Inflight Training Center Professional Development Proposal

BACKGROUND One obstacle to corporate learning is that experience is a good teacher, but may only be a private tutor. It is challenging to collect and disseminate experience and knowledge. Our culture must shift to one of collaborative, professional learning, and quality instruction. This can be accomplished by professional development. Instructors should have an avenue to experiment, in a low risk environment, to gain confidence and enhance skills. This will improve his or her teaching experience and the students learning experience. Studies show that professional development and coaching improve instructor efficiency, job satisfaction, and collaboration. QUALIFICATIONS I have been an Instructor/Evaluator at ORDTK for over a year and a Chicago based flight attendant for fourteen years. I assist with scheduling and SME duties. Prior to teaching at Inflight Training, I have taught multiple subjects to individuals and groups of a variety of skill levels. I anticipate receiving my Masters of Library and Information Science next spring. I have been studying literacy, digital literacy, knowledge management, teaching methodologies, and curriculum design. LOGISTICS Each center should identify a facilitator to lead the professional development sessions. This should be a staff member trusted by instructors, who can create a safe, collaborative environment. Professional development will take the form of topical instruction, observation, and debriefing. Two professional development sessions have been completed at ORDTK. Each session began with a short orientation, followed by an icebreaker. At the first session, topical instruction on the three traditional instructional theories and practice: behaviorist, cognitive/constructivist, and humanist, was taught. At the second session, a trivia quiz on the IR roster, door evaluations, EME evaluations, and little known facts from the FAOM was given. Future sessions may include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment, instruction on dangerous goods, and lectures from SMEs in related departments at United. At both sessions, the topical instruction was followed by a content focused teach-back and debriefing. At the teach-back, the I/Es watched other instructors teach a section of CQ. After the teach-back, a debriefing was held. During the debriefing, the I/Es reflected on what they liked about the instruction style, tips for improvement, and questions and answers

Lisa West, ORDTK

Professional Development Proposal

October 2012

Scholarly articles on education and professional development have been added to the instructor share drive and a Professional Development Binder. If funds allow, subscription to professional journals may be purchased for instructor review. These would include professional development and aviation journals. We plan to continue these sessions at our monthly team meeting. The cost involves the time necessary for the facilitator to create the lesson plan, copies of materials, the time allocated for the professional development, and subscription costs of journals, if purchased. I will create a lesson plan for the ORDTK sessions, which can be shared with other centers. This will minimize the time necessary for other centers to develop lesson plans. However, it is beneficial for each center to evaluate their needs and create a tailored professional development session. For example, ORDTK was having an issue with the length of the instruction of the CQ Security Lesson Plan, so this was the first subject tackled. In the future, we would like all instructors to become involved in the process. As our instructor base has extensive experience and knowledge, we hope that each instructor will volunteer to host a topical instruction session. We would like to have guest speakers from AQP, QA, Corporate Security, and other departments related to our training content. We also plan to tailor the sessions on areas that appear to need clarification or improvement, or areas that are requested by instructors. The professional development is not meant to be AQP calibration, QC, or a punitive evaluation. It is a relaxed environment to observe, share, and improve our knowledge and skills. There is a facilitator, not an instructor with set answers and mandates. The goal is for everyone to instruct each other, mentor, collaborate, provide feedback, come to conclusions as a team, increase knowledge, and have fun. OBSTACLES The biggest obstacle of new training programs is stakeholder buy-in. For the success of professional development, we must move from a group to a team. It is important to make the group aware of the purpose. The purpose is to share our experience, knowledge, and skills to improve the training experience for instructor and student. The environment must be a safe place where all opinions are heard and valued. BENEFITS An immediate benefit of professional development is sharing of best teaching practices and time saving tactics. After our first session, the time necessary to teach the CQ Security Lesson Plan was noticeably shorter. For our second

Lisa West, ORDTK

Professional Development Proposal

October 2012

session, we reviewed the FS EME. Since we were not in the middle of a CQ teaching day, we were able to take the time to thoroughly review scoring of the EME. This led to a greater understanding of EME scoring, the inter-rater, and calibration. A greater benefit is the fostering of a learning, collaborative team environment. SOURCES Grose, Karen, and Jim Strachan. "In Demonstration Classrooms, It's Show-And-Tell Every Day." Journal Of Staff Development 32.5 (2011): 24-29. ERIC. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. Hancock, Gwen, and Jetter, Madeleine. "Japanese Lesson Study Comes to California." Leadership. 1.2 (2012): 18-23. Association of California School Administrators, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School, 1998. Print. Hord, Shirley M. "Professional Learning Communities: Educators Work Together Toward A Shared Purpose." Journal Of Staff Development 30.1 (2009): 40-43. ERIC. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. Knight, Jim. "Coaching: The Key To Translating Research Into Practice Lies In Continuous, Job-Embedded Learning With Ongoing Support." Journal Of Staff Development 30.1 (2009): 18-20,. ERIC. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. Lee, Ginny V. "From Group To Team: Skilled Facilitation Moves A Group From A Collection Of Individuals To An Effective Team." Journal Of Staff Development 30.5 (2009): 44-46,. ERIC. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. Nelsen, Jeff, and Amalia Cudeiro. "Lasting Impression: Targeted Learning Plan Has A Maximum Impact On Teacher Practice." Journal Of Staff Development 30.5 (2009): 32-35. ERIC. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. Odden, Allan. "Resources: The Dollars And Sense Of Comprehensive Professional Learning." Journal Of Staff Development 32.4 (2011): 26-32. ERIC. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. Richardson, Joan. "The Ultimate Practitioner." Phi Delta Kappan 93.1 (2011): 27-32. ERIC. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. Saphier, Jon. "Outcomes: Coaching, Teaching Standards, And Feedback Mark The Teacher's Road To Mastery." Journal Of Staff Development 32.4 (2011): 58-62. ERIC. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.

Lisa West, ORDTK

Professional Development Proposal

October 2012