Week+2

= Activities: =


 * Engage in a discussion with your team based on the prompts provided
 * Team reporter summarize team's response to team scenario

**Prompts:**


 * 1) How do you believe adults learn? How do children learn? What are the differences? What is a key difference between how adults learn and how children learn?
 * 2) How do the Maryland Professional Development standards support the idea of building communities and promoting collaboration among adult learners?
 * 3) Why is community so important for adult learners that it plays a strong role in the professional development standards?
 * 4) In what ways can a well-fostered learning community compel adult learners to invest more in an online professional development experience?

Scenario:
You are a professional development specialist for a school district, working with a high school principal to set up the PD plan for a school year. This particular high school is not meeting AYP goals, and the superintendent has charged you with ensuring that the PD program is high quality and focused. The principal is determined to implement a series of very targeted sessions through the year addressing data-driven decision making for instruction, in which the emphasis is on individual teacher instructional planning. You recognize that the potential impact of this PD focus could be enhanced significantly with the benefits of a professional learning community context, and you must make the case to take some precious PD time from the data-driven decision making content, to invest in the development and fostering of community and collaboration. How would you make this case to convince this principal?

Group Discussion focusing on prompts first :
Let's share our initial thinking and understanding on each of the prompts, then we will have something to spring board from for our discussion. Once we have an opportunity to share our observations we can move on to respond to the scenario. So I will start us off: How do you believe adults learn? How do children learn? What are the differences? What is a key difference between how adults learn and how children learn? > I believe children learn by trial and error. Children are willing to take more chances than adults because they are willing to try inconveniently methods to solve problems. On the other hand, adults learn by searching for the easiest way possible to solve a problem. The main difference in the learning styles and adults is that children are willing to take more risks to discover ways to learn, and to solve problems. (Matthew) > How do the Maryland Professional Development standards support the idea of building communities and promoting collaboration among adult learners? > >
 * **Adults bring life experience with them and tend to look for goal outcomes. Children are learning things for the first time with fresh eyes. Adults tend to be self-directed as they lean on the practical aspects of their learning, while children need guidance and someone "showing" until ready to give the new learning a try (Wendy).**
 * I am not sure how different adult learners are from children learners. I don’t really have experience teaching at the primary or secondary level as much as I do post-secondary. I would guess that there are deep similarities though. I am going to answer mostly from personal experience (it is funny that my answer doesn't come to the idea of experience - maybe someone will tease me here) here and say that as a student in primary and secondary school, I learned course material because I thought that was what I was supposed to do; I never challenged it. Sometimes, I wouldn’t like it, but I did the work because that was my “job.” As an adult, I think that I am more particular. I don’t want to learn things that I am not interested in, but I am very committed to what interests me (here is the goal-oriented aspect perhaps, even when my goal is knowledge acquisition – learning for learning’s sake). Adult learners are more direct and seem to be more “professional” about education. But, I think that their directness often conflicts with the idea of self-direction that the article lists. I have found that adult learners that I deal with often want material streamlined – “get to the heart of the matter, tell me exactly what I need to know, and let me get on with it.” This is probably because they a shortage of time and want to maximize their efficiency. And I think therein lies a key difference between adult and child learners: pragmatism (Tom).
 * You must have been a favorite student of all your teachers! (Wendy).
 * It seems adult learners are more cautionary when it comes to learning. On the other hand, children are more exploratory. This is especially true for primary students who see novelty in everything. So, I agree with Wendy in that sense. I think adults use their experience and background knowledge to access learning that interests them or is more meaningful for them. I think adults feel invested more in learning because they are able to foreshadow its benefits, unlike children. (Marnelyn).
 * I agree with you that adult learners are more cautionary. Often there is a "show me or prove it to me" attitude. (Wendy).
 * **adult: the adult have skill and more knowledge and they looking to improve their knowledge by try to do in the environment to see the real effect. Children: they like to learn by example and watch the older people what they do then repeat. Different : the adult use their skill and try to improve it and the children only follow the steps(Ola) **
 * Ye s it is true that adults are looking to improve their knowledge, while children learn by example- both good or bad! (Wendy).
 * **This occurs through recognizing the special needs of adults and the importance of relevant, practical learning, in a social learning environment (Wendy).**
 * A keystone of the standards seems to be training through collaboration. The idea flows continuously through the standards. I am not sure how to answer this question. Obviously the writers of the standards felt that learning occurs best for a group of adults when those adults are placed within an active and directed community (Tom).
 * I think the Maryland Professional Development standards allow for opportunities where teachers can meet and attend training, workshops, and conferences where they are able to exchange ideas with colleagues. I'd like to think that the standards are malleable and can allow for change when professionals see that parts may need revision and/or further development. (Marnelyn)
 * I do not have any experience on MaryLand because I'm international student and I can not Teach in US (Ola)
 * **Maryland Professional Development standards focus on building learning communities to help educate teachers and students. The foundation of teacher development is through teacher support, and professional development. As a result, the professional development in the state of Maryland is centered on having teaches used research based teaching methods to educate the children. (Matthew) **
 * Why is community so important for adult learners that it plays a strong role in the professional development standards? **


