plan is the best way to help teachers establish
and manage your goals.

Action Research

In undertaking action research, educators begin by asking how current

practice might be improved. They then study the relevant literature and research
to select an approach that might improve current practice.

Teachers often use their classrooms as research sites. For example, teachers
might teach a concept in different ways to determine which had the greatest
effect on student learning. Likewise, teachers might experiment to see what
approach is most effective in facilitating cooperative learning among students.

Administrators can use action research to address issues related to their

leadership role in schools. Action research is a reflective strategy that requires the
collection of qualitative and quantitative data, which can lead to enhanced
practice.

Teachers can engage in successful mini-research projects in their

classrooms, while administrators can use schools, individually or collectively, as
research sites. This “action” research often helps identify which techniques work
best for particular students. Action research helps teachers to theorize from
teaching practice and experience and redefine teaching as an autonomous
form of inquiry. For more information on action research, consult the
ATA document Action Research Guide for Alberta Teachers.

Book Study

Book study groups are an effective form of professional development that

educators at all levels can use to facilitate their professional growth. Book studies
work best if the participants have similar skills and interests. However, varying
viewpoints are important because they inject diversity of opinion and enliven
discussion. One of the first matters on which the group must reach consensus is a
schedule for reading and discussion. If the book study is to consist of four to eight
meetings in all, then each meeting should last between 60 and 90 minutes.

Choose a book on a topic that interests everyone in the group but that is
sufficiently open-ended to encourage new learning through reading and
discussion. The book should be thought-provoking and have enough depth to
stimulate debate. At the conclusion of the book study, ask the following questions:
Did the book stimulate thought and discussion? Did the group study meet the
learning objectives? How might the group study experience be improved?

Classroom/School Visitation

Teachers visit the classrooms of colleagues to view innovative teaching

practices and expand and refine their own personal pedagogy. For classroom
visitations to occur, school boards must be willing to engage substitute teachers.

School administrators may benefit from visiting a school in the jurisdiction or

another jurisdiction to view the facility, explore alternatives for organizing
resources and discuss leadership strategies with the hosting school administrator.

Classroom and school visitations may range from a single day up to two
weeks and/or multiple visits over time.

Collaborative Curriculum Development

Collaborative curriculum development provides a unique opportunity for

teachers to delve deeply into their subject matter. Working together, teachers
can design new planning materials, teaching methods, resource materials and
assessment tools.

Conference Audio Tapes

Conference audio tapes provide teachers who are unable to attend a

national or international conference with an opportunity to learn new ideas from
experts. Most organizations make available information on sessions or
proceedings through audio cassettes, CD-ROMs, and MP3s.
Conferences

Conferences can provide very effective professional development

opportunities, particularly when they are part of a teacher’s ongoing professional
development plan. A detailed listing of selected conferences is located on the
ATA online events calendar.

Curriculum Mapping

Curriculum maps are tools to organize teaching. They outline a sequence

for delivering content and provide a clear scope for what must be taught
to all students as specified in the provincial curriculum. Curriculum maps, which
can be aligned both horizontally and vertically, organize content, skills,
assessments, and resources over time. A curriculum map can also serve as a tool
for collecting data about the implemented curriculum in a school and in a
district—the instruction that students are receiving.

Examining Student Work

Student work provides teachers with a critical source of information about

how a student is learning, developing, acquiring new knowledge and applying
new skill sets. Student work includes such items as writing samples, projects, oral
reports and pictures. Thinking analytically about the work can give teachers
greater insights into teaching and learning. The information can also be used in
study groups.

Integrated Curriculum Planning

The terms “integrated curriculum planning,” “interdisciplinary teaching” and

“thematic teaching” are often used synonymously. The teacher organizes
curriculum so that it cuts across subject-matter lines, bringing topics into
meaningful association and allowing students to focus on broad areas of study.
Integrated curriculum planning includes these features:

• An emphasis on projects
• Sources that go beyond textbooks
• Relationships among concepts
• Thematic units as organizing principles
• Flexible schedules
 • Flexible student groupings.
Peer Coaching

Teachers and school administrators solicit and receive feedback about

their practices after being observed by a peer or other observer. Observation and
assessment encourage educators to reflect on their everyday professional lives
and can take many forms. Reflective writing and discussion allow educators to
develop ideas that can be integrated into their evolving personal pedagogy and
professional practice.

Post-Secondary Courses

Teachers interested in continuing their academic development can

register for credit courses offered by postsecondary institutions. Some programs
are offered using outreach or online strategies. Teachers should consult
the Teacher Qualifications Service to determine the credit that they will receive
for taking a particular course.

Summer Institute

Summer institutes provide teachers with an opportunity to immerse

themselves in a curriculum or pedagogical topic for an extended period of time.
Most summer institutes are three or more days in length and some are offered for
university credit. Teachers are encouraged to contact these organizations
directly for more information.

Symposia, Institutes and Retreats

Institutes are intensive, specialized sessions that focus on one topic or issue.
Institutes and retreats provide opportunities for teachers to learn new teaching
strategies and techniques and to explore in depth with colleagues different
dimensions of their profession.

Teachers’ Conventions

Local, provincial and national conferences provide a forum in which ideas

can be debated, analyzed and sometimes validated. They can inspire, motivate
and create feelings of renewal. Some school staffs participate in conferences
and seminars as groups and then meet to discuss what they
learned and how it can improve student learning and classroom practice. Find
out more about Teachers' Conventions.

Training Trainers/Lead Teachers

One role of the teacher trainer is to help a group of teachers identify a

project that is meaningful to them and then work through the steps required to
carry it out: implementing curriculum, conducting research, holding
workshops and establishing new lines of communication among staff. By
engaging in such group processes as consensus building, vision building and
conflict resolution, teacher trainers model ways for teachers and administrators to
develop and hone their collaboration skills.