Professional development: Celebrating the complexity

Abstract

In the last few years New Zealand teachers, like their colleagues in other countries, have been floundering in a sea of c’s. Education has been viewed as a commodity, there is competition, contracts, compliance, communities, credentials, choice, clients, customers, and the largest ‘c’ of all – change. One of the significant changes has been an increasing emphasis on professional development. Primary teachers, for example, are now bound by a collective employment contract which states that principals must attest to the competency of each member of staff– this includes a commitment to professional development.

A simplistic notion of professional development often prevails. Teachers may be told to determine their goals or needs, take some action to get those needs met, implement all the new skills and knowledge acquired as their needs were met, and then (magically?) their practice will improve!

I argue that this notion of professional development ignores another ‘c’ – complexity. We can not offer such a simple solution to a complex task. Professional development is an educative process, a process therefore, that depends upon the teacher as person, as well as the teacher as professional, a process that may lead to change – fitful, irrational, and unpredictable change.