Professional Development (in every sense of the term)

At a professional development conference recently, I had the opportunity to attend a session led by a woman from the US Department of Education. She is one of about 50 advisors to Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings concerning educational policy and legislation. She was here to gain teacher input concerning No Child Left Behind and to tell us some of the changes that may be in effect as the NCLB law is reauthorized in the near future.

Many people have significant issues with the accountability system. I don't think the law is perfect, but I am not ready to discard an imperfect reform for a return to a completely broken educational system. Special education teachers seem to have more issues with the law than anyone else, and (I think) they have the most justification for their complaints.

At this session, I was so proud to be a teacher in the room. The other participants voiced their concerns in clear, calm, and professional terms. The session leader listened to the concerns, compared them to concerns from other states, and explained when federal legislation was the root of the issue and when it was really a state implementation problem. (She did this so we would know which legislators to contact for advocacy.) The most exciting part came when she explained the changes that were coming about in the law due to previous teacher input. I believe most teachers left more in favor with the law.

Except one.

One woman sat in the corner with her needle work and ... I'm not sure what verb to use here. It was more than complaining. She was loud and very rude. She actually hurled insults at the presenter. She would hold the group hostage with long, rambling tirades that made little to no sense and scoffed at every response from the presenter. She looked stupid. She embarrassed herself--even if she doesn't know it--and she embarrassed this profession. What other profession would tolerate such behavior? My third graders behave better than that!

This woman came for professional development? It may be time to start developing more professionalism in this profession. Some teachers really shoot our profession in the foot as they insist on talking during faculty meetings and conferences, coming late to events, dressing in lackadaisical ways, and upholding a culture of negativity. While there has been a general shift towards professional learning communities in schools, there are some tenacious weeds still among us.

With so many products on the market for educators (including an antacid I recently saw designed specifically for teachers, whatever that means), I’m thinking about making a new “weed” killer. Except, it won’t be a spray with which we shoot persistently negative “teachers”. It will be like a health elixir that strengthens tendencies of grace and humility while inoculating against whininess and rudeness. It will drive people to shun incompetence and instill a deep desire for collaboration. Those that refuse to drink the elixir will either breathe it in from the other teachers that become intoxicated with it, or else they will slink away when they realized their attitude is futile.

I can’t tell you what good it does me to have these fantasies!

As a para-postscript, let me discuss some of this elixir’s vital ingredients: grace and humility. Actually, first let me describe what these ingredients are not. Being gracious does not mean being a doormat. Humility does not mean thinking poorly of oneself. Being gracious means treating people better than they deserve to be treated. Imagine a world of gracious people—on the road, in the grocery store, in the workroom, in the faculty meeting, in front of students. Humility is not false modesty. It is simply not thinking of yourself; it is thinking of others first and foremost. What if we all only thought of the people around us and strove to meet their needs and also treated them better than they deserve? Of course, I think we could add a few spices to this elixir: Humor, self-reflection, collaboration, professionalism, and cinnamon.

I think it should be coffee flavored.