Checking Professional Development for Alignment to Learning Theories

Video Transcription

In this tutorial, I'll model for you the process of checking professional development for alignment to learning theories. I'll share with you some questions that you can ask yourself to check your professional development for alignment to six different learning theories, and then I'll use a sample professional development plan to model the process of checking for alignment. Let's get started.

To determine whether your professional development plan is aligned with andragogy and with Knowles's six assumptions of adult learners, here are some questions you can ask. Does the professional development provide adult learners with opportunities to make choices? Does the plan take into consideration and value teachers' prior experiences?

Are teachers going to find value in the professional development training based on their current situations or contexts? Does the plan address a specific need in teacher practice? Will internal motivators be driving the learning process in the professional development plan? Does the plan explain to teachers the rationale behind the professional development opportunities?

Here are some questions that you can ask yourself to check for alignment to self-directed learning. Does your professional development plan include opportunities for teachers to make choices? Is the professional development aligned with the four goals of self-directed learning? Can teachers evaluate their own learning in the context of the professional development? Does the plan help teachers to become more self-directed in their own learning?

To determine whether your professional development plan is aligned with transformational learning, you can ask whether teachers understand transformational learning and whether they understand how to incorporate it into their professional development. Does the PD include a transformation of the learning culture for both teachers and students? Are there opportunities for all four components of transformational learning? Will the professional development be ongoing in order to foster sustainability?

To check for alignment to situate learning theory, you can ask yourself whether your professional development is authentic and whether teachers are going to be able to collaborate or to work together during the professional development. To determine whether your professional development is aligned with networked learning theory, you can ask yourself whether teachers are going to be able to work together and support one another throughout the PD process.

Finally, to check for alignment to social learning theory, you can ask whether your professional development includes both cognitive learning and behavioral learning. Are observation and modeling opportunities built into the professional development? Does the PD incorporate reinforcement? And are teachers active participants in their own learning?

So now I will model for you the process of checking a professional development plan for alignment to three of these different theories. I encourage you to check your professional development plan for alignment to some or all of these theories as well.

For the purpose of modeling this alignment process, I'll be using a site-based professional development plan. This plan is aligned with a site-based initiative that is focused on using research-based instructional strategies that will support student achievement and college and career readiness.

The two action steps in this plan are aligning curriculum to common core standards and enhancing instruction with technology. Specifically, some activities incorporated into this plan include having the curriculum director conduct training in August on the curriculum alignment process, having teachers work together in their PLCs to align their curriculum with guidance from the curriculum director, and also having teachers preview iPad apps and make requests for app purchases by October 1.

I have chosen to check this plan for alignment with andragogy, situated learning theory, and networked learning theory. First, I'd like to check for alignment to andragogy because andragogy along with Knowles's six assumptions for adult learners provides a great framework for analyzing adult learning opportunities in general. We want to be sure that our professional development honors the unique experiences and needs of adult learners.

There are some definite areas of alignment to andragogy here. Teachers will find value in these professional development opportunities based upon their current contexts as the curriculum alignment process is very closely related to what goes on in teachers' classrooms every day and because we see the ever-growing use of technology inside and outside of school. And so finding new ways to enhance our instruction through the use of technology definitely is something that is very relevant in our classrooms today.

So on a similar note, this plan is also going to help teachers to address a specific need in their practice. However, there are some areas in which we could improve alignment to andragogy. First, there are not a great deal of opportunities for choices built into either of the action steps in this plan.

The learning opportunities are driven by the curriculum director and by the district technology staff. And so this plan could be brought into better alignment with andragogy by building in some opportunities for teachers to make choices about their professional development.

There also doesn't seem to be much consideration here of the prior experiences that teachers' are bringing with them to the professional development. Again, this instruction seems to be coming from the top down. And so once again, we could improve alignment here just by making sure that we are valuing teachers' prior experiences and building on those experiences as we incorporate this new knowledge in these new skills.

There isn't much evidence for internal motivators driving the learning in either of these action steps, nor is there a clear statement of the rationale behind the professional development. So if we could build into this plan some elements that would increase teachers' internal motivation, and also if the curriculum director and the technology staff can make it a point to clearly explain the rationale behind these particular action steps, we might be able to bring this plan into better alignment with andragogy.

Next, I'd like to check this plan for alignment to situated learning theory, which tells us that learning is a product of the context in which it occurs. I think this is a particularly relevant theory to use here since, again, the curriculum alignment process and this goal of enhancing our instruction with technology, both of these ideas are so closely related to teachers' classroom environments and what we are doing in our classrooms every single day.

And so making sure that the learning really is authentic and related to that context in which it should be applied is, I think, a really good idea.

So first, we need to check whether the training is authentic. Though it's not necessarily explicitly stated in the plan, I can see how many of the elements here can be seen as very much situated within the context of the classroom environment. Teachers will be testing possible iPad apps in the classroom environment. Teachers will be reflecting on their curriculum and aligning that curriculum to the common core standards.

So the only potential issue here is that perhaps this does need to just be explicitly stated in the plan. Maybe this just needs to be underscored exactly how is this training going to relate back to the specific classroom environment.

The other element that we need to check for in alignment to situated learning is whether the adult learners are going to be able to collaborate during the training. And this is definitely true in the first action step. Teachers will be working with their PLCs to complete this alignment process, so there's a great deal of alignment there.

Finally, I think networked learning theory is applicable here because it focuses on making connections. The adult learners here definitely are going to be working together and supporting one another as they work through their professional development goals.

So now it's your turn to stop and reflect. Take some time to check your professional development plan for alignment to some or all of these learning theories. To dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, be sure to check out the additional resources section associated with this video. This is where you'll find links targeted toward helping you discover more ways to apply this course material. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.