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PD day

DCHP-2 (Jul 2016)

Spelling variants:
Pro D day, Pro-D day, Pro-D Day

n. — Education, abbreviation; Pro-D day: British Columbia

professional development day.

Type: 5. Frequency — Professional development days are set during the school year when students do not attend classes. During this time, teachers develop their professional skills and keep up to date on advances in the educational field. There is some variety pertaining to the linguistic form. PD day and Pro D day are most frequently used in Canada (see Charts 1 & 2). The terms are rare in other locations; PD day has limited currency in Australia and the US (see Chart 1), but Pro D day is exclusive to Canada (see Chart 2), where it is a genuine BC-ism (see Chart 4). PD day is used generally in many Canadian provinces, but most predominantly in the Prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba (see Chart 3).
See also COD-2, s.v. "PD day", which is marked "Cdn".

Quotations

1978

How 300 East York teachers spent their PD day Thursday, February 16, 1978 Nancy Beaman Toronto ON -- Over 100 teachers from the Toronto Board of Education will spend their own money to travel to Portugal, Italy, Mexico, Poland and Jamaica during the March break on a Professional Development Travel Program co-sponsored by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, Toronto Teachers Federation, the Toronto Board of Education and community groups. During the school year, secondary teachers have used and shall continue to use Professional Development days available to them to make themselves better teachers and in turn to provide a better educational experience for the children in this city.

1983

Pro-D days will once again close all the Port Hardy schools on Friday, October 14, Robert Scott on November 9, all Port McNeill schools on January 20, 1984, February 13, 1984 and March 5, 1984.

1985

More than 100 people wrote. Perhaps not surprisingly, most were teachers writing in defence of PD days. They said they were often stimulated and encouraged in their field by being able to do curriculum development, examine new materials, visit outstanding programs in their specialty or attend workshops.

1989

"Today is a PD (professional development) day. I'm a parent and I used to say, 'What? PD day already?' But now I'm ready for it."

1999

The pattern will naturally repeat itself through October, November and the other months in the year -- save December when a large block of vacation time is happily provided by Christmas. Planning that put children and families (aka taxpayers) first would have set aside the rest of this week for a PD Day triple whammy. The 72 hours between Wednesday morning and quitting time Friday would have been jam-crammed with development, development and more development for principals and teachers eager to get an early crack at polishing their skills for the gruelling year ahead.

2000

And this is what professional development is for. Teachers, as professionals, use PD days to keep on top of information that affects their work with students. PD days provide time for teachers to meet together and discuss changes going on in education. Some PD days, teachers spend in their schools, meeting, collaborating and learning about new curriculum, new technology.

2013

"I was driving by and I just saw it," she said. "It's a PD day at school, so I went home and got my kids. I was happy to discover it. It's a novelty, something new for Guelph. I watch the food network and food trucks are a real thing right now."

2016

Given that Langley school district is on a Pro-D Day on Feb. 19 for educators to talk about reconciliation and gain a better understanding of Aboriginal history, Reekie wanted to create an event with the same theme.