Four Questions re: Professional Development
So we have collectively ranted about organizations that offer the same conference programming year after year. It amazes me that some organizations think that the topics/issues and delivery formats popular in the late nineties still resonate in 2006. Organizations that haven’t changed fast enough are feeling the pressure from for-profit organizations that tend to be more nible in their program planning and delivery. This scenario begins to raise many questions, but here are some critical questions to consider.
(1) Is the head of professional development in your organization actively participating in professional development programming themself? The world of professional development and adult education is undergoing profound changes. Major shifts in PD are occuring every 12-18 months. How much time is the head of your organization’s PD programming learning about these changes?
(2) Is your education committee (or it’s equivalent) too involved in the adult learning side of things (delivery methods for content) versus providing content direction? Practitioners in a field need to stay focused on providing content guidance while PD professionals need to focus on the best way to organize, manage and deliver that content.
(3) Does your organization have an integrated professional development strategy? Is there a working PD plan that includes all functional areas of the organization, including special project groups, working groups, etc.?
(4) Does your budget include enough money to adequately keep your staff up to speed? Too many association educators I know often say, “we don’t have enough budget money to attend that conference.” I am appalled by this notion especially if for-profit competition is an issue for your organization. For-profit educators are attending the major education and adult learning conferences. If your staff isn’t there, where are they going to get a competitive advantage?
Now is the time to get serious about creating a professional development strategy that integrates the needs of your members as well as the ongoing PD needs of staff. It is time to pony up the cash to pay for these PD programs for staff, especially if your organization is competing for educational dollars.
Bravo, Amy! I think you have really captured the most common problems in PD in associations. There’s nothing more surprising to me when associations expect their members to pay up to attend conferences, but won’t even provide support for their staff to attend conferences for their own development!