CPD or CPR?

CPD...it is not the most thrilling word in my profession description.  Do not get me wrong!  I do think that it is very essential to keep on growing professional but CPD days are not always the most exciting days of my existence. In some cases I even have to say that I walked out of the venue/building with professional 'flatline'.  There are the times that I rather was calling after some CPR in order to get back into shape and ready to go back into my classroom.  It are sometimes the CPD days that can suck out all the energy of me and even wonder why I even have chosen to be a teacher in the first place.  Fortunately there have been more CPD days that I wrapped up feeling professional alive and kicking but still....

It is therefor that when my educational hotspot started to use something called ‘professional learning partners’ I was in the beginning rather a bit skeptical.  Honestly, I did wonder if this was just an other way to promote something that a select group of people was going to have only access to and me as a ‘groundling’ would hardly get to see and use the outcome of.   Two years further down the line I have to say that I was wrong.   And why is that?   Well,….

First of all I have to be honest that I did at the time when the job description was put up I just did not feel that secure to go for that function.  Calling it modesty is too easy of an ‘excuse’ but I did wonder very openly if I would be a good fit in a school where I am surrounded by amazing educational professionals and very passionate people that I would be in the best postion and had the best background.  Second of all I did wonder how you can boost CPD days so that you get the most of it and try to keep everybody happy and still make sure that the vision you are after stays clear. 

Hey, do not get me wrong I might be then called passionate and loving what I do, I still tend to call myself a realist when it comes down to what I do.  I teach one hour of Dutch in an international school in a country where many people will manage without having to use that language in their daily lives.  I am not making this up…it is not fake news…it is a fact.  It is not always easy to kind of being the educator in a context where your subject is not considered ‘essential’.   But it has never kept me back of trying to make my subject worthwhile for the children I teach.  Single one of them I hope to teach something or let them walk out of my classroom feeling like they gained something out of those 55 minutes.

What is that something then? Well, that is not always that easy to define.  In case you think that is a bit of an awkward answer to give, I understand you.  But then I challenge you to tell me something about a CPD course you were granted to attend and that you did exactly get out of it what the course description told you?   Surely most of us teachers have had that experience of having ended up in a course of which you did wonder ‘This is just not what I had hoped for!’ or ‘This is not what I now need at this exact moment!’ or ‘Why in the world am I supposed to listen to this person who is telling me what to do but has he or she even been in real situation I am momentarily trying to survive within?’ or ‘I already knew all of that!' or  'Can you please tell me something that I not already have been told or found out myself?’….. I bet you can add a few yourself. 

CPD days are so many times those days that you rather leave feeling even less secure.  Or you wonder what you might have done more useful instead of having to call in cover for your class while you have been out for a day or more.    Well if there something that has changed since the professional learning partners are active in my school is that school CPD is now  run by a selected group of people but also a group of people still connected with the 'real' daily business that makes up a school.  People that try very hard to keep everybody their interests at heart.  Plus that they look also around them to find people who are willingly to share good practice. This is a group of very motivated people and they do come from different departments within the school what surely has added to the CPD boost.

Now do not get me wrong. There are still people around me who still will not get out of these days what they are after.  You can't make everybody happy but at the same time I do think that then it might be time to speak up. Inform the most essential people to do something about it.  Critics tend to keep to themselves when it comes down to CPD days because we all know that we then also have to do a bit more of inward reflection about what the real issue is that we are 'bored', 'annoyed', 'upset', 'grumpy', 'dissapointed',.... The whole range of rather negative feelings that floats above during talks and cofeebreaks during a CPD hides in most cases something that is more more complex.  Or that is at least what I have found out after 21 years attending such courses and conferences.

Now if I look back at the CPD opportunities I was granted over the last two decennia I must say that the outcome of them is not always the most obvious one.  So let me be so free to come up with a few insights and ideas that I did pick up on a very wide range of professional development courses that I did attend voluntarily or in same cases was friendly forced to attend.

1. Professional Development comes in all shapes and forms.  What you need momentarily you might have needed before or in some cases what you needed to know.  In education things also change constantly and our classrooms also do.  Personal and professional growth are not a static and therefor will constantly change.  You might need a course that shows you ways to deal with new technology in the classroom, while your coworker thinks very openly that the time has come that the school tells you something about value based teaching.  How they do this can be so different than you imagined.  Sometimes you will be offered the opportunity to attend a course outside school and sometimes it might be rather a book that you find in your school library that will help you. 

