Providing opportunities for quality professional development for teachers can improve teacher wellbeing, job satisfaction and retention.
With teacher attrition at an all-time high – and many teachers leaving within the first five years of their careers – ways to improve teacher wellbeing and job satisfaction are at the forefront of a lot of conversations within the education industry. How can professional development (PD) for teachers help?
What the experts say
Teachers are leaving the profession for a variety of reasons, including feelings of unpreparedness, stress and burnout, and the reality of managing student engagement and behaviour concerns in the classroom. One way to address some of these concerns, ensure educators are supported and motivated in their roles, and potentially improve retention, is to provide quality PD opportunities that build on a teacher’s strengths and fill the gaps they need to succeed.
Teachers, both new and experienced, consistently report that PD is critical to feeling successful and positive about their role, by providing a solution for those that might feel unprepared and unsupported.
According to researchers from the University of Technology, Sydney, in the Australian Journal of Teacher Education, PD has been reported to improve teacher retention. The study showed that PD is effective when it is relevant to the teacher and their individual requirements, is paired with mentoring, good feedback and advice, and provides access to the tools the teacher needs to sustain implementation of their learning.
Supported and confident
To learn new skills, we all need opportunities to receive explicit instruction, observe competent models, rehearse and receive feedback. Before we can expect teachers to implement MultiLit programs in their classrooms as effectively as possible, we want to ensure they are confident and ready. This is why we offer tailored PD workshops for all of our literacy programs and assessment tools, conducted by trainers who have extensive experience delivering the programs in a variety of settings.
These workshops provide teachers with the opportunity not only to understand the evidence behind our programs but also how to implement our products, resources and strategies consistently and with fidelity. MultiLit’s online learning platforms and School Partnerships team provide teachers with ongoing support to ensure sustained implementation and practice.
With mentoring, feedback and advice from MultiLit’s expert trainers, teachers can be confident in their ability to deliver effective literacy instruction and feel more prepared when they enter the classroom.
Resourced and ready
A huge part of being prepared to teach is the time it takes to create effective resources. Providing PD participants with quality resources and tools increases the chances of professional learning transferring to practice in the classroom and frees up teachers to focus on engaging with their students.
MultiLit aims not only to provide quality, evidence-based instruction, but all the tools and resources for teachers to implement these programs immediately, effectively and consistently.
Positive and engaged learners
Teachers that feel they have the tools to maintain a calm and productive classroom are much better equipped to deliver high-quality, effective instruction.
The MultiLit Positive Teaching and Learning Initiative is designed to support teachers in creating learning environments that build successful, motivated learners and to teach more appropriate, safer and meaningful behaviours to all students. This in turn, improves teacher confidence, wellbeing and job satisfaction.
Self-paced, online learning modules cater to teachers at all stages of their careers, with the flexibility to allocate time to PD that fits in with their schedules.
We know that teachers are more motivated when learning from and sharing ideas with their peers, which is why many of the activities allow teachers to share their experiences and knowledge with each other. Opportunities to reflect, collaborate, respond and practise implementation are built-in to the learning modules, keeping participants actively engaged throughout their learning experience.
Teachers seeking more interaction can choose to join our new 10-week Community of Practice, focused on Teaching for Positive Behaviour Change. This blended learning option is specifically designed for classroom teachers and features three self-paced eLearning modules, live webinars and options to interact with our specialist team.
Equipped for success
Increasing professional development opportunities for teachers – focusing on developing their skills to deliver effective instruction, keep students engaged in learning, and manage behaviour issues positively and effectively – results in better equipped teachers that can feel satisfied about the work they do every day.