Over this last term, the staff have had several opportunities to engage in professional learning. Why is continuous learning and self-development important? We live in an ever-changing world where teachers need to enhance and acquire new skills, especially regarding the changes in technology, and the way this impacts our classroom practice and how we prepare our students to engage with and live in the world.
“We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”
As teachers, we are encouraged to continually work on our professional learning to make us more effective in our classrooms. The world is continually changing, and the way students learn is evolving . Over the years, there have been many changes to how students are taught and how they learn; with the introduction of computers, smartphones etc. this has meant that teachers have had to change the way they teach. A famous quote by Richard Riley, former US Secretary of Education, is as follows: “We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technologies that haven't been invented, in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.” This had me thinking about how teachers equip themselves to prepare their students to be lifelong learners.
One area of this is professional development, and within our school we have had the opportunity to select an area for personal professional growth and improvement. The teachers had time to listen to webinars, do readings and then share collaboratively with other staff. The Bible states in Proverbs 27:17
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”
and so we collaborated with one another in our endeavours to grow and develop professionally. Professional learning collaboratively has been vital as we learnt from one another and shared ideas to become better teachers. Students benefit greatly when teachers are constantly refining their skills. Our classroom environments have been changing daily, and by sharing best practices and discussing challenges, we are managing to come up with unique solutions. We work better together;
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
- Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Lifelong learning is something, as teachers, we want to instil in our students. By meeting collaboratively and reflecting on our practice, it enables us to provide opportunities for our students to grow and develop this mindset. By providing opportunities for students to explore new and interesting topics, it will enable them to become problem-solvers and they will also realise that they will not always be masters at everything. However, they will be equipped to know how and where to look for the answers, thus preparing them to be problem-solvers in the fast-changing world. It is our goal to help our students reimagine life’s possibilities.
Janice Pieterse - Head of Teaching & Learning, Secondary