Professional development refers to a continuous process structure where someone can gain skills and enhance knowledge base development which, in the long run, helps in potential achievement and success in a specific framework (Ekinci et al., p. 117). Professional development helps to ensure that the aspect of relevance is integral and upheld at different levels and times in the development cycle. Career development is vital in building new instructors’ confidence by providing them with the necessary resources to address the various student needs, increasing student success through professional development, and raising teachers’ confidence.
Professional development is characterized by focusing on specific content while significantly staying relevant and in line to impact learning outcomes at the student level positively. It is based on material-specific pedagogical skills and broad learning strategies approach. In professional development, the contemporary methods of teaching and learning point toward teacher and student development outcomes. Problem-solving, discussion, and simulations enhance active learning (Alsina et al., p. 4039). There is a coherent alignment of policy frameworks and governance structures for the context of enhanced classroom and teacher-student relationships. Deployment of workshops and integration of support structures for students with special needs also constitutes professional development.
There are many benefits gained from professional development that take different forms for the professional cycle, including enhanced relevance through promotions, earning potential, and professional scalability enhancement. Professional development helps advance positional levels, thus ensuring a positive and progressive structure where efficiency and effectiveness are aspects of productivity integrated into professionalism. Improved learning and knowledge content gap identification are also integral for preparedness for new policy changes.
Professional development ensures appraisals and an effective payment increment structure, which helps promote service delivery. It is imperative as it builds towards professional and social networking structures to adopt schedule and role balancing to enhance expertise in various fields.
Reflective teaching refers to aspects that define the progressive nature and flow of practice, learning, and teaching during different phases in the classroom. The reflective model can be effectively integrated into the school setting using relevant teaching and learning methods (Safari et al., p. 33). The methods include self-consultation and querying, implementing new ideas, and a discussion approach based on effective feedback.
In conclusion, as a minor theme for professional development, the deployment of workshops and other relevant methods in the classroom proves imperative for enhancing teacher experience and role assumption while ensuring that students with special needs are well addressed.
References
Alsina, Á., & Mulà, I. (2019). Advancing towards a transformational professional competence model through reflective learning and sustainability: The case of mathematics teacher education. Sustainability, 11(15), 4039.
Ekinci, E., & Acar, F. E. (2019). Primary school teachers’ opinions on professional development (Professional Development Model Proposal). Journal of Education and Training Studies, 7(4), 111-122.
Safari, I., Davaribina, M., & Khoshnevis, I. (2020). The influence of EFL teachers’ self-efficacy, job satisfaction and reflective thinking on their professional development: A structural equation modeling. Journal on Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science, 13(1), 27-40.