2.We do not all need the same at the same time. As a result, and I do think that is very challening  to put together a very worthwhile CPD program for you staff or pushing them in a certain direction.  Okay, there are the days that your school wishes to get all people to look into the same direction.  Your vision should be a joined one and that all involved feel part of and have been given the opportunity to speak up their mind about. Timing is everything and this also is the case when it comes down to CPD days.  Perfect timing is always so much more positive and feeling at the end of the day the workshop discription did just not live up to its expectation.  But it is still hard to come by and not that easy to plan. 

3.Making connections is very valuable.  At all CPD events/days I met up with people that I has something in common with.  In some cases it might not be connected with the content of the course itself but something totally different.  These connections could be the beginning of something else.  And I am not only talking about friendship.   Connections outside your working spot can be a very powerful manner to find a new sparkle of hope that might end up in starting that one dream project you are already lobbying after.   Keep your eyes and ears open!

4.The more personal professional development becomes the more energy it will cost and openminded you sometimes will need to be.  We have been all in the spot where you do know deep down inside that it is time to find a course in order to help you.  It are sometimes these that will make the difference in your daily teaching.  These are also the ones that you end up having to do a bit extra work or concentrate harder.  It are not the walks through the park with a stop at the ice cream van.  No freebies are handed out and the outcome of such a day might be still unclear.  These are the courses and events that demand a lot more than copying a work sheet or reading the most recent research.  They call for action on a bigger scale and we all know what we then also need to make it work.

5.CPD outcomes are not always measurable or easily to share with others.  Teachers sometimes like first to spend some time on their private educational island before diving into the cold and deep ocean water.  Processing the content of a CPD is not always easy and in some situations it might not even work out for you.  This is then due to some other more complex reasons.  That we then sometimes might have to say ‘at least I tried’ is not always what we were after when signing up for that specific workshop or talk.   Plus that when you are send on a three day course about dealing with difficult behavior within the classroom makes you wonder if you even dare to tell your coworker who seems to be a superhero when it comes down to class management.  And then there are the side effects of attending CPD days and I have found out that these are sometimes as valuable as the initial reason that you ended up in room to listen to an expert about dyslexia or Autism. 

6.Sharing is caring.  Sounds very fuzzy and cliché. But in the last five years I have noticed that the professional days where people did share their ‘wealth’, their good practice, their insight are the ones that made me feel more connected and cared for.  Sometimes that was all I needed in order to head back into my classroom in a more inspired and energetic mode. Ready to try something new and still add my own twist to the offered advice or worksheet.  Copy and paste not a magic spell you can cast over your classroom.

7.The proof of the pudding is in eating the pudding.  The more ‘fun’ you are having the harder it sometimes it will be to keep up with the insights.  Yes, I do sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed after such days.  It is during these days that I have been in a way cut off from society and only concentrate on my profession.  Once I am back at reality and try out something 'new' is not always that easy.  But it is only then I find out if 'it 'works or not.  And it might not always work out…but at least I have tried.  So after all the listening the next stage is creating...what calls for action.

8.CPD days and programs are put together by people…human beings…people like you and me!  Learning is an opportunity but the also means that more and more people see it also as a market .  It is not always that easy to attract the most suitable people to your CPD.  Sometimes you just might not find the right person or the organization to cooperate with. Or it even turns out during the CPD itself that your school is not that compatible as first perceived when reading their website or cours descriptions.

9.Feedback is essential.  No, those sheets you at the end are politely asked to fill in to give feedback are not just there to make your life even more miserable.  Oh yes I admit, I am tempted myself not to fill in my survey or questionnaire after a less interesting or ‘useless’ workshop or chat of a professional.  But actually it are sometimes these documents ways to get your frustrations, opinions and criticism out in the open.   Feedback helps other to make decisions and so just brushing it off and even throwing that piece of document  in our digital bin.  Give each organize of CPD at least to work with and to learn from.

10.Personal involvement can create already the next step you are after.  The more you get yourself engaged during the event itself the more likely there will be a positive outcome of a CPD.  Engagement starts with showing interest in the program or searching for some extra information about a speaker that has been invited or a subject your CPD is going to cover.  Surely it is not always easy to drag yourself out of bed during a weekend to attend that specific course but once you had a third cup of coffer or tea and have found some way to contribute to a discussion it might all change into brighter day professional wise.  I have found out that people who are more engaging and take more an active part seem to be ones who take away more than ones that perhaps keep to themselves or grumble constantly.

Okay some of them you might agree with and others you might just call nonsense.  Yes, I still end up in workshops that I not find out that where I am after.   Yes, I have sometimes felt like I lost precious time when having to listen to a rather sleep inducing voice.  Yes,why in the world some people think that they their way is only the right way.   And yes, I still not got to attend that one CPD where I only saw happy faces.

