|
... professional development should be targeted and directly related to teachers' practice. It should be site-based and long-term. It should be on-going - part of a teacher's workweek, not something that's tacked on.
(Stigler, 2002) |
The creation of dynamic professional communities focused on learning is key to improving learning outcomes for all students.
PLOT shows you how to achieve this through a multi-layered focus on:
- Working from a futures premise
- Quality learning and teaching
- Building a strong professional community
- Plotting your own professional learning journey
 |
Working from a futures premise |
 |
|
Part of the trouble with education today is that the future is not what it used to be.
(Brilliant, Ashleigh) |
Economic, social and technological changes are transforming every aspect of the world in which we live. Schools cannot afford to educate learners for a past that no longer exists.
PLOT shows you how to work from a futures premise, sharing practical strategies to help you prepare learners to thrive in the world of tomorrow through a focus on preferred futures and the kinds of adults young people will need to become.
|
Quality learning and teaching |
|
|
Schools exist to promote learning. This core purpose must drive everything we do. At the same time, we need to ensure that the pedagogy we use reflects current theory and best practice, with a focus on the essential and an eye on the future.
(Dalton, Joan) |
Helping all students learn and achieve well requires immensely skilful teaching, along with a deep understanding of the learner and quality pedagogy.
PLOT pedagogy is grounded in the context of a learning community and based on six essential learning and teaching practices:
- Deep understanding
- Inquiry
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Self-responsibility
- Human development
PLOT practices:
- are drawn from real teachers in real classrooms, nationally and internationally
- are aligned with current learning theory and research
- are congruent with best practice pedagogies in education systems around the world
- provide a treasure trove of concrete exemplars, practical strategies and demonstrations of quality learning and teaching in action
- are generic to quality pedagogy with learners of all ages
The practical guidelines show you how to use the pedagogy material to:
- reflect carefully on your own practice
- examine and explore quality practices to deepen your own understandings
- engage in focused and substantive dialogue about learning and teaching practices with colleagues
- expand and depth your repertoire of learning and teaching strategies
|
Building a strong professional community |
|
|
Locally managed schools cannot make a difference for students without strong teacher professional learning communities focused on intellectual quality and depth, focus and flexibility of pedagogy.
(Education Queensland, 2000) |
|
Schools with strong professional communities [are] more able to offer authentic pedagogy and [are] more effective in promoting student achievement.
(Newmann & Wehlage, 1995) |
The creation of effective communities for students is essential to improving learning and achievement. This goal, however, will remain more rhetoric than real unless we simultaneously create strong professional communities for teachers.
Focus on professional community:
The practical workshops, processes, strategies and rubrics in PLOT enable you to:
- Build positive collegial relationships
- Establish shared norms and values
- Build commitment to, and increase the effectiveness of, collaboration and teamwork
- Understand how to move your professional community forward
- Promote skilful and substantive dialogue among staff
- Influence the positive improvement of others
Focus on school-wide pedagogy:
The practical workshops, processes, strategies and rubrics in PLOT enable you to:
- Assess and establish existing beliefs, understandings, and practices
- Build on from current practices toward preferred practices
- Build school-wide commitment, shared understandings, and consistent approaches to pedagogy
- Implement desired directions and pedagogy learning goals
- Align your school structures to support student and adult learning
|
Plotting your own professional learning journey |
|
|
Schools can no longer afford the luxury of separating professional development activities from the on-going realities of teachers' work and their workplace. The two must be seen as integrated and interdependent to support teacher and school change and ongoing improvement efforts.
(Johnson, 1999) |
The most effective professional development is site-based, on-going, occurs over time and is shaped to the people, the place, the learning goals and priorities.
We have applied our understanding of learners and learning to the construction of the website itself. There are no manuals for the construction of the professional community or for the teacher you would like to become. What PLOT offers you is the means - the practical tools and support - to construct and plot your own professional learning journey.
Multiple pathways
Whether you are using PLOT as an individual, a team or as a whole school or institution, PLOT enables you to choose the material, tools and pathways most relevant to your own journey. There are:
- Multiple entry points and pathways to select from
- Guidelines, rubrics and practical plans to help you make appropriate selections
- Options and choices in how you use the material
Interactive journals
The personal, team and school journals provide an exciting and cutting-edge way to:
- Reflect on your learning
- Document your professional learning
- Store ideas
- Plan
- Track your journey
- Show accountability and evidence of learning
- Link to the extensive resources section in PLOT
|
Continuing the PLOT journey |
|
Any real and substantial learning is a journey. PLOT is both content and process rich, designed to be used strategically by teachers and schools over time.
Like any powerful learning, PLOT will continue to grow and be shaped by its community of users and their needs. Regular on-line forums, notices, and FAQs will contribute to this. Joan and David will also regularly update content.
Our hope is that you will contribute your learnings, enabling PLOT to become a true community of people, learning with and from each other.
|
The community of users |
|
Educational institutions:
- Schools
- Universities
- TAFE colleges
Educational systems:
- state, Catholic and independent systems
- districts, dioceses, and consortia of schools
- advisers and consultants
|
