Empowering Educators: Summer Professional Development

June 10, 2024 | 3 Minute Read

This guest post is by Lauren Dana, Instructional Designer at the Center for Teaching and Learning.

As summer quickly approaches with the promise of picnics, beach trips, and much-needed rest, we know the reality of the season is often much more hectic. Summer is often spent in the classroom and office: researching, applying for grants, and preparing for current and future courses.

Here at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), we believe that summer should also be a time for personal growth and exploration, particularly in professional development (PD) for teaching.

Why Is Professional Development in Teaching So Critical?

Higher education is changing so fast that PD beyond the content area is imperative to meeting students’ needs. Research indicates that PD in teaching can help develop teacher confidence and self-efficacy, two skills that are essential for creating an effective classroom and successful student experience (JohnBull, 2021).

Let’s explore some societal and student trends that have changed the classroom (Brancato, 2003) in the past few years!

Social Trends

1. Globalization of Education: Faculty now teach a more global set of students preparing for an increasingly interconnected world.
2. Diverse Student Population: Students from increasingly diverse and international backgrounds have unique needs, interests, and learning styles.

Both trends create a crucial need for inclusive and global curriculum and teaching practices that PD can help support.

Student Trends

1. Shift Towards Student-Centered Learning: Students today thrive in environments that prioritize active learning strategies where they are engaged and encouraged to participate in their own learning process.
2. Integration of Technology: Students have access to more readily available information and technology, and this information and technology should be applied meaningfully in the classroom. AI (Artificial Intelligence) is just one of many technological advances that have changed education.

Targeted PD can help faculty adapt their teaching methods to better align with a student-centered approach while also encouraging faculty to work with, instead of against, technology to support their learning goals and objectives.

How Can CTL Help?

We have hopefully convinced you why PD in teaching is important. However, how can you fit teaching PD in with your already packed summer?

Here are some great opportunities provided by CTL:

Are you looking for…

• Something quick and practical over your Tuesday lunch hour?
  • Picnic PD
• A workshop that covers a specific pedagogical topic where you can engage in Q&A with an expert and your peers?
  • Toolkit Workshops (live)
• Recordings that cover a specific pedagogical topic?
  • Toolkit Workshops (recorded)
• A deep dive with the support of an instructional designer on various foundational pedagogical topics?
  • Essentials of Course Design, Development and Management at BSPH
• Practical tools and strategies to maximize your Teaching Assistantship role?
  • TA Training

If you are unsure where to start, reach out to one of the members of CTL’s Instructional Design Team who can guide you to PD that fits your needs!

If you don’t have an ID contact, please email ldana1@jhu.edu or ehaagenson@jhu.edu.

Sources

Brancato, V. C. (2003). Professional development in higher education. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, 2003(98), 59. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.100

JohnBull, R. M., & Hardiman, M. (2021, April). Exploring novice and career teacher efficacy changes after a neuroeducation professional learning series. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Online. Available in the AERA Online Paper Repository.