7 Ways Professional Development Helps You Become a Great Teacher
If you are a teacher looking for ways to improve yourself, you should know you are already a great teacher. Teachers are best when they have an innate desire to learn and impart that knowledge to the next generation with a passion.
Education is a never-ending process, especially for teachers in this progressing world. It is important that there is room for encouragement towards professional development for teachers so that the students have the best learning resources and teachers are satisfied at their workplace.
It is not just curriculum that is changing and adapting but the social life and the entire schooling system has been changed since the COVID-19 lockdown. Teacher development is essential in these changing times and here are several compelling reasons why -
- To learn something new: Taking courses on things that you are interested in will bring a bigger purpose in your life. It will enable you to step out of the role of being a teacher and help you realize that you can progress better when you are learning by the side. As a teacher, if you just keep teaching the same thing over and over again, you are not bound to make any changes or progress. Take a step back and learn something that you always wanted and bring the enthusiasm and ideas of the course back to your classroom.
- To stay up to date with the new learning techniques: With the developing technology, you can teach the subject better through various new methods. So going on a teacher development program is essential so that you can be brought up to date with the latest resources. You can also socialize with other teachers teaching the same subjects and learn how to help students better by getting new ideas from your fellow teachers.
- To be the student once again: After a couple of years of teaching, teachers forget what it was like to be young and a student. This gap in understanding becomes a hurdle in teaching as they can’t get through to students if they can’t understand them. Being a student in a course will help you realize and appreciate how difficult it is to pay constant attention and remember the subject matter. You can check out how other professionals teach and take a leaf out of their playbook as well when you come back to your teaching.
- Develop skills: Teaching is a profession where every type of course can help you be a better teacher. You can learn the way other teachers plan and organize their lectures and do the same. Joining a course specifically to learn new skills that help teachers will help you gain knowledge and certificates that will help you in promotion and/or better teaching job in a different school.
- Experience the different methods of teaching themselves: While you are doing an online or offline teacher development course, you can benefit the most by experiencing the methods other teachers use to teach. You can observe which one of their methods was best and which ones were not by checking out what you understood easily in the subject matter and what proved difficult.
- Gain credit: If you are looking to change to a better school, you will need to stand out. The best way to show that is with certificates of different courses that proves that you are always learning and improving along with gaining experience in teaching. The knowledge and skills will set you apart from most teachers who just fulfill the duties and obligations of being a teacher. These courses need not be related to teaching. You can show that learning in different fields helps you be better in your own field as well.
- Be better: Learning will undoubtedly help you be better in your career, but it will also help you be a better person. When you learn something new, you realize how much you don’t know in a particular field. You realize there were so many things you hadn’t even imagined are now possible for you. This humbling and liberating experience can only happen once you start learning again.
If you are a teacher looking to develop new skills, check out the Pearson website. They conduct a lot of workshops and webinars on various topics of interest that will help enhance your skills and knowledge.