Professional Development

My first and final teaching placements provided me with substantial and continual professional development opportunities through staff training days, and mentor, liaison, and colleague feedback, which contributed to the overall improvement of my teaching practice. I believe that my choice to attend the non-compulsory professional development staff/faculty days on my first and last placement greatly contributed to the development of my teaching expertise and practice.  During my first placement, I attended the staff Training and Development Day, which provided me with more knowledge and understanding of the importance of continual teacher training, as well as what professional teacher training is like. My final placement provided me with the opportunity to engage in professional learning about the design process, which was valuable to the building of my pedagogical knowledge and understanding.  I also believe that engaging with my mentors, liaisons and colleagues was crucial to my professional development, as their feedback provided me with knowledge that contributed to the improvement of my teaching practice.

When attending professional development days, I assured that I was attentive and focused because I knew it would be a great opportunity to learn lots of new educational and teaching practice concepts. I achieved this by carefully listening to speakers, and observing colleagues while they engaged, and where appropriate and possible, I also participated in the professional development activities with my mentors and colleagues. Therefore, I considered my role as interactive, as I was both observing and participating, while trying to be respectful of the learning environment that professional development day processes require. 

I actively sought mentor, liaison and colleague feedback because I knew it would be crucial to the development of my teaching skills, knowledge and understanding.  I sought feedback from my mentors informally and formally. Informal feedback was obtained through conversations, and formal feedback was collected through a mentor feedback journal, which allowed my mentors to provide me with direct lesson feedback, which I would then incorporated into my lesson planning and teaching practice. By engaging with my university liaison and colleagues, I was able to obtain advice about teaching practice for the purpose of professional development.

My proactive attitude towards improving my teaching practice greatly contributed to my professional development, particularly in the areas of professional knowledge and practice, which I sought keenly to improve. Hence, as a result of attending the professional development days, I was able to further understand the nature of the teaching profession, which relies on continued professional development for the purpose of improving the delivery of education for the benefit of both teachers and students. Overall, I was able to actively learn what Professional Development Days are like, and I was also able to participate in professional learning, which contributed to the development of my own knowledge and understanding of pedagogical choices and strategies. By seeking feedback and advice from mentors, my university liaison and colleagues, I was able to improve my professional practice in numerous ways such as diversifying my use of teaching strategies, learning more about my content areas,  and classroom management strategies.  

Attendance of Professional Development Days (Placement Report Comments)

First Placement

Final Placement

• Mentor Feedback Journal Entry

CUE_Mentor Feedback Journal_Example Entry.pdf

• Reflecting on feedback sought for the purpose of professional development (Final Placement Report Comments)

CUE_Professional Development Feedback From Final Placement Report_annotated.pdf

I believe that my proactive attitude towards seeking professional development opportunities has led to the improvement of my professional knowledge and professional practice. The evidence of this is the increase of my placement report marks for the AITSL APST standards 1 to 5, from just above emerging to graduate level between my first and final placement. Furthermore, the feedback from my placement reports are further evidence of this, as they demonstrate that my mentor teachers and liaisons observed that my professional knowledge and practice was at a commendable and appropriate level. More so, I believe that the incorporation of feedback allowed me to gain a sense of independence when teaching because I was able to confidently put the feedback into practice. Overall, this demonstrates that I engaged in continual self-reflective practices, which is crucial to teaching practice, and its improvement..

First Placement Report Results

Final Placement Report Results