 * Adults need to be free to direct themselves, yet still desire to work within social learning environments (Wendy).
 * I think collaboration is such a strong principle and base factor in professional development because it taps into the best resource a school has: the wealth of knowledge its teachers possess. All teachers, no matter how good they may be, encounter difficulties. But problem-solving becomes much easier when you can rely on the support of a diverse and experience community (Tom).
 * Have you found eager learners within your professional development experiences? (Wendy)
 * I think community is very important for adults because adults tend to be "caught up" with their daily lives. It is often difficult to manage professional/personal commitments especially when adults are juggling many other things. It is different from traditional education (elementary-college) when you are constantly with your fellow classmates and have access to them. Community-building is important so you don't feel isolated especilly in an e-learning setting. (Marnelyn)
 * Do you think busy adults put community-building on the top of their list when looking at classes? (Wendy)
 * I think the community it play a big role for adult learning because he / she can apply their education, skill to improve the community and to improve their skill and education by see the affect of their role in real world after that they will see the problem.(Ola)
 * Ola, have you taken other e-learning classes in the US? Overseas? Yes I took many courses online in JHU last year.
 * The role of community is essential for adult learner to thrive. Adult learners have more than children; as a result, they need to have a strong support system in place as they make the commitment to learn a new skill set. (Matthew)


 * In what ways can a well-fostered learning community compel adult learners to invest more in an online professional development experience? **


 * When the experience truly becomes a learning community, adult learners will intrinsically be compelled to invest more of themselves in online professional development //(Wendy).//
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">I think the concept of the group is compelling in itself. The majority of professional adults will realize the responsibility intrinsic to this concept. When a person works individually, the result of the work affects only that person. When a person works as a member of a team, the work of that individual affects the whole team. It is also comforting to have the support that is given by a well-integrated and constructed group (Tom).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">I think learning is more valuable when you hear from other colleagues who may have different backgrounds from you. Like Tom said, it is comforting to know that there are people out there who are experiencing similar professional challenges as you. Online, you can always have access to this kind of "professional dialogue" which may not happen so often on a normal school day due to teaching responsibilities. (Marnelyn)
 * Good point to drive home, Marnelyn! (Wendy)
 * <span style="font-family: BookAntiqua-Bold,serif; font-weight: normal;">I think the good way is to have organization about the online community after that the adult will share their experience and skill to improve the knowledge (Ola)

> > > > > > > **
 * <span style="color: #020000; font: 12px/19px Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">A well-fostered learning community can allow adults to learn at their own pace in an environment that is comfortable to them. I am husband, and a parent, and it is challenge for me to attend a face to face class. The online environment allows me the opportunity to squeeze in some professional development into my already busy day. (Matthew)

