I read an article yesterday morning about Professional Learning and Substitute Teacher Shortages and, of course, shared it to my timeline. Of course, the expression “Substitute Teacher” should give an indication of where the article might originate.
Yet, I can’t help but know that it’s the same in Ontario.
When I first read the article, it brought back memories – not about chart paper but about buying muffins and goodies for a workshop.
For the most part, my Professional Learning events were two-hour chunks and I fit them into 4-6pm. This seemed to be an ideal length of time to introduce and work on a topic without too much strain. Since my workshops were usually about technology, it’s about the right length of time to stare at a computer screen as well. It took some extra work to make sure that every minute was valuable because you just knew that everyone was worried about their own kids at home and what supper was going to look like. I did a lot of these sessions and they were well attended. They were also “cheap” to my employer since coverage in the classroom wasn’t necessary.
There was the occasional opportunity for full-day events as well and they are draining on everyone.
- For the facilitator, there’s the challenge of engaging teachers for that long a time – it is not easy to make sure that you’re respecting their attendance
- For the participant, it’s difficult to be a learner for long periods of time. A regular day in the classroom has you moving and worrying about student learning. The biggest worry here is about that lesson that was left for the Occasional Teacher was going well back at school
There was extra pressure to make sure that there were great takeaways and learnings for participants because you knew that everyone’s mileage on those lesson plans left behind may vary.
This should have been the model for everything since it improves the teaching for a district and they should pay for it. It only makes sense.
But, the drop in those who could be hired to cover classes definitely is taking its toll. It’s not just the school district in the article that is pleading the case for more coverage of teachers, I’m seeing it everywhere.
I make a big distinction between district-provided professional learning and additional qualification courses or Master’s degrees or more. Those are attended to for different reasons.
If you look at the initiatives coming from the Ministry of Education and local districts, you have to recognize that they’re going to take some serious additional learning and ongoing support. They aren’t simple tweaks to an existing curriculum; it’s new material or major overhauls.
As I’m writing this, Jen Shirley points to another area of concern.
That should send shivers up and down the spines of board office administration, trustees, and a government that wants to make things better.
There’s another thing that’s lying in the reeds. If you’re connected to anything at all these days, you’ll know about ChatGPT. But, if you’re a regular reader of this and other blogs, you’re on top of things. Not everyone is. How will you and your staff get up to speed?
Is there a solution? Actually, there are all kinds of solutions and they run anywhere from blocking it to making it an integral part of the classroom.
Are we prepared to either ignore it or let addressing the situation vary from teacher to teacher?
Or, maybe someone could write a memo to all staff.