EduCon 2024

More often than not, professional development in schools follows the drive-by model: a guest speaker addresses the faculty, offering some practical advice for the classroom and then moves onto the next school. Faculty return to their classroom and then, eventually, are visited by another expert offering different practical advice. Without an opportunity for the faculty to fully engage in this professional development in a classroom setting, the lessons learned from each experience are often lost.

How then do we reimagine professional development. We need a new paradigm in professional development as well as in teaching and learning. Instead of offerring self-contained workshops in blocks as traditional PD does, let's consider a new model that is continuous and sustainable (as evidenced by the highly successful Marymount School Making and Learning Institute). Participants immerse themselves as part of a making and learning culture in a variety of ways and choose from a menu of items that works best for the participant and not what is best for the PD organizers. Join us for a lively discussion to rethink PD models as we drive beyond the drive by.