Planning for Professional Development
There are a variety of approaches to professional development for out-of-school science activity leaders. The approach you choose depends on several important considerations, such as the experience and background of the staff, the context in which they are presenting the program, the time available for training sessions, and the specific goals for implementing science activities with children. This section of the Web manual outlines some of these issues and the ways in which they can be addressed. We strongly suggest that part of the planning process for working with out-of-school program providers involve careful deliberation about how you will deal with these concerns.
In addition, we recommend basing the sessions with participants on effective published science activities, which are used to model the activities they will lead with children. In the Workshop Tools section, we include several sample outlines and agendas for various workshop formats to provide a starting point that can be modified to suit your particular circumstances.
Approach to Professional Development
Context Considerations
Experience and Background of Participants
Organizing the Time for Professional Development
Selecting Science and Engineering Activities
Providing Ongoing Support