Group Discussion now focus on: Scenario_
//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'trebuchet ms',arial,helvetica; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">You are a professional development specialist for a school district, working with a high school principal to set up the PD plan for a school year. This particular high school is not meeting AYP goals, and the superintendent has charged you with ensuring that the PD program is high quality and focused. The principal is determined to implement a series of very targeted sessions through the year addressing data-driven decision making for instruction, in which the emphasis is on individual teacher instructional planning. You recognize that the potential impact of this PD focus could be enhanced significantly with the benefits of a professional learning community context, and you must make the case to take some precious PD time from the data-driven decision making content, to invest in the development and fostering of community and collaboration. How would you make this case to convince this principal? //

The principal must see the value that community building will bring to the team. Time is precious and we often don't have enough of it, but convincing the principal that relationships are the foundation of collaboration is imperative. Sharing research, sharing comparable scenarios from other schools, vignettes from experience, whatever it takes, but communicating this necessity would be of the utmost importance. (Wendy)

I think that before data-driven, instructional planning can take place, the principal needs to allow for team building. I would encourage the principal to do an initial survey on teacher's expertise with the topic. Based on this survey, the principal can develop heterogeneous groups of mixed-abilities teachers. In these smaller groups, intimate communities can form. A group can consist of experts and novices on data-driven instruction. Within this group, there can be 'getting to know' you activities just as we did for the first group discussion. These small groups can work together for the rest of the year and collaborate with one another. I would use e-learning classes as an example. (Marnelyn)

Marnelyn- using a survey to get started is a great idea. This year my principal was so gung ho to move quickly, we were pushed to breeze right past team building and setting our community. I am living the results now and see the value in community building first hand. (Wendy)

One of the main ideas driving the professional development model the principal seems to be relying on is continual discussion, but the “monthly” sessions are episodic in nature; they aren’t a sustained conversation. They would require a lot of effort to rekindle an energy that could be naturally sustained through a community based model. I would also mention that this self-sustaining character of community based initiatives would allow for more teacher/staff input, which would effectively help to individualize the professional development sessions. The model bases itself on the understanding that adults are practical and learn best when they understand the purpose of the education or development they are experiencing (extending from the individualized sessions). The social relationships constructed in the community-based model and the internalizing of group expectations by each member are also strong motivating factors in adult learning. (Tom) Tom, you beautifully summarized our readings. Yes I see clearly your point on how the monthly sessions are not allowing sustained conversation. Do you think team building would bridge the gap and move the group closer to community? (Wendy) I absolutely think so. I think that there are two important elements to this kind of community building that we are talking about here: 1. team-building or familiarization of the members, and 2. the realization and acceptance of a greater purpose. With educational professional development, the 2nd element is virtually automatic (improved instruction to the benefit of our students), so it seems that the 1st element needs careful consideration and concentrated effort. (Tom)

Tom, I think one of the keys to sustaining a dialogue about how to improve professional development is to get the instructional leadership involved in the decision making process. The stakeholders (department chairs, assistant principals, and teachers) need to work create a plan together which is focused school improvement. As a result, I think the school may need to discuss the changes in their team, department, and staff meeting to establish a culture of congeniality in the school community. (Matthew)

I think the old information and data should be use to analyest the stronght and weakness of the school and teacher to allow to make a good decision about the a good group (how will be and what should include ). I think the mix tween the teacher age and skill will help the group to exchange the skills to improve the instructional plan. (Ola)

//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">I would make the case to the principal by explaining the benefits of using data-driven researched-based methods to improve instruction. There is tons of research available that illustrate and explain the rewards of using data-based professional development to change and to shift the culture of a school that is underperforming. (Matthew) //


 * FINAL **


 * Our group acknowledged that administrators are really key to fostering a communal relationship in any professional development setting. Principals needed to hear examples and narratives of successful team building activities. It was suggested that staff be broken into mixed small groups to allow for the exchange of skills and experiences, familiarization of one another, and to foster congeniality. We also emphasized that community building can succeed best when it is done consistently and advocated by administrators. In conclusion, before a school can focus on specific-targeted professional development goals, it must focus on team-building, which further motivates the whole school in accomplishing its objectives in the long run. **