A New Era in Staff Development
Synergy Necessary for Change:

So often, when a district attempts to utilize staff development as a platform to introduce an element of change, it does so often with a single facilitator. This poor individual is usually perceived as an interloper, who has no individual equity within the district. Often times, a staff is subjected to hours of a presentation, on subjects such as differentiated instruction (I find the lecture method a little ironic) or classroom management. I can remember one time we had an individual come in to discuss the use of humor as a means of engaging students. I liked the guy and could relate; however, several of my colleagues complained about the perceived waist of time.

Yesterday, I participated in a staff development day in our district that represented everything truly dynamic within our profession. While other schools within the district graded assessments, the high school was spending the day on building initiatives, or rather "building initiatives". These initiatives included introducing blogging, podcasts, and online tools of collaboration to our entire staff. The district hit a home run! The collective talents of many individuals, nine teachers and three administrators in all, offered an open invitation to the staff. The key phrase was invitation, not mandate. Over the course of 4 1/2 hours, teachers moved from one module to another, engaging teams of teachers in discussion, best practices, and a truly open sharing of information. The collective talents and the manner in which these ideas of change were presented, may very well become a trigger that engages more teachers.

A veteran teacher of 33 years, shared with me how he utilized the new technology of blogging last night in an undergrad class he teaches. Another individual took the concept of blogging and problem solved an issue that befuddled many of us. I explained to her how she should look to become a presenter at our next staff day. Another teacher commented on how easy podcasting is (a tribute to the manner in which Rico Ruffino presented the information) and how she could not wait to begin to utilize them in her class.

Yesterday it all became apparent to me. As difficult as change is to many individuals, offering individuals ownership in the manner and pace of change, will often become changes greatest facilitator. The more we allow for individual teachers to become engaged in the process of change, the more likely it will for change to become a part of our educational culture.