Unconventional Thoughts on Professional Learning

The Story of HOBY: An OUTSTANDING Plea for Our Staff

For many years, HOBY has had our volunteer Training Institute as a

means of Professional Learning.

But, it alone is not enough!

Professional Learning must take into account there are five

principles involving it!

Principles 1 & 2

• The duration of professional learning must be significant and ongoing and allow time for teachers to learn a new strategy and handle an implementation problem

• There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of a changing classroom practice

Principles 3 & 4

• Teachers’ initial exposure to a new concept should not be passive, but should engage teachers through varied approaches so they can actively participate in making sense of a new practice

• Modeling has been found to be highly effective in helping teachers understand a new practice

Principle 5

• The content presented to teachers should not be generic, but instead specific to the discipline (for middle and high school teachers) or grade-level (for elementary school teachers)

What is the Cold Truth about Staff Training?

• Over 400,000 ambassadors have come through the HOBY program, and many have gone on to become staff members

• But, many staff members feel dazed and confused in their current roles

• The classic “sit and get” model of professional learning does not work

More Truths

• We have achieved 100% ActiveCollab compliance for this year and in previous years

• But, more and more staff feel that they are being asked of things that are not realistic

• Most staff training is a one-time event, with no follow-up training for staff

• In recent years at HOBY, we have had trouble producing staff well-prepared to handle the ins and outs of HOBY’s new technology training programs• According to a report from the University

of Nevada, Las Vegas, non-profit organizations are in crisis– they need to keep and retain their long-term employees• Non-profit organizations only spend 3.2%

of budget on technology

• All in all, dissatisfaction among non-profit organization staff members is high in this day and age.• According to Leslie Beckbridge, non-

profit organizations must get creative with their employee engagement, as 73% of workers look for a new job during their current job

The bottom line: OUR STAFF TRAINING PRACTICES DO NOT

PRODUCE THE RESULTS WE NEED!

• What exactly are we doing?–HOBY hosts their annual Training

Institute to train all of our volunteers on how technology could be used in their chapter–Large amounts of money are being

spent on this training institute every year–But, we still have no follow-up long-

term staff training for people who need it most

Why should professional learning be important to us?

• At HOBY, our volunteers are our bread and butter that makes our organization run

• If we take into consideration these five principles, we will have better training of our staff

• According to the Journal of Effective Teaching, the adoption of technology by people in higher education institutions is very rare, further indicating the need for effective professional learning

To HOBY, professional learning should be exactly the same as

student learning!

We must ensure that our volunteers are being engaged in

what they are doing!

The Big Challenge

• How do our volunteers learn? –Is it through a single session at our

training institute?–Or, through collaboration via an ongoing

process with other seminar sites?–What if we allowed for professional

learning that was always ongoing?

Should we engage our volunteers in the same way that we always

have?

Or, should we make a change?

We must be the change of professional learning at HOBY!

• If we collaborate, we can spread ideas rapidly so seminar staff members can become leaders

• People will feel comfortable sharing their ideas

• Our staff will be more motivated to stay• Staff retention will increase

More Ideas

• We should have ongoing professional learning that inspires our volunteers to really dig deep into new program implementation

• We should have support for our seminar staff that addresses new seminar practices and what works well in a holistic process

• We need to have the free-flow of ideas at HOBY that uses constructivist ideas to inspire our volunteers into active learning

More Ideas

• Modeling ideas from different seminar sites could be a great way to help our volunteers understand a new technology practice

• We should make all of our staff training specific to each seminar site and level so that it pertains to each individual discipline in our organization

• Creating a corporate culture of openness would go a long way toward making ideas florish

If we implement these steps at HOBY, we will inspire our staff to be active

learners in our organization! Also, the Five Principles of Professional Learning

will be taken into full account!

If we engage our staff in higher levels of professional learning, we can make them more engaged in

our organization!

We must take the path of alternative professional

development! Let’s be the change we wish to see!

Dr. Albert Schweitzer always said we should teach people “how to

think, not what to think!” We should put on our thinking caps

and look toward his ideas for professional learning!

HERE WE GO! JUST DO IT!

References Contemporary Issues in Education Research (CIER) CIER, 5(4), 2nd ser., 71-74. (2012). doi:10.19030/cier.v5i4 Collaborative Professional Development in Higher Education: Developing Knowledge of Technology Enhanced Teaching. (n.d.). Journal of Effective Teaching. Armstrong, L., Paul, K. R., Paul, D. R., Bluitt-Fisher, J., & Lopez-Newman, L. (2009). Non-profits in Crisis: How to Retain Employees in the Non-profit Sector. @. (2014). Keys to Nonprofit Employee Retention |. Retrieved September 12, 2016, from http://www.nonprofithr.com/employee-retention/ O'Neil, B. M. (2014). Average Nonprofit Spends 3.2% of Budget on Technology, Report Says. Retrieved September 12, 2016, from https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Average-Nonprofit-Spends-32-/152817

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