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What does professional growth mean? Why is networking so important?…
What does professional growth mean? Why is networking so important? How important is continued education for future success?
Professional Development in Psychology
Being a good teacher of psychology (like any discipline) requires effort. Being a great teacher requires a commitment to reinvent oneself regularly. But how? Answer: By trying new things in the classroom, including new books or other readings, activities, writing assignments, and different exam or quiz formats, among other possibilities. No blinding insights in that list perhaps, but what is missing from the list is some infrastructure. Where, oh where, do you get “new stuff “for your psychology courses to keep them fresh?
First of all, become a teaching locavorelook where you work. Certainly, many of us stumble on new ideas as we teachsomething occurs to us and we jot it down. A student makes a suggestion or asks a question and suddenly a new assignment or activity is conceived. Other times an article in the newspaper reveals a discussion point or you hear about somethinga technique, a toola colleague in your department or another department is using to engage students. Happily, borrowing teaching ideas is not a form of professional plagiarisminstead, it is actively encouraged.
Quality colleges and universities usually maintain an on-campus clearinghouse for professional development. Such places are often called a “Center for Teaching and Learning” or the similar. Some are grand physical spaces with staffs that run workshops for faculty continually; others are one-room affairs that house resources for interested teachers to check out when they have time. The point is that there is some place for faculty members to keep up on what’s new in pedagogy or to learn how old teaching wine is being poured into new educational bottles. New and seasoned teachers should routinely avail themselves of such local resources in order to stay fresh in the classroom.
A second strategy is to attend professional conferences in psychology. Psychology in the U.S. has literally dozens of conferences each yearmaybe hundredsthat deal with broad topics like “teaching” as well as specialized ones that deal with issues germane to one or more of psychology’s fifty or so (and counting) sub-disciplines. Faculty members who are fortunate to have travel funds for attending conferences should use such monies to attend at least one conference in their (sub) specialty area(s) as well as one more general conferences that expose them to the broader developments in the discipline, including teaching trends.
The two major organizations for psychology in the U.S.the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Psychological Science (APS)host annual conventions that bring together thousands of psychologists with disparate interests who gather to learn from one another. Papers, symposia, posters (encapsulated summaries of research heavy on graphics), invited addresses by the discipline’s luminaries and rising stars, discussion hours, films, special interest hours, and the like are held so that professionals have a moveable feast in which to meander for hours or even days. I would not go so far as to call it an academic Disney World (although APA’s 120th annual gathering is being held in Orlando coming week), but it is a chance for teachers, scholars, researchers, and students to meet, mingle, chat, debate, and learn from one another.
A great way for new and would-be psychology teachers to hunt and gather some materials for their home classrooms is to attend programming arranged by APA Division Two, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP). (APS and STP host an annual Teaching Institute that takes place the day before the formal start of the APS conference.) Each year a variety of posters on class-related activities, evidence regarding improving student learning, new teaching techniques, emerging topics (forensic psychology, for example, continues to attract attention due to what I think of as the CSI effect), new strategies for teaching classic topics (yes, Virginia, there are new ways to teach research methods and statistics–see below), and the like, are on tap, as it were
Networking strategies for introverts
Networking is clearly important; developing and maintaining a prospective disposition to connecting and communicating with other professionals can undoubtedly open doors and reveal opportunities that might otherwise be hidden. Yet this crucial career-enhancing behaviour can present a real challenge for introverts. Its association with needless self-promotion can often jar with those who prefer quieter social interaction. However, there are a number of ways for introverts to find their own authentic networking groove. Here are some ideas to consider. First of all, it is getting easier for introverts to access ideas and resources that speak exclusively to their needs. Susan Cain’s influential 2012 book Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking provided inspiration for introverts around the world. For many, it relieved them of the heavy expectation that they needed to change (and become inauthentically extroverted) in order to advance their careers. Indeed, noted introvert Bill Gates has called Cain’s related TED Talk one of his favourite of all time. Cain’s more recent attention to the quiet revolution website is one of an ever-expanding range of advice and support tools available to introverts navigating career and workplace complexities. Nonetheless, networking can present a particular challenge. More introverted individual may say things like: ‘I just don’t know what to say’ and ‘I hate talking about myself’ in response to the mere suggestion of networking. Yet initial steps towards networking confidence needn’t be filled with such fears. Here are some ideas to help locate and lock-in an introvert-friendly networking groove.
1. Rethink and redefine ‘network’
The first step is to reboot your networking definition. Orienting to the actual dictionary definition of a network, namely: ‘a group or system of interconnected people or things’ is a good starting point. Through this lens, the idea of networking as something you are already part of and can cultivate and growfurther can be crystallised you have the power to explore and engage in ways where your strengths and interests can come to the fore.
2. Add some breadth to your depth
Expertise, depth and enthusiasm in specific areas of interest can come naturally for introverts. Sharing content on social media, such as LinkedIn and other professional forums, and inviting comment from others, can help add network breadth through active curatorship of your interest areas. Dorie Clark from Duke University says: ‘If you’re a thoughtful curator of the best ideas in your field, even if you’re not developing them yourself, others will start turning to you for guidance.’
3. Plan and commit
There still, however, is a need to step into face-to-face networking opportunities, be they formal or informal. To relieve the ‘pressure-to-attend’ introverts often apply to themselves, Cain recommends that a personalised ‘quota system’ is put in place (for example, one event per month), which also helps focus attention on events that you are really interested in (so quality rather than quantity drives participation).
