Reflections on Staff Development in the Pacific Northwest

Abstract

Introduction:  This essay is an attempt to share the experience of staff developers in Philosophy for Children within the Pacific Northwest.  I write as the Director of Philosophy for Children, Northwest, located on the campus of Western Oregon State College in Monmouth, Oregon, in which capacity I have been coordinating staff development in Philosophy for Children within the Pacific Northwest since 1981.  Currently, both Liz Lyell of Seattle, Washington, and John Thomas of Portland, Oregon, work with me in staff development.  All three of us are employed virtually full-time in college teaching (4 courses per term), severely limiting our possibilities for in-classroom staff development, though each of us has done a little of this above and beyond conducting intensive workshops conducted by a single staff developer.  The remarks which follow primarily reflect my own experience, but they substantially reflect the experience of Liz and John as well.