Professional development is surely that one part of my job description that I still consider the most challenging one and keep me on my toes.  But without it would be surely make my job less adventurous and interesting.  It might be also the most vital stepping stone of my profesional growth. If your CPD makes you end up being after CPR you might wish to ask for a first aid course as your next CPD.  That is still the most valuable CPD that I do get to attend annual.   That course has proven more than once to be life saving.... for sure!

Going up, going down!?

The elevator…..I love the elevator!  I have always called it one of the best inventions ever!  Yes, I am guilty of using it when I should have rather used the staircase.  When I park on the roof of my local supermarket I use my shopping cart as the excuse to get into it.  Thanks to the elevator I have been on top of buildings that have taken my breath away.  Tokyo, Chicago, New York and Paris are only a few whose outlook have bewildered me thanks to a box that goes up and down.  Not that I not for a split second before the doors close what could happen if suddenly a power cut happens and I get stuck.  Stallie is not always not he road will a fully charged iPhone but at the other hand there will always be something edible to be found inside her purse!

Now it is not because that elevator saves out time and energy that I love it more than my car.  No, there is something extraordinary about that confined space with revolving doors.   It is within that the ‘magic’ or in some cases the ‘trauma’ comes to live.  How many times have you been in an elevator by yourself and did your brain went blank and were you able to push out the tiring and brain twisting thoughts?

And I am sure that you know that hotel elevators turn out to be the most awkward and silent spot of your lodgings.  The strangers you end up meeting up can make you feel so out of place and most of the time you just hope to get out as soon a possible in order to make a run for the breakfast buffet. There is also the hospital elevator that will take your the life defining doctor’s appointments and you might even have whispered into one of those so typical mirrors ‘Don’ worry…all be well…all is going to be okay….just calm down.’  The moment the doors open up you snap out of it and go on with the real life. Or those times that you went down two to get back to your car in an underground parking after midnight and just hope that your car is still okay and that you will not run into strange behaving individual?  I am sure that most of you had similar experiences. 

But there is more to an elevator and people who made me aware of that are movie&tv series directors.  No it is not always the underground or the kitchen where the action takes or the most in depth conversations take place.  It is that iron cubicle people end stand up in each other ’s chiacras and always are skin to skin.  Where you might rub a shoulder of a stranger or touch a hand you are desperate to touch but she or he seems to be immune for the your smiles.  It is in there that many times the most intense moments take place.  In more than movie or series it is the lift that is used as the driving force behind some of the most memorable moments on the screen. 

For those who wonder what I mean here a few examples of ‘outstanding’ and in some cases even ‘marvelous’ lift moments:
-Tom Cruise and Kelly McGellis in ‘Top Gun’.  It is in there that they seem to come to terms with their feelings for each other.  The moment that he leans over to push the button and says:’I am glad we got that straight’ and uses that iconic Tome Cruise smile and pumps a bit more his biceps can still make me laugh out loud. 
-The numerous elevator conversations in Mad Men. It is in those short conversations that we find out what is going on behind the scenes. More than once I have changed my opinion about a character after a ride in elevator.  Oh yes, directors will admit that is a very good way to save out some money but elevators in Mad Men are crucial to the story line and are in a sense the most deep going part of the whole series. It are 59 times we get the spend with them inside an confined place and loved every second of these journeys.  Not that they always made things cleared but it is made my obsession with lifts even more intense. https://youtu.be/wSvnap7wvFc
-The elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate factory and that also is one of the most exciting ones I met up on paper.  That one and the one in Abeltje. Annie MG Schmidt and Ronald Dahl already knew the impact of an elevator ride and the power it withholds.  Every time the button was pushed it was like my emotions got an extra jumpstart!  Pure magic!
-And then those moments that Doctor Grey and Doctor 'McDreamy' are inside that littel space are also more memorable than when they scrubed in togethert.  In Grey’s anatomy it is surely that there these two characters go full on and that they open up.  That he proposes to her in there is perhaps the only ‘perfect’ place to do so. It is where for once have the sensation that they wish to be all by themselves. ‘When there is an crisis, you don’t freeze…you move forward. You get the rest of us to move forwards because you have seen worse.’, it are such strong lines inside of confined place and actually it only makes it sound so much powerful. Romance at it’s highest impact.  I just wonder how long it took the crew to put that elevator together! 
-That specific elevator ride that Christian Grey forgets about all the paperwork he is so strict about.  It is like as if the moment that the doors close he just looses all the control that he is so notorious and boast about.  He just lets all his fences down during that particular ride down.  'What is it about elevators?'-line is so cheesy and cliché but it does make so clear that the control freak surely has some spots that are beyond his control.  Don't start now that you are not aware of your own weaknesses or dark side, please don't. Your defense is futile when it is going down or up.
-There is the memorable elevator scene in ‘Serendipity’ that when I saw it for the very first time made me just yell at the screen.  That moment that they both push the same number we all know that this is too good to be true and that it does not work like that but against all odds you just hope.  Destiny and faith they are a bit more complicated in a Hollywood script but that the scriptwriter  decided to send in a child dressed up as the devil did make it stand out in the land of elevator rides.
https://youtu.be/ctAymN-ff6c
-Captain America who is in a big trouble the moment he notices that they have send in the troops while he going down and then says:’Before we get started does anyone want to get out?’  Politeness becomes an Avenger even when he ends up being ambushed in an elevator!  Loving that scene because trust is something very hard to come by in an elevator as it seems.
-The elevator rides Ryan Gosling takes with Carey Mulligan and during one suddenly goes in total overdrive. Personal for me one of the most iconic scenes every because the body language and power demonstrated gave me goosebumps. That moment you feel the tension rise and see that he already has seen it coming miles ahead before you.  It is then then Ryan Gosling his character becomes so much more than a driver with a dark side. Yes, that is a very violent one and it made me even fill up with disgust but still one of the best elevator scenes ever that just makes you wonder how much of life is decided inside of an elevator.

