Discussion for May 2021 - The Teaching Space Podcast - Leading your Own Professional Development

I enjoy listening to Martine Ellis' Teaching Space Podcast. It allows me insight into the world of teachers which is invaluable as a librarian who works with schools and teachers. I have been interviewed by Martine a couple of times now, the first time was back in 2018 Why it's time to get to know your school librarian. The second was recently when I spent some time talking to her about the importance of understanding your own journey with Professional Development (PD).

Leading your Own Professional Development

Our topic for discussion this month will be how you find your PD path.

What do you want or need from your own PD?
How do you decide what you need to focus on? Do you have a plan?
Where do you look for appropriate PD? What are your go-to resources?
Do you need more? What can't you find?

9 comments

Comments (9)

Unknown member

May 07, 2021

What an interesting week and what brilliant timing this podcast is. Revalidation of my chartership has come to the forefront of my thinking and your conversation has made me realise that I need to reconsider my cpd. I have always looked for half day and day long courses, conferences, and books as the source of CPD. I had not really thought about 'bite sized cpd' before. I feel more positive and excited by this - this idea that I am racking up hours with so many of the activities that I just do because they interest me.

The question of how to best keep track of these hours is an interesting one and I suspect a technological solution may arise, a way of marking twitter (or other social media platform) conversations and recording them for reference. No doubt this can be done but it's not something I've got my head around yet.

For me, as I think you discussed, the best CPD arises from face to face conversations rather than online chat. I really enjoy, and get the most from, talking to people.

Thanks for this nudge Elizabeth

Unknown member

May 12, 2021

Replying to

@Elizabeth @Ruth Maloney I, too, like the idea of bite-size chunks of CPD. I think this is far more user-friendly. Conferences and workshops can, of course, be brilliant, but they can also be expensive and you may have to travel, which are both potential logistical complications - although one silver lining of the pandemic has been the increased use of the webinar, which does away with the travel component.

For myself, and I suspect for many of others, doing shorter 'bites' of CPD fits in better with our normal routine.

In terms of logging it, I often schedule CPD into my diary if it's of the 'read the chapter of this book' variety or something like that that is schedulable. Putting it on my to do list and setting aside time means I don't forget to do it. I keep a spreadsheet of what I do. I also do termly library reports and I always include my CPD in that. So I have an 'official record' and so does my line manager. He does sometimes ask questions about certain elements of it, which can lead to useful discussions.

Unknown member

May 12, 2021

Replying to

@Stephanie I love the idea of having an 'official record' of your CPD that you can share with your line manager. Not only are you raising awareness of what you are doing but also helping them understand the different aspects of your role.

Unknown member

May 12, 2021

Replying to

@Elizabeth Yes, indeed. It helps to demonstrate that I'm not resting on my laurels, so to speak, but also sometimes I come at things from a different perspective than a member of the teaching staff. We do have a staff CPD shelf in the library and I will always pick through the new books as they appear to see if there's anything relevant to me. So there have been occasions when I've read books primarily aimed at teaching staff, but took away from it the bits useful to me. My line manager, I believe, finds that interesting as he is a member of the teaching staff and SLT. We may have read the same book, but come away with different bits that we can put into practice for our own purposes.

Unknown member

Apr 27, 2021

Thank you, yes I am. We were discussing this at a meeting just last night. This framework will be very useful.

Unknown member

Apr 27, 2021

Replying to

Perfect! If you need any help then don't hesitate to ask on the forum . I offer training on using FOSIL which can be found on my website or just send me an email and I will help where I can.

Unknown member

Apr 27, 2021

@s-mullen That sounds very exciting and great that you have found some professional development that fits with your plan. How do you plan to support your main focus?

Are you planning to support research skills too? If you have a new cohort of year 7's it is the perfect time to find a framework and integrate it into your library plan so they have all the skills they need when they leave at 16/18.

Check out FOSIL (Framework Of Skills for Inquiry Learning). It might be just what you need. Their website can be found here... https://fosil.org.uk/

Unknown member

Apr 27, 2021

My school is currently Y10 to Y13 but in 2022 we will be starting an age range change and accepting our first cohort of Y7. Eventually we will be Y7-13. I am currently planning for this change and focusing on Reading for Pleasure. I am working my way through the SLA RfP course and finding it really useful and enjoyable. I would thoroughly recommend it. It gives you exercises as you go along and I will be writing a development plan as I go.