Teachers of Alberta have a responsibility to support and attend specialist council conferences. This may seem a bold statement to some, given the broad range of PD choices available to teachers,but the fact is, if Alberta's teachers want to be considered the experts within their profession, then they need to be a part of something that is local in the provincial sense. Joining and supporting your own Specialist Council is one simple way to do this.
Teachers needn't feel that they need to be a part of the Council's executive, or even attend the conference annually, but they do need to join in order to support the profession of teaching. In a recent conversation with a colleague, I grabbed on to an insight. "By not supporting Specialist Councils, and by not attending local provincial conferences, teachers are shooting themselves in the foot." I've thought a lot about this comment because to me it meant that teachers are outsourcing their professional development. In the business world, outsourcing can be a positive thing, and it is true in teaching. That said, teachers need to understand that they should (could) build phenomonal learning networks and opportunities in their own province.
What message are teachers sending when we outsource our Professional Devlopment? Teachers in Alberta need to be a part of this conversation, and it is up to each and every Alberta teacher to join a Specialist Council. For the sake of our profession in Alberta, I encourage every teacher to use their free Specialist Council membership, and join one today!
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