Not Waiting for You

No one seems to like the term 21st century learner, but finding a substitute is tricky. And what about differentiation? Student-centered? What do they really mean? We dislike labeling but find the need to describe actions and people to a wider audience, even with the chance of being misunderstood.

I’m going to throw out another one: Professional Development.

Ask 10 people, and you’ll get 10 answers.

I’d like to stop using the word because the lines between my PD learning and my own learning are becoming blurred. My work with Powerful Learning Practice means spending time reading, sharing, comparing, analyzing, and writing. But trying to decide when I am learning for work and learning because I am just darn interested in the topic is impossible. For example, at what point does my personal reading about courage and resilience cross over to my interest in building relationships with students and colleagues? Almost immediately.

For too long, we’ve used the term Professional Development to mean something done “to” us, a means of passing along “some important piece of information you can’t possibly find on your own that we think is terribly important.” I’ll do it myself anyway, thank you very much. Have probably already done it, thank you very much. I’m not waiting for direction.

Personal development, professional learning, heck, just doing what I love to do. How do we cultivate in children the kind of curiosity that will make them want to be “do-ers” instead of “wait-ers” ?

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