It is easy in the current educational climate to talk about what isn’t or should be happening in schools. When talking to my colleagues, I often find their desire for professional growth and change clouded by a degree of weariness. Many of their professional environments focus more on what they should do differently than on what they are already doing well, and often provide little reward for a job well done. That kind of environment is draining on even the most reflective, self-motivated of persons.
I’ve been there. Weariness has pushed me to huff off professional development aimed at my growth for the betterment of my students. My inner dialogue in those moments was less than helpful. “What am I not doing this time? What else are they going to add to my plate? Why doesn’t anyone seem to care about the cool way I applied our last training?”
Not my finest moment as an educator, that’s for sure, but I think these attitudes have helped inform the way I approach colleagues when introducing new tools or ideas. I don’t want to be a voice of discouragement, but a voice of empowerment!
Over the last week I conducted a survey about technology use, spurred by my CEP 812 class. As I began, I wanted to be careful about the way I approached my colleagues. My goal was to craft questions that would give them a way to share honestly about how and why they use the tools they do. I wanted to focus on the what-are-you-already-doing space, because the more we understand and recreate the conditions in which teachers have widely adapted tools, the more we can improve our learning communities.
Not surprisingly, the data gathered suggests that teachers, like any other learners, need time to gain experience and clear expectations in order to appropriate new tools. With sufficient training teachers feel confident in their use which corresponds to an increased use in their instruction. Similarly, they are much more likely to use tools for which they feel they will be held accountable.
You can read a report of my findings here: The Impact of Experience & Expectations on Technology Use. I hope as you read you can find reasons to congratulate these teachers, while better understanding the circumstances that seem to have best supported their professional growth.
To view the full survey, click here.
References
Williams, Malik ML. (Feb. 2014). “365×3.040: I is for Incandescence” [Image file]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/brothaloveimages/12423570103.
The Ice-Cream Coffee Teacher 
Anna,
As a new teacher, I find I am more often in the “what have I done wrong now” mindset, than in an optimistic one. It was nice to see that I am not alone in this! The data you presented was also quite interesting! Particularly the emphasis on proper training being offered and carried out to allow confident technological integration. I find in my own community of practice, that integrating technology (when encouraged) is not always backed up by training. We function more on a “figure-it-out-for-yourself-then-teach-others” philosophy. Imagine how innovative we could be if only we knew, confidently, how to use these tools!
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