Taking professional development courses is important for teachers because they provide valuable skills and knowledge that can help enhance the quality of their teaching. These skills and knowledge can help teachers make their classrooms more enjoyable for their students and help them connect with their students. They can also help teachers keep up with the changing landscape of their profession and help them develop their passion for their work.
Communication and interpersonal skills
Whether you are considering a career in education or aspire to become a parent, interpersonal skills and communication skills are essential. They are also essential to the functioning of a business. These skills are crucial for building team dynamics and fostering teamwork, which are both vital to the functioning of any organization.
Some of the most important interpersonal skills you can develop include verbal communication, listening, and the ability to negotiate. You can also improve your communication skills by being mindful of your body language. For example, if you are speaking to a group of people, you should maintain eye contact. Keeping your body language on point will not only help you maintain a positive rapport with your audience, it will also draw them into the discussion.
Other interpersonal skills include learning to empathize with others. This is particularly important when working with students. When you understand what makes someone else tick, you can better help them achieve their goals.
Connection to working with students
Getting involved in professional development can be a powerful way to foster a deeper connection to working with students. It helps educators gain a greater understanding of student thinking and provides clever ideas to make teaching easier.
Research shows that students with strong relationships with teachers perform better in class, have better social skills, and engage in more positive behaviors. Creating a positive learning environment is especially important for students who have had challenging experiences.
Professional development also helps educators build interpersonal skills and communication skills. Educators work together with experts in different areas of teaching. These professionals can help educators improve their instructional practices and make the classroom a positive, collaborative place for all students.
Professional development also helps educators become more invested in their work. It can help break down walls of isolation that many teachers feel from spending all day in the classroom without contact with adults.
Research shows that teachers who work in professional learning communities (PLCs) are more likely to stay in teaching and less likely to resign. They are also more likely to work with their peers to improve instructional practices.
Reinforcement of passion
Various studies have focused on passion in the workplace. Some studies investigated the impact of passion on employees and students, while others investigated the transferability of passion. However, there has been very little attention paid to passion in professional development for teachers.
The most exciting thing about teaching is helping students uncover their passions. This can be accomplished by encouraging students to think outside the box, and by allowing students to share their passions with each other.
There are several techniques to enhance teachers’ passions and to increase student passion for learning. These include providing teachers with the time and resources to grow their own passions, and allowing them to serve as role models for their students. For instance, teachers may play instruments during brain breaks or a teacher may take part in a music related event to inspire creativity during writing time.
Emotional contagion is a key component in the transference of passion from teachers to students. Emotional contagion is the ability for a person to imitate another person’s positive or negative behavior. This can be achieved through conscious mimicry or subconscious mimicry.
Keep up with changing landscape
Whether you are an elementary, middle, or high school teacher, it is important to keep up with the changing landscape of education. It’s not only about keeping up with curriculum changes, but also with the latest pedagogy. Professional development is an important way to stay current in a field that is constantly changing.
The Teachers for a Changing World campaign is a campaign led by the World Bank and HundrED to identify high-tech solutions to the challenges facing education. The campaign reviewed over 400 teacher professional development (TPD) programs from around the world. They found that 10 of the most effective programs rely on low-tech solutions to address the challenges of education. These programs focus on a variety of key areas, including differentiated instruction, behavior issues, and student growth. Using a grade-level team, teachers can identify areas for improvement and discuss how to implement them. This provides an opportunity for teachers to share best practices, as well as invite the expertise of other team members.
