Professional Development Part 2

The model I've come to focus on is one that many businesses use as there will always be resistance.  Geoffrey Moore (2001) outlines this idea of ‘Crossing the Chasm’. I focus my time on 3 groups: 1. the technology enthusiasts when I want to trial things and always have great feedback and engagement 2. the visionaries when we want to look at big ideas we want to implement 3.pragmatists for developing skills. The first 2 groups don't need much convincing to attend professional development and often seek it out on their own. Teach the willing, and others will follow when they see growth and results. The conservatives are more willing to learn things once they have seen the pragmatists be successful. Staggered PD with repeated sessions later in the year can be helpful for meeting their needs and skeptics may never take the jump or resist until they have to. It is also a reality that unfortunately I will never be able to meet everyones needs to I work to impact the most people in the most effective and efficient model. In addition, I find that people from across this spectrum will come to me one-on-one for just in time PD and these short sessions (as little as 5 minutes) can be more powerful than sessions for some people.