Teacher in Development

The opening post to some deeper explorations around community building, professional development, and learning portfolios. This is an incomplete thought, and as always, wide open to your comments.

The Frame:
In the throws of setting up a professional development program for 2006 and beyond.

Key thinking points:
1. Community building for sustained collaborative development (Communities of Practice.) - but how do you accomplish that when your teachers are 100% mobile in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world?
2. Professional Development that is BY the teacher, not done TO them. Where our institution lays out minimal “must knows” and certification requirements, then begins to step away from “guiding” the developmental process. Moving towards an “organized chaos” development program where teachers explore what is valuable to their immediate practice.
3. Learning Portfolios - that refuse to restrict, but encourages autonomous, empassioned life-long learning.
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