As a K-12 science department chair, I’m looking for professional development (PD) opportunities for our teachers. It’s hard to find speakers and programs for a small group. We have a very small budget, so traveling for conferences is not an option, either. Are you familiar with other options? —K., Minnesota

Continuing education is an important part of any job or profession. It is impossible as undergraduates to learn everything we need to know as teachers, especially about content or strategies that didn’t exist at that time or technology that was yet to be invented.

All teachers, including science teachers, have two fields that require continuing education—teaching practices and subject-area content. In my school district, it was easy for us to plan PD in teaching practices. Topics such as cooperative learning, assessment, classroom management, technology applications, curriculum design, questioning strategies, and reading/writing applied to virtually all of the subject areas. Teachers from different subjects could be part of the same workshops. We often used our own staff as facilitators for these sessions to capitalize on their experience and expertise.

But content was another issue, especially for science teachers.

It was difficult (and costly) to find facilitators to provide workshops or seminars on relevant content (as well as on national and/or state standards, safety updates, and cutting-edge lab technology) for the 8.5 secondary science teachers in our district. So once a year we science teachers (including biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics) combined with other schools for the generic “large group in an auditorium with a guest speaker.” These sessions were often redundant or irrelevant, and research has shown these one-off presentations, lacking context or follow-up, can be ineffective.

Add to the mix the fact that many districts are in a financial bind. When making cuts to programs, facilities, and staff, PD often goes on the chopping block as well. For both reasons (effectiveness and finances), many schools provide an option for and encourage self-directed PD, especially for veteran teachers. Although sometimes referred to as “do-it-yourself,” I’ve found this form of PD to be more collegial than traditional “sit-and-git” events.

In my district, teachers (or groups of teachers) worked with administrators to set learning goals focused on district priorities and personal needs, design a learning strategy, identify relevant resources, document their activities, describe how they will apply the new knowledge or skills, and submit a final report/reflection. In return, they received PD hours and were excused from two in-service days during the school year if they used the summer or their own time for the PD project.

There are many activities that could be part of DIY PD: Local mini-conferences, EdCamps,  Professional Learning Networks (PLNs), online courses and web seminars offered by higher education and other organizations, action research, social media, book study groups, peer coaching, mentoring programs, onsite visits and tours, and independent study.

From your leadership perspective as a department chair, the learning experience of planning, administering, and evaluating a DIY program would be another form of professional development. It might be helpful to first study the options and pilot the program with a cross-section of interested teachers.

It would be easy for science teachers to design PD opportunities using the resources of NSTA’s Learning Center: the NSTA journals, e-mail lists, discussion forums, Science Objects, and web seminars.

A project such as this requires work on the part of the teachers, more so than sitting through a few presentations each year. It also requires a level of trust and professionalism between administrators and teachers. My own experiences with DIY PD (which included action research, peer coaching, mentoring new teachers, and independent study) were satisfying, relevant, and helped me become a better teacher.

Update: You might also be interested in events such as NSTA’s Virtual conferences. No travel required!