Well informed teachers make great students. Although students are required to put in more efforts in their schoolwork, teachers are like their fuel to their greatness. This means teachers should have the dexterity to bring out the best in students.
Teachers should have the techniques to convince students to read, and also show the students where to read on top of other important issues required for the all-round development of students (Speck & Knipe, 2005).
This means the task of teachers goes beyond the usual activity of making a lesson plan based on the assigned curriculum, and talking in front of the class. As a result, a teacher must be adequately prepared through career development.
How Professional Development for Teachers works
Learning is a lifelong process for teachers. Most regions make it a requirement for teachers to undergo some training on specific issues during certain periods of their career; mostly during the vacation period.
Teachers from the kindergarten up to the 12th grade normally undergo various training during the year to develop their career. This training is part of career development. Career development for teachers are normally done through seminars, workshops, and training courses.
During the training, which normally takes place during the school holidays, teachers are introduced to the latest trends, and strategies in education. They are also introduced to various methods, and techniques to combat classroom challenges (All Education Schools, 2010).
The idea behind career development for teachers is to improve the teachers’ knowledge to help them serve students better. The occasion gives teachers the ability to focus on what they ought to fine tune during classroom practice. Before a teacher commences his or her career, he or she is given a certificate of operations.
Depending on the state, the law requires that the license be renewed every year. Before the license is renewed, the authority has to ratify if the teacher has undergone some career development process. For instance, in Kansas State, a teacher operates under the original license for about five years.
During the five-year period, the teacher is required to undergo various courses as part of professional development. After five years, the license is renewed based on the professional development the teacher has gone through. Provisions are made for vocational learning and workshops for teachers.
Apart from license renewal, teachers undergo professional development because of incentives involved. For instance, in Kansas State, a teacher is promoted after the first five years of service.
The promotion is based on the performance in examination and career development done during the period (Kansas State Department of Education, 2010).
Importance of Career Development for Teachers
Career development forms an important event in the teachers’ career. Given the dynamic nature of teaching strategies and curriculum design, career development is undertaken by teachers to update themselves with the changes taking place in education sector.
Professional development enables teachers to achieve certain skills to deal with emerging situations. Professional development gives teachers the chance to set their objectives or goals. Through a schedule for seminars and vocational training planned per year, a teacher can set goals to achieve certain objectives.
For instance, in Kansas State, teachers get a promotional certificate after taking some professional development courses for five years (Kansas State Department of Education, 2010).
This means the teacher has the opportunity to set goals for his or her career development whereby he or she aims to achieve a desired certificate after a certain period.
Professional development gives teachers a chance to overcome and manage past classroom problems. For instance, if the classroom has been experiencing extreme cases of failures, a teacher can correct such issues through professional development.
Thorough professional development, a teacher will be exposed to courses, such as classroom management, thereby enabling him or her manage failures in the classroom.
Professional development involves expansion and growth. The teacher gets the necessary skills to overcome an existing problem, and moves forward with new methods.
Career development is useful for fresh teachers. It gives them confidence by equipping them with skills to be better teachers. Professional development generally improves the performance of students, thereby boosting teachers’ confidence.
Teacher’s Professional Development to Cater for Students with Special Needs
Professional development for teachers is essential for students with special needs. Although students in the same class are assumed to be in the same category of cognitive abilities, there are always a few cases with special needs.
As a result, a teacher is better placed to handle students with special needs if he or she has undergone the process of professional development. There are various special courses, seminars, and workshops organized for teachers to handle children with special development.
One common professional development involves workshops for math solution in an inclusive classroom. In most cases, many students fear mathematics. As a result, a math teacher is given an opportunity to help such student through professional development workshops.
Through the workshops, the teacher is equipped with special skills, such as adopting mathematics lessons to cater for diverse learners, and applying flexible methods of teaching to suit diverse needs in the classroom (Davies, 2012). This means that professional development benefits students as well as teachers.
Teachers are equipped and being made more professional and confident of handling challenges in their profession whereas students with special needs gets the desired attention.
References
All Education Schools. (2010). Teacher Certification and Licensure Information. Web.
Davies, C. (2012). What is the Importance of Professional Development for a Teacher? Web.
Kansas State Department of Education. (2010). Professional Development Information. Web.
Speck, M., & Knipe, C. (2005). Why can’t we get it right? Designing high-quality professional development for standards-based schools. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.