Role of Professional Development

At Birchwood, teachers begin their professional journey embracing our mission and the broad implications of how we grow children’s intellect and character through individualized instruction and learning. Professional development lives within the framework of our mission. Therefore alignment is the operative word for professional development. 

Alignment
This alignment is not a top down effort. Alignment implies an understanding of growth according to individual needs and development. Therefore, at the heart of our professional development program, is the growth and development of the individual teacher. This emphasis has two sides. First, it is important that each teacher begin his/her own journey toward understanding themselves as an educator at Birchwood. This means our professional development program should introduce teachers to a variety of teaching strategies ranging from real-world, project-based learning lessons, to the effective use of direct instruction. It should introduce them to the meaning of experiential education and to the many strategies that enhance a child’s accumulation of knowledge. 

Within this framework, teachers explore their strengths and weaknesses. In collaboration with their peers and administration, teachers create pathways for their own growth that both meet the needs of our educational program yet align with their own talents and personalities. We place a high priority on teacher autonomy. 

Becoming
The second emphasis encourages teachers to live a life that mirrors our mission. It is growth based on personal reflection about one’s own intellectual and character growth. The school cannot define what this means for each teacher, but the school does know if each teacher is engaged in a pathway of growth – personal or professional – they will bring the energy of growth into the school and into their classrooms. They will become a source of energy and light in the general culture and ethos of becoming.