Professional development in the out-of-school-time (OST) field has been on an evolutionary curve in recent times. There has been an emphasis on building a solid professional development system for OST that has all the components needed for high-quality professional development supports for practitioners.
A professional development system includes established core competencies, training opportunities, training and trainer approval processes, a professional registry, a career framework with articulated certificate and degree pathways and an intentional retention strategy that includes practitioner supports and incentives.
Understanding the OST workforce has been an integral piece of building a successful professional development system, but within our DNA are inherent difficulties. OST practitioners are as multifaceted as geodes: It is only after cracking the surface of varying educational backgrounds, personal and professional experiences, and differing worldviews that the complexity and beauty of our practitioners are revealed.
[For more of this story, written by Nicole Edwards, go to http://youthtoday.org/2016/07/...for-a-growing-field/]
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