I cannot not stress enough on the importance of PD. It not only keeps you informed about best practice, new updates, how and why we do what we do but it re-energises you. It reminds you what you signed up for when you studied Early Childhood. It validates that feeling inside that tells you ‘we are MAD’ (Making a Difference).
The first time I had a PD session was on the very last day of Uni. Anthony from Semann and Slattery came for a 45 min session and blew us away, we left that room full of hope and ready to take on our roles as teachers in the field. Something he said stayed with me, he said “I want to leave you in a state of confusion, because if you are confused, it means you are thinking”. Eventually that fire begins to flicker and fade, you need PD to keep that fire going.
Through work, I came across Rare Webinars. I admit I left it very late to jump on that Webinar train (you know how it is “Early I’m not such a headache I’ve got, feet are moving too slow! look at the time!” – Dora in Wonderland). However, when I started I sat through the whole weekend watching webinar after webinar, replaying, writing and trying to retain every bit of information I could. It was awesome! I shared all my notes with my team and I would happily fork out that $39 dollar myself to keep adding to my list (plus you get a shiny new certificate after).
Rare also offers a lot of free support and resources that you can use such as their ‘Critical Reflection Prompts’. I found them very useful. You can use them as reflective questions directed to your team as part of your Ed Leader role – give it a time line and then check in with them. What are their thoughts? how do they feel about it? how can it be incorporated into the planning and programming for example. Write these thoughts down, if they don’t have the time, scribe it for them. I should also mention here that it is a good idea to have a “Reflections book” (or a google doc) so you have it all in one place (QIP goals).
Remember to actually reflect because “Data that sit unused are no different from data that were never collected in the first place” – Doug Fisher
Here is a list of websites you can access for your PD to get started (You will need some snacks to go with it)
Paid PD:
1- Rare Webinars ($39 for online pre-recorded Webinars)
2- Semann and Slattery ($55 for online Webinars)
3- ECA The Learning Hub (range of free to $25)
4- Early Years Training (a bit on the expensive side)
Free PD:
3- Be You Early Learning (free webinars/ training on social, emotional, mental wellbeing)
Happy watching,
~ Ru
The Roo that could 