When It Comes to Professional Development, We Need to Treat Teachers like Children

I’m not sure when “getting treated like a child” got such a bad rap, but I’d like to set the record straight. As a teacher, when it comes to my professional development, I would love to be treated like a child. In our classrooms, students’ needs and interests are considered. We recognize the importance of options, the need for buy-in and the benefits of joy. If they have already mastered a skill, we don’t make them sit there and do it again and again until the rest of the class catches up. Most of all, students (because they’re people) know when something is disingenuous or prescribed.

Let it be proclaimed from this mountaintop (or living room) that I am brimming with excitement and creativity, determined to change the face of teachers’ professional development forever - and for the better - by treating more teachers like children. But first, a nap.