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THE PRACTICE: Professional development should provide opportunities to gain an understanding of the theory underlying the knowledge and skills being learned.
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Content Presented By:
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National Partnership for Excellence & Accountability in Teaching
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What is it?
Because beliefs filter knowledge and guide behavior, professional development must address teachers' beliefs, experiences, and habits. Furthermore, specific knowledge and skills that work in one setting, sometimes do not work in others. When teachers have a good understanding of the theory behind particular practices and programs, they can adapt the strategy they learned about to the circumstances in which the teacher is trying to use it.
Questions to Think About
- How can professional development reveal teachers' private theories?
- What kinds of professional development opportunities support the evolution of teacher practice, beliefs and theories?
- When do teachers perceive theory as relevant to everyday teacher practice?
- How can professional development develop reflective practice to the point that teachers build models about their practice and experiment with practices within those models?
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