SPD Alliance
Welcome to the Spotswood Professional Development Alliance, a collection of programs and resources designed to support the idea that professional development should be understandable, approachable, and differentiated for the learning needs of educators, that should be delivered in an active, varied, and timely format.
Understanding that “reflective practice is a challenging, demanding, and often trying process that is most successful as a collaborative effort” (Osterman and Kottkamp), these programs and resources are designed to create a variety of “space[s] for generative conversations and concerted action [where] people can talk from their hearts and connect with one another in the spirit of dialogue. When people talk and listen to each other in this way, they…produce tremendous power to invent new realities in conversation and bring about these new realities in action" (Wald & Castleberry).
Our goal in providing these programs and resources is simple. Believing that “learning is the foundation of individual and organizational improvement” and that “learning requires reflection,” we desire to create a dynamic environment “…in which everyone is a teacher, everyone is a learner, and as a result, everyone gets smarter every day” (Sparks).
Our goal in providing these programs and resources is simple. Believing that “learning is the foundation of individual and organizational improvement” and that “learning requires reflection,” we desire to create a dynamic environment “…in which everyone is a teacher, everyone is a learner, and as a result, everyone gets smarter every day” (Sparks).