‘The best PLD I’ve ever had’: reconceptualising professional learning and development

Abstract

This article shares the journeys of two New Zealand secondary school educators participating in the Virtual Professional Learning and Development programme, who developed sufficient confidence to undertake a Developing Virtual Mentor role in the initiative. Qualitative and quantitative data were developed into stories of change and illustrate the process and outcomes of involvement in a future-focused environment of virtual mentorship supported by a tailored online community of practice. Evidence is shown of shifts in the educators’ beliefs about learning and teaching, corresponding changes in professional practice, and the positive impact on student learning and on professional colleagues. The authors discuss key findings by conceptualising them using an Inclusive Framework for Professional Development. The three interconnecting dimensions of the framework – personal, professional and political – provide a tool to examine the tensions, challenges, aspirations and inspirations of the participants’ respective experiences. It is hoped that the framework will prove useful for other practitioners involved in educator professional development.

Keywords:

• mentoring
• online community of practice
• equity
• leadership
• reflection
• responsiveness

Acknowledgements

The VPLD initiative was instigated in October 2009 by the eLearning Division at the New Zealand Ministry of Education. The initial concept was conceived and developed by Eddie Reisch (Senior Analyst, Ministry of Education) in consultation with ePrincipals Carolyn Bennett (FarNet), Trevor Storr (AorakiNet) and Ken Pullar (OtagoNet), as well as Robin Ohia (eLeader, Te Kahui Kura ki Aotea), Helen Cooper (Senior Analyst, Ministry of Education) and Merryn Dunmill (Arts online/Itinerant music teacher). Te Toi Tupu – Leading Learning Network consortium (comprising Cognition Education; CORE Education; The New Zealand Council for Educational Research; The University of Waikato; and Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development) took over the overall management of the project in 2011.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

The VPLD initiative was funded by the eLearning Division at the New Zealand Ministry of Education.