Propel Professional Learning

  Maximizing Professional Learning for Long-term Benefits Thoughts on Adult Learning By Nadia Kader One of our goals in adult education is to enhance our practice through knowledge and skill acquisition. Generally, this translates to attending webinars, conferences, and educators’ institutes. If our professional learning starts with attending conferences or other events, how can we make the most of these opportunities? In this article, I hope to provide a guide on how to choose professional learning to maximize your gains. To start, let’s consider the difference between a professional learning and a professional development mindset. You may find these terms used interchangeably in our field; however, Propel and many other adult educators see them as describing two distinct experiences. Professional learning is centered on accelerating personal and collective learning and closing knowledge gaps for professionals (learningforward.org). Professional learning often takes place over a p...

What About Professional Learning for Tutors?   Literacy Corner By Carrie Cannella                                     Priscilla Du Preez via Unsplash Tutors are our primary adult literacy educators. When we think about them in that way, we remember not only how very important their contributions are, but also how important offering professional development is for them, just as we do for paid instructors. Most tutors are volunteers, but that is not to say that a staff member, adjunct faculty member, or contract employee can’t do small group tutoring, be the point person for consistent drop-in programs, create learning opportunities, and provide materials and support to volunteer tutors. In fact, a staff member focused on education would take a significant burden from coordinators who are consistently overtaxed ...