Now you might think that these are all pure fiction and that none of these things are likely to happen in real time.  Hmm…well honestly they do and I even know someone who proposed in an elevator.  Meaningful things, even life changing things happen in an elevator.  And one of my friends had a rather dull talk about the weather in an hotel elevator in Geneva and when he got out it was an friend who saw them both getting out and stood there with his mouth hopen. It was then that he found he had the pleasure to have been coming down in the company of James Bond allias Roger Moore!

Nope, it is not all fiction what takes place inside an elevator. Ask that also Senator Flake who last Friday ended up facing two very fierce ladies who got to talk to him right there in that particular spot. Maria Gallagher and Ana Maria Archill confrontated an American politician and expressed their opinion about what there is about to happen to women their body and mind.  There are tons of people out there who have a very outspoken opinion about the way the ‘opponent’ is dealing with the nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States. Personal I don’t think that many of us outside the US fully comprehend the impact of the supreme court on the daily lives of American citizens and at a certain level how it can influence our own moral compass and regulations.  It is ‘thanks’ to this power that even after Trump leaves the White House that his legacy lives on and will have an impact on millions of people.  These 9 people have got the power to overturn decisions they made before and that might not seem that big of a deal but believe me it is!  

So that two above mentioned women kind of ambushed a leading politician who was inside of an elevator was something that in itself surely stands out.  Senator Flake did Friday something that made many people wonder why he did what he did.  Not that he answered the questions that these fierce ladies spit at him.  Personal I think it also not were the questions only that matter in this case. It is rather what these women told him right into his face.  He has uphold power and he has got power…he is about to vote on a person who has got the ultimate power over society.  Flake going up and down the elevator is perhaps to best metaphor for what many politicians but also many of us must  experience when they are in limbo or are in doubt.  We will never know what Flake was going through once the door closed.  I am okay with that but it must have been a different than routine ride going down to the parking lot of the Senate building.

The thing is that when I get into an elevator I almost feel liberated and that some of the missing puzzle pieces seem to snap into place.  It is like the most neutral place where I seem to be still granted some private time to get my head around things. It is there that collision take place, that fireworks go off, that I dare to look straight into the mirror, that my face tells me what I might have been trying to hide, that my brain comes to a total standstill.  Going up or going down in an elevator has taken me to so many places and some of the insignificant rides have surely made the difference.  

Yes, I admit it that the Stallie who got into the elevator might not be the same one when once the doors open up again and I am forced to get out and snap back in the 'normal' routine.   You might never notice the difference but then I consider the elevator a kind of mental no man’s land…in case you ever get the pleasure of joining me on one of these unpredictable voyages then be aware you might be in for a ride of a life time!  I bet you know exactly what I mean…I bet you already some elevator experiences yourself.  Cherish them and make them count. It might be the only place where it all makes sense…where we come to terms with what we are given and what it taken away from us.

P.S: I am fully aware that British English is 'lift' but I did stick to 'elevator' for this entry.  Just for once and for the sake of the picture I selected to go along with this entry.