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Professional Development
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The backgrounds of most of our current professional teaching staff do not prepare them for effectively facilitating inquiry learning. The education of the professional teaching staff prepared them, for the most part, to teach based upon ìwhat we knowî rather to facilitate students towards learning how to learn or a focus on ìhow we come about knowingî. It is most important that the restructuring of professional development programs for the future teachers and the in-service professional development of current staff consider changes relating to the process of facilitating learning rather than trying to give the learner ìall the information they will ever needî. The emphasis on professional development needs to address the change from a focus on teaching as ìwhat we knowî to a focus on learning as ìhow we come about knowing.î It is important for teachers to stress skills development and the nurturing of habits of mind as a means to learn important content set in a conceptual framework context. This approach better addresses the issue and importance of life-long learning. This component must examine both the long-term and short-term educational needs of teachers. Further, it needs to consider carefully the ways that new and emerging technologies can more effectively address these short and long term professional needs. A rubric should be developed around the operational definition of ìScience as Inquiryî that can generate objective suggestions for guidelines, policies, regulations, and budgets for recruiting and employing appropriate educational staff.Professional development (PD) is much
more complex than just holding teacher workshops. Professional development
can be helpful in fostering more appropriate workshops for Science
as Inquiry, but a well-designed plan can influence certification
of teachers and pre-service and in-service programs for teachers. Back to Top
of Page View a sample of the online
Materials Rubric |