Response to “If Only I had the Chance…”

I liked your idea of “swapping positions”. I remember I saw this in a movie where a husband and a wife are “swapped” for a day- husband has to do all the chores, manage kids and cook, and the wife has to work all day long, go to the bank, fix shower and paint garage! This is actually a great activity to know the worth of another person’s work. However, I do not think this is possible in an organization, given that each individual has a definite role based on his/her level of expertise. I do not know much about PD in a school setting and based on what I understood from what you want to say, swapping would demand more time, energy and patience. Teaching another grade can definitely foster development but teaching another subject would require a more realistic approach. It would require the execution of an action plan at a group level (Lepsinger, 2010), where teachers collaborate and work as a team for mutual development.

Reference

Lepsinger, R. (2010). Closing the execution gap. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.