Faculty seek/avoid "optimizing" their own learning?

Do faculty seek or avoid professional development programs that APPLY AND DEMONSTRATE "principles for optimizing learning? Why?
"Many approaches to teaching adults consistently violate principles for optimizing learning" ... including professional development programs! - EXCERPT from Chapter 2 "Key Findings," in How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice, By M. Suzanne Donovan, John D. Bransford, and James W. Pellegrino, Editors; Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice, National Research Council; ISBN: 0309065364; 1999

See: http://newton.nap.edu/html/howpeople2/ch2.html

And, read entire book online free: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9457.html#toc

Longer excerpt:

APPLYING THE DESIGN FRAMEWORK TO ADULT LEARNING

The design framework above assumes that the learners are children, but the principles apply to adult learning as well. This point is particularly important because incorporating the principles in How People Learn into educational practice will require a good deal of adult learning. Many approaches to teaching adults consistently violate principles for optimizing learning. Professional development programs for teachers, for example, frequently:

- Are not learner centered. Rather than ask teachers where they need help, they are simply expected to attend prearranged workshops.

- Are not knowledge centered. Teachers may simply be introduced to a new technique (like cooperative learning) without being given the opportunity to understand why, when, where, and how it might be valuable to them. Especially important is the need to integrate the structure of activities with the content of the curriculum that is taught.

- Are not assessment centered. In order for teachers to change their practices, they need opportunities to try things out in their classrooms and then receive feedback. Most professional development opportunities do not provide such feedback. Moreover, they tend to focus on change in teaching practice as the goal, but they neglect to develop in teachers the capacity to judge successful transfer of the technique to the classroom or its effects on student achievement.

- Are not community centered. Many professional development opportunities are conducted in isolation. Opportunities for continued contact and support as teachers incorporate new ideas into their teaching are limited, yet the rapid spread of Internet access provides a ready means of maintaining such contact if appropriately designed tools and services are available.

The principles of learning and their implications for designing learning environments apply equally to child and adult learning. They provide a lens through which current practice can be viewed with respect to K-12 teaching and with respect to preparation of teachers in the research and development agenda. The principles are relevant as well when we consider other groups, such as policy makers and the public, whose learning is also required for educational practice to change.

Above EXCERPT is from: Chapter 2 "Key Findings," in How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice, By M. Suzanne Donovan, John D. Bransford, and James W. Pellegrino, Editors; Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice, National Research Council; ISBN: 0309065364; 1999

See: http://newton.nap.edu/html/howpeople2/ch2.html

And, read entire book online free: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9457.html#toc