Student Input in Educator Professional Development

We are always interested in new approaches to learning - for our students and for ourselves as adult learners.  When I came across this article from the Edutopia website, I was impressed by this "outside of the box" thinking.  As educators, we all participate in ongoing professional development activities, whether those are provided by the school system or if we independently pursue skill development outside of the school setting. 

I loved the suggestions in this article for including student input in professional development activities.  Before even reading through the article, one of the thoughts I had was that this approach could increase "buy-in" from students as partners in the learning process.  It also sets the stage for students to see first-hand that learning is a life-long endeavor, not something that we stop doing when we graduate from high school or college.  Whether input is gained from students via interviews or surveys, this could be a powerful idea for increasing student engagement and improving academic outcomes.

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