Professional Learning and Development (PLD) tracker for New Zealand schools
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PD able
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Type: SaaS - continuing professional development system
Earlier this year (2022) we challenged ourselves to build a professional learning & development system for teachers in New Zealand.
Three months later we’ve done just that!
The Details
The teaching profession in New Zealand is always evolving and changing as the Teaching Council of NZ strives to support Kiwi teachers in their continuing education goals. The intended aim is to not only improve the skills and knowledge of the workforce, but also to improve the achievement outcomes of students throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.
Changes to PLD monitoring in New Zealand
In February 2021, the Teacher Performance Appraisal was removed as a means of accessing teacher PLD and was replaced with the Professional Growth Cycle (PGC). The old system was seen as being too onerous and complicated, placing further overhead on everyone in the system, especially our time-poor teachers.
The new system encourages professional growth through collaboration, peer interaction, and recognises everyday workplace practice. At the end of the day teachers still need to meet the standards of their profession and in our opinion still need a system to track everything.
Some takeouts from the new PGC system
- Reduces compliance
- Still meets the standards
- Uses a high trust model
- Encourages working in collaborative ways
- Gives schools more freedom to do things their own way
- Recognise everyday practice
The Solution
PD able provides a solution!
Our research tells us that schools have the freedom to manage the way that they deliver and measure their PLD. This is helpful for schools, but it poses some challenges when it comes to building software that works for everyone.
Our approach is to build a system that helps to streamline a lot of the processes that teachers and managers undertake while fulfilling their PLD needs. First and foremost we wanted to create a system that is easy to use, very affordable, accessible to all and most importantly, effective!
The solution was staring us right in the face as we had just finished the PD able Saas PD tracker system. With some modifications to the UI and core PD able engine, our development team has created a platform that will help teachers and those in management to keep on top of their PLD.
What can it do?
- Gives teachers a time-saving tool to record their PLD activities at any time
- Provides a structure for managers to upload PLD documents and approved activities
- Gives managers and senior leaders an up to date picture of staff PLD in real-time via reports and dashboards
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