Analyze Professional Development for Alignment to Knowles' Fourth Assumption: Problem-Centered Orien

Video Transcription

In this series of six tutorials, I'll be walking you through the process of aligning your professional development to Knowles' six assumptions for adult learners. Recall that the six assumptions are self-concept, experience, readiness, problem-centered orientation, internal motivation, and the need to know. It's important for us to analyze our professional development plans in the context of adult learning theories.

In all stages of professional learning from the design to the implementation, teachers need to be able to connect the various stages of their learning to the acquisition of new knowledge and skills and to their classroom practice. Knowles' six assumptions of adult learning can help us here as they provide a framework for analyzing our professional development.

For each of Knowles' six assumptions, I'll guide you through a three-step process. We'll begin by identifying the areas of existing alignment. We'll then identify areas of possible misalignment. And finally, we'll identify specific areas for enhancement.

This analysis of our professional development is going to be an evaluative process. So I will be providing you with some evaluative questions and possible solutions that I recommend you use throughout the process.

Evaluative questions are going to ask for an opinion or ask for a belief or a point of view. And so it's important to remember that these types of questions don't have any wrong answers. Rather, they are meant to spark some thought and to get you to consider multiple points of view as we go through the process of alignment.

As we go through this process, I will be referring to a sample professional development plan. Note that this plan includes the focus area of professional development, the site goal, and the alignment to district goals, along with action steps, resources, a timeline, details about who is responsible and who is involved, and evidence.

The two action steps outlined in this plan are aligning curriculum to common core standards and enhancing instruction with technology. We'll look at various aspects of this plan more closely as we go through the alignment process.

In this tutorial, we'll be aligning to Knowles' fourth assumption of adult learning-- problem-centered orientation. This assumption tells us that adult learners tend to be more problem centered than subject centered in their learning. Step one in the alignment process is to identify areas of existing alignment.

To determine whether your professional development plan is aligned with the assumption of problem-centered orientation, here are some questions you can ask yourself about the professional development plan. If there is alignment, are you asking teachers to solve a problem? Do teachers see the need for immediate application? Are teachers approaching a problem that is readily at hand? Is the learning in the professional development plan more problem centered than subject centered?

Step two in the process is to identify areas of misalignment. This is where you would look for specific instances where the assumption is violated or where it simply is not being applied appropriately to the professional development plan. So here are some questions that you can ask yourself about your professional development plan as part of this step.

Are we presenting information in a more problem-centered manner than in a subject-centered manner? Have learners been made aware of the nature of the problem and of its immediate relevance to them? How can the professional development plan emphasize the importance of problem-solving skills with the adult learners?

Step three in the alignment process is to identify potential areas for enhancement. Remember that these might include areas in which the approach to the professional development is fine, but the design could still be altered in order to create even better alignment. So here are some questions you might ask yourself about your professional development plan for step three.

What needs to be changed in order to create the optimal learning environment for the adult learners? What has to be improved in order to strengthen the activity for the learners so that they view the professional development as problem centered instead of as subject centered? Are the adult learners more engaged in this new approach to learning?

Let's return to the sample professional development plan to check for alignment. Step one is to identify areas of existing alignment. The second action step in the plan, enhancing instruction with technology, is well aligned with problem-centered orientation. Many teachers can identify with the need to include technology in our instructional practices as our students are living and learning in a world in which technology really is ubiquitous.

Furthermore, a rigorous timeline, including training in June, implementation plans due in August, a network upgrade in October, along with subscription or app requests due October 1 and purchase of those apps and subscriptions in November means that teachers will be moving at a relatively quick pace through the steps of this second action step.

With these quickly approaching deadlines and just the inherent value of this particular action step and its incredible relevance to teachers today, the second action step really is pretty well aligned with the fourth assumption of problem-centered orientation.

Step number two is to identify areas of misalignment. For step two, we can look a little more closely at the first action step in the plan-- aligning to the common core standards. Unfortunately, the process of curriculum alignment can sometimes be seen by teachers as somewhat irrelevant.

There can be an underlying attitude of wondering why we're fixing something that doesn't appear to be broken, or the argument that curriculum is already outlined in the textbooks that we're using, so why do we need to create another new document? The elements of this action step do not necessarily seem to address these issues.

So in step three, when we identify areas for enhancement, perhaps the curriculum director can focus on alleviating some of these concerns during the August training. Presenting the reasoning behind curriculum alignment using a problem-centered focus might help these adult learners to become more engaged in the process and consequently to find value not only in the process itself, but also in the end product that they are working to create.

Now it's your turn to stop and reflect. Using the steps that I outlined in this tutorial, check your professional development plan for alignment to Knowles' fourth assumption of adult learners-- problem-centered orientation.

As you reflect on how this new information can be applied, you may want to explore the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. This is where you'll find links to resources chosen to help you deepen your learning and explore ways to apply your newly acquired skillset. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.