Lainie Jae Rowell Knihy

"The concept of personalized professional learning has gained a good deal of traction over the past decade. Much in the way that classroom instruction has shifted from a twentieth century factory model (at least in theory), the notion of one-size-fits-all professional development has been widely discredited. A recent blog post (http://blog.edmentum.com/5-best-practices-personalized-professional-development) makes the following case: Gathering all of a school's teachers in a room for one day and offering strategies with the intention of universal classroom application doesn't work anymore-'one size fits all' is no longer an effective option. Instead, attention must be paid to the broader context of each teacher's classroom world. The subject(s) they teach, the technology they utilize, as well as the ages and specific challenges of their students, all must be taken into account. Moreover, technological advances have dramatically improved access to individualized PL options. But while the idea that teachers can tailor their professional learning to unique needs is inherently appealing, there remains a central paradox: most experts are in agreement that the most impactful professional leaning experiences take place in collaboration with other teachers. The authors of the proposed title believe that powerful professional learning can be grouped into three distinctive categories: (1) Learning from students; (2) Learning from peers; (3) Learning from the world"-- Provided by publisher