PDC Review - Fall 2006

The Minnesota Professional Development Council at the 2006 SuperConference

The workgroups of the Professional Development Council have been very busy finding ways to further our work at this years SuperConference. We are excited about all of the work we’ll be doing there.

The Articulation workgroup is planning a workshop titled: I have a few college credits or a CDA but I want a college degree. Now what do I do? Heidi Malloy has done an excellent job of organizing this workshop, which will help practitioners wade through their maze of options and understand which colleges offer credit for CDA’s, what articulation or credit for prior learning might mean to them and how the TEACH program can support their further learning. The group is excited about offering all of this critical information in one place. This workshop will be held on Friday, October 27th from 1:30 -3:00 in room 203B. 

The Core Competencies workgroup has plans to answer the question: The Minnesota Core Competencies: Now That I Have a Copy, What Do I Do With It? Sheryl Wennemark and Dan Wielinski will lead this workshop, which will allow a wide variety of people to share what they are doing with the core competencies. The workshop will start with a panel presentation outlining some of the major projects related to the core competencies, and go on to ask workshop participants what they are doing with the competencies. The group is very excited about this opportunity for sharing what it knows about the core competencies and learning more about what practitioners are doing with them. We hope you will join us to share what you know about the core competencies on Saturday October 27 from 12-1 in room 201B.

How do we support teachers/caregivers and trainers to understand theory, have technical skills and be cross culturally competent? What are the costs and benefits of “professionalism? How can we reap the rewards of professionalism without losing valuable perspectives or caregivers?  How do we become more professional without losing teachers and trainers who may not have academic credentials but are highly skilled? These are some of the questions the Practitioner Professional Development and Delivery workgroup (formerly known as the Training and Trainers workgroup), hopes to address during two sessions at this fall’s SuperConference entitled: Moving Towards Excellence in Training: A Dialogue on Critical Questions in Professional Development. The sessions are intended to gather leaders in the field to create dialogues that we hope will build relationships and respect among individuals and communities and lead to a collective agenda and shared action leading towards an environment that supports skilled, culturally proficient care for all children. Angele Passe and Meg Thomas will be facilitating this dialogue. We’ll be meeting  Friday October 27 from 3:30 to 5:00 in room 102D and Saturday October 27 from 12-1 in room 205c and hope you will join us at one of these times an energizing dialogue about key questions in our field.