Advertorial in Education Week, June 22, 2005

The opening jingle for the popular old sitcom, Cheers, characterized the neighborhood tavern in the title as “a place where everybody knows your name.” That sense of belonging made drop-ins into regulars, like Norm and Frazier. That same sense of camaraderie can help keep teachers and administrators from becoming dropouts from the education profession.

Professional networks — job-alike groups, listservs, special interest groups (SIGS), local PDK chapters — are the Cheers of the education profession. They serve as forums for information-sharing and support, but they do even more. They offer venues for professional development that are key to building competence and confidence — necessary components of success. Success and job satisfaction are essential for retaining high-quality teachers and administrators.

At PDK, we believe that every child deserves great teachers and every school deserves great administrators. While some excellent teachers seem to be born to the profession, most great teachers are self-made. They have worked hard to master not only the science of teaching but also the art. And great administrators have done the same. They have achieved success through personal study, critical and self-correcting practice, and professional development.

Professional development for teachers and administrators can take many forms, from structured coursework and formal seminars to networking and discussions with colleagues, whether one-on-one, by phone, or by e-mail or in collegial groups at conferences and conventions, in chapter meetings, or in online listservs.

PDK is committed to creating professional places “where everybody knows your name.” First and foremost are the local PDK chapters — more than 630 across the United States, Canada, and in 13 other countries. Active chapters are open to all professional educators and are communities in which educators gather to share ideas and concerns and to work for the betterment of education.

In addition, PDK hosts an international conference each fall and throughout the year structures a variety of local and regional conferences, such as “Leaving No Child Behind: 50 Ways to Close the Achievement Gap,” so that educators can come together, face-to-face, to address important issues. The Gabbard Institutes for professional development that are held each summer in the PDK International Conference Center in Bloomington, Indiana, draw educators from across the nation. And the Future Educators of America conferences each winter bring together more than a thousand young people interested in education careers and their club sponsors from across the United States and abroad.

For educators who are unable to get to a conference or workshop, PDK is in the process of developing listservs so that professionals with common concerns can network online. Additionally, a new PDK/Wal-Mart telementoring program will soon be operational, electronically linking new teachers across the nation to a cadre of experienced Kappans and recent state and national Teachers of the Year — a strategy specifically designed to help retain the brightest and best in the education profession.

These are just a few of the ways that PDK is working hard to create professional spaces “where everybody knows your name” and where teachers and administrators can continue to hone their expertise. The future depends on students being provided the best possible education, one in which, truly, no child is left behind. That can only happen if the profession recruits and retains great teachers and administrators. PDK is working to make that happen.

For information about PDK membership, professional development opportunities, publications, and other services, please visit our website at www.pdkintl.org. The Phi Delta Kappa International 2005 Conference will be held in New Orleans, November 10-13. More information online.

Phi Delta Kappa
International
408 North Union Street
P.O. Box 789
Bloomington, IN 47402-0789

www.pdkintl.org
Information@pdkintl.org
Phone 812/339-1156
Tollfree 800/766-1156
Fax 812/339-0018

Support for this message provided by the Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation