Leading Professional Learning: Tools to Connect and Empower Teachers (Corwin Connected Educators Series) by Thomas C. Murray, Jeffrey (Jeff) J. Zoul
As Michael Fullan has been saying for many years, “technology is not the right driver, good pedagogy is,.”
Effective PL cultivates teacher leadership, builds capacity in staff, encourages building leaders to be transparent in their own learning, and develops shared ownership and a culture of learning.
Traditional professional learning is top-down, professional learning is someone else’s job and is something “done to teachers,” as opposed to something each teacher actively participates in and owns.
Traditional professional learning is one-size-fits-all BUT
Teachers learn at different rates, have different learning styles, and possess a wide span of needs.
Just like students, we need to identify and meet teachers needs on an individual basis.
Traditional professional learning is hours-based
We trust teachers with the lives of children on a daily basis yet often not “trust” them enough to make their own professional learning decisions.
When school leaders use seat time as the measurement tool, they’re measuring the wrong end of the learner.
Traditional professional learning uses a “sit and get” format
The traditional model simply hasn’t worked to the extent needed to serve our teachers and, ultimately, our students. It is time for a change, and there is a better way—a way that motivates and empowers teachers, shares ownership, and personalizes professional learning, all while increasing accountability and expectations for all.
Just as a personalized model meets the needs of today’s children, a personalized model for professional learning is also needed to meet the various needs of teachers.
Todd Whitaker (2003) goes so far as to suggest that there are, ultimately, only two ways to improve any school: hire better teachers and improve the ones who are already there. Because the opportunity to employ new staff is limited this
means to get better, even our very best teachers need to continuously improve—indeed, that is one thing that makes them so great.
First and foremost, our responsibility is to ensure high levels of learning for all students we teach. Almost as important, of course, is our own learning as educators.
We need to model our own learning to help our teachers see the importance of it.
“Training” teachers to do something may be appropriate to an extent, but a training—or development opportunity—connotes an event teachers attend to obtain a specific skill that they can, in turn, use in scripted ways and in specific settings. To truly affect student learning, teachers must not merely be “trained”; they must learn deeply in a way that results in the learning being transferred to their own classrooms and shared with other teachers with whom they interact.
“professional development” suggests a one-time event or, at best, a series of events, whereas “professional learning” suggests growth that is ongoing, sustainable,
continuous, and personal.
To create authentic personalized learning plans (PLPs), we must shift the primary ownership of the learning from outside to within, from top-down to organic, from those with formal authority, to the intended learners: teachers.
Professional learning is something most teachers and educators do every day: we reflect on our professional practice, work together, and share ideas and resources in an effort to improve student outcomes. We need to harness this learning energy inherent in our daily lives as professional educators into a systematic, integral component of our school cultures.
Too true, so how do we harness all of this ongoing professional learning into an effective documented plan?
Successful professional learning experiences tend to be those embedded in daily practice, needs-based and linked to student learning needs, tailored to meet the specific circumstances or contexts of participants, and sustained over time.
every teacher in every school knows something about his or her craft that another teacher does not. The more we can learn from within by learning from our own experts—the teachers with whom we serve—the more flexible we can be in offering a wide variety of personalized learning opportunities
How do we have systems- apart for collaborative teaching that allow our teachers to continually learn with and from each other?
Expanded its definition of what constitutes professional development, when it can happen, how it can be delivered, who can deliver it, and how it is measured. We adopted a variety of professional learning delivery methods that enhanced teacher voice and provided teachers with multiple options allowing them to determine their own path to learning.
It might be a small distinction but the difference between professional development and professional learning is actually huge. Language is important.
Two favourite methods included using an “unconference” format and “speed discussions.” Unconference refers to a gathering of educators exchanging information and ideas in a less formal structure, allowing participants the opportunity to determine the agenda by creating it themselves at the beginning of the day. Speed discussions are a series of short conversations, each focusing on a specific topic, usually lasting about ten minutes per topic. Educators self-select which discussions to attend. For instance, one discussion might center on formative assessment and another on an app for creativity; the list of options is limited solely by the interests and needs of the participants.
We need to try to get people to some of the edu-camps- maybe focus on the Rotorua and maybe Wellington ones.
The goal for the day was to provide time for informal learning that was self-organized, self-initiated, just-in-time, and made visible to others.
teachers in charge of their learning by having them make decisions on what to learn, how to learn it, and how to display their learning for others.
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” —John C. Maxwell
We must design personalized, meaningful, and practical professional learning plans for every teacher at every school
The leadership gap in the area of what we say we need to do in the area of professional learning and what we actually do is more of a chasm than a gap, and it is every bit as important as the gap we face in student achievement.
School leaders who wish to transform professional learning for teachers by providing every staff member the opportunity to design and follow a personalized learning plan for continuous improvement begin the process by monitoring their own learning and ensuring that they have a PLP in place for themselves.
They share this plan with everyone at the school, modeling the way and inspiring a shared vision for what continuous professional learning should look like, serving, as Fullan suggests (2014), as the lead learners of their school communities.
Having a growth mind-set when it comes to improving our practice as educators is essential to our success and, more importantly, to our students’ success.
School leaders must make the conscious decision to invest in teachers’ professional learning as a long-term commitment that we hope pays off not just today but over a long period of time.
Rather than a series of stand-alone purchases, investing in personalized learning must focus not on a transaction but on transformation.
School leaders must know their teachers every bit as well as they expect teachers to know their students. They must know their strengths, their areas for growth, their interests, and their experiences. Then, they must work together with each teacher to collaboratively design a personalized learning plan that will meet the teacher’s needs.
School leaders with an investment mind-set tend to focus more on spending time with their teachers rather than spending money on teachers when it comes to personalized learning plans.
When school leaders do schedule whole-faculty meetings, they should do so with four purposes in mind:
To build relationships among staff members
To celebrate school and staff accomplishments
To identify problems and brainstorm possible solutions
To focus on professional learning
Like this list. Put it up somewhere.
Any time the whole faculty is called together, the entire meeting time should be spent engaged in activities that fulfill one or more of these purposes.
Building leaders must be careful to intentionally schedule time for both whole-faculty and smaller team meetings, each with nonnegotiable expectations in place for all meeting attendees. Such nonnegotiables may include the following:
- Any scheduled meeting will have a stated purpose, a clear and viable agenda, and an agreed-on start and stop time.
- Team meeting norms will be established, communicated, monitored, and adhered to by all members.
- Roles and responsibilities for meeting attendees will be clearly outlined and shared among all members.
- The physical setting for each meeting will be conducive to maximizing productivity, including appropriate seating, work spaces, audio-visual capabilities, temperature, and technology.
- The meeting will be a “safe” environment for all in attendance, meaning that different perspectives are not only allowed but valued and expected.
- Minutes from each meeting will be documented and shared with all appropriate staff members.
- Whole-faculty meeting time should be reserved for the sole purposes outlined earlier. Such times should be treated as truly precious opportunities to bond as a team, promote the school’s culture, celebrate successes, share stories, and learn together.
When it comes to whole-faculty meeting times, we believe in a less-is-more approach, meaning that school leaders should not convene regularly scheduled monthly or semimonthly meetings merely because that is the way it has always been done or that is the frequency for which the contract allows. Instead, whole-faculty meetings should be scheduled purposefully and planned meticulously. Many principals find that scheduling only four such meetings each year suffices, gathering together as a whole staff once each quarter. In addition, of course, many other school meetings must occur during which “nuts and bolts” work is completed, but such meetings rarely require every staff member’s presence.
During “working” meetings, only those directly involved in the work need attend. Regardless of the decision school leaders make regarding how often to hold whole-staff meetings at their school, here are our tips for holding staff meetings:
A multitude of technology tools enable us to have faculty members participate actively during faculty meetings just like our students do in classrooms. A few such examples include Poll Everywhere, Kahoot.it, Socrative, Soap Box, Edmodo, and TodaysMeet. Each of these services offers free, nonthreatening participation
Remind staff members of the school’s mission and values.
Open and close the meeting with some type of celebration.
Plan whole-faculty meeting “rituals” or traditions followed at each meeting, including sharing stories, celebrating accomplishments, highlighting individual and/or team successes, sharing jokes or anecdotes, and providing refreshments.
Ensure that many, if not all, staff members play a lead during some part of the whole-staff meetings.
Find ways for as many voices as possible to be heard during the meeting.
Make sure that no meeting lasts for more than sixty minutes.
Make sure that whole-faculty meetings include a heavy dose of fun.
Set a personal goal for each meeting that all teachers will leave the meeting more excited about teaching at the school than when they arrived.
Allow time for staff members to share personal, as well as professional, successes, joys, sorrows, and challenges.
Create a culture of caring among staff members that extends beyond the schoolhouse. Spend ten to twenty minutes of each whole-staff meeting modeling the way as “lead learner.” Do this by “teaching” the staff something you have recently learned through your own personalized learning plan.
Backchanneling refers to the conversation that is secondary to the primary conversation being led by a teacher, speaker, principal, or anyone else facilitating a meeting of any type. Backchanneling allows the participants in the audience to weigh in on what is being discussed, providing feedback and asking questions. Several technology tools allow for backchanneling during such events. One such tool we have used often and seen many other educators and presenters use is TodaysMeet.
TodaysMeet is a backchannel chat platform for classroom teachers and learners. Designed for teachers, TodaysMeet has in place safeguards that respect the needs and privacy of students while giving educators the tools to encourage and elicit their students’ voice in the classroom. Participants join easy-to-start chat rooms instantaneously, with no sign-up, and can immediately engage in powerful conversations that augment the traditional classroom or meeting. Ideas can be curated and rooms can be open for up to a year. As easy and effective as this tool is for teachers to use in the classroom, it is equally easy and appropriate for school leaders to use when meeting with teachers. To learn more about TodaysMeet, visit their website at: https://todaysmeet.com.
Dont know this- have a look at it.
Leaders also model the way for teachers by blogging. Through blogging, lead learners model a host of traits, behaviors, mind-sets, and habits that they want all educators to consider important, among them: The importance of taking a risk by publicly sharing their thoughts in writing. The importance of writing in authentic ways and the belief that we should all engage in writing, not just our students. The importance of reflecting on their daily lives as educators, sharing what they experience and what they learn from these experiences. The importance of communicating regularly with the students, educators, parents, and citizens living in the school community. The importance of sharing their stories with the larger educational community as a way to highlight the many good things that are occurring, including spotlighting teachers at their schools who are experiencing success with their students.
school leaders are already extremely busy people and that blogging regularly does take time. Yet we feel that this is another example of investing, as opposed to spending, their limited time. The returns we have seen principals realize from this investment once they commit to blogging regularly make a compelling case for all principals and school leaders to follow suit. There are hundreds of school leaders around the world whose blogs we read regularly and inspire us in our own work.
I agree- blogging is a really good medium for both sorting your own thoughts and sharing your work.
George Couros (@gcouros on Twitter). George is the division principal for Parkland School Division in Stony Plain, Alberta, and a teaching, learning, and leadership consultant. George posts his thoughts about all aspects of education regularly on his blog The Principal of Change available at http://georgecouros.ca/blog.
“For me, blogging goes beyond reflection to the point of ‘open reflection.’ Writing for yourself is powerful, but when you know that an audience can read it, it helps to clarify your own thinking while also creating opportunities for collaboration. If every educator did this type of reflection, we would see monumental shifts in practice.”
Ben Gilpin (@benjamingilpin). Ben is the principal at Warner Elementary School in Spring Arbor, Michigan. Ben posts his reflections of teaching, learning, and leading on his blog The Colorful Principal available at http://colorfulprincipal.blogspot.com.
have found blogging to be a vehicle for clarification, reflection, and most importantly, increased collaboration. I strongly encourage educators to blog. Even though you may be thinking, ‘Who will want to read my blog?’ I recommend simply beginning your blogging journey by blogging for yourself, using it to reflect and grow as a person.”
Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher). Vicki is a teacher at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia. She is host of the biweekly Every Classroom Matters show on the BAM Radio Network. Vicki’s blog, The CoolCat Teacher, can be accessed at www.coolcatteacher.com.
Every day I learn from the Tweets and blogs of other educators and share some of my own. Blogging changed everything in my life and made me a better teacher and that is the coolest thing about blogging.”
Pernille Ripp (@pernilleripp). Pernille teaches seventh grade in Wisconsin and is the creator of the Global Read Aloud. She posts frequent musings about her life as a teacher at her blog Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension available at http://pernillesripp.com.
Blogging can be incredibly stressful, hurtful, and invasive at times, yet I always tell people to reflect on what they are doing. However, educators who do choose to blog their reflections then know that their words may plant a seed of change for someone else.
You blog not for others but because your heart and mind tells you to and you realize that your words have power, that others may listen. You blog because you want to and then you hang on for the ride.”
Sheninger (@e_sheninger). Eric served as principal at nationally renowned New Milford High School in Bergen County, New Jersey, and serves as a senior fellow at the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE), a division of Scholastic. Eric is the author of Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times. Readers can follow Eric’s popular blog, A Principal’s Reflections, at http://esheninger.blogspot.com.
“Blogging is a powerful way for educators to not only reflect upon professional practice, but also discover and learn from the work of innovative educators across the globe.
Whether using blogs for communications, public relations, or professional learning consistency, a sound message, citing sources, and proofreading are key. The most important element, though, is to weave in actionable experiences into your personal thoughts and opinions.”
What we model is what we get
As leaders, we must not forget the importance of supporting the individual growth of our teachers by providing an environment that encourages innovation and risk taking if we aim to build a community of leaders where everyone’s talents are appreciated and valued.
Personalized plans for professional learning contain the following components: Teacher voice is at the heart of the plan’s roadmap. Seat time is irrelevant. The learning outcome is what matters most. Professional learning occurs in both formal and informal environments. Nontraditional forms of professional learning (e.g., blogging, social media, Twitter chats, Edcamps) are recognized as valuable learning experiences. Teachers are responsible for learning outcomes and must be able to communicate how their learning has improved their craft; specifically, how their personal growth has improved classroom experiences for students. A supervisor’s input is a vital part of the plan, yielding a collaboratively designed roadmap for professional growth.
Each day, educators are taking charge of their own learning through connections on social media. From networking with others worldwide, to taking part in weekly chats on Twitter, to sharing resources on Pinterest, to connecting through groups on Facebook,
nontraditional forms of professional learning offer educators the ability to connect with others and design their own personalized roadmap for learning.
Connected educators collaborate both online and in person, use social media to interact with educators around the world, engage in conversations in online spaces, and most importantly bring their learning back to their home environment to transform the learning space.
Educators connecting in these spaces often refer to these connections as their personal learning network or PLN.
Many educators are connecting on Twitter, an online social microblogging platform, where conversation bites (tweets) are limited to 140 characters at a time. Educators share research articles and blog posts, discuss issues and trends, and engage in healthy, professional debate. Twitter is one of the most popular online mediums in which educators connect worldwide.
Each week, educators from around the world take part in various conversations on Twitter known as “chats.”
Edcamps are free, organic professional learning opportunities by teachers, for teachers. Any educator can hold a session at an Edcamp, and the schedule is determined on the day of the event in response to the most cutting-edge, pressing needs of the group. Based on open space technology, Edcamp events are derived from the belief that a group of people, given a purpose and freedom, have the ability to self-organize, self-govern, and produce results. Educators who attend Edcamps are treated as experts, and an open exchange of learning and sharing takes place.
EDCAMPS ARE Free Non-commercial and with a vendor free presence Hosted by any organization or anyone Made up of sessions that are determined on the day of the event
Events where anyone who attends can be a presenter Reliant on the law of two feet that encourages participants to find a session that meets their needs
See above re edcamps.
As teachers work to create a learning environment that maximizes the learner’s ability to interact with others through discussion, collaboration, and feedback, so too can adults create their own personalized learning environment built on this same framework.
Today’s teachers with a twenty-first century mind-set are learning collaboratively in unprecedented ways. Examples include the following: Engaging conversations at an Edcamp A shared board on Pinterest highlighting resources and best practices A Twitter chat on an educational hot topic A grade-level team’s data meeting focused on student learning strategies Teacher-facilitated professional learning activities Online coursework with a high-quality learning community
Peer coaching A book study with colleagues Professional learning communities (PLCs)
coaches may do the following:
Observe teachers in the classroom and offer specific, personalized feedback Facilitate professional learning activities Team teach lessons in an effort to model a particular skill Help teachers assess students’ learning needs and map out strategies for success in meeting these needs
“Teacher growth is closely related to pupil growth. Probably nothing within a school has more impact on students in terms of skills development, self-confidence, or classroom behavior than the personal and professional growth of their teachers.” —Roland Barth
When we shift our expectations for student learning, including the type of assignments in which we engage them and the ways in which they will demonstrate their learning, logic dictates that we must also shift our expectations for teacher learning.
Effective professional learning mirrors effective classroom instruction. It is structured yet flexible. It is teacher-focused yet a collaborative venture between each teacher and a building leader or leaders.
allows for a great deal of teacher choice and teacher voice within a system of professional learning expectations and mind-sets.
based on the needs of individual teachers and provides real-world, practical learning experiences that allow teachers to become better at what they do.
We live in a world in which learning—including teacher learning—can occur anytime and anywhere.
As educators ourselves, part of our personal and professional mission—regardless of the various roles in which we have served—has been to work in a way that will make our students’ tomorrow better than today. Transforming professional learning for our children’s teachers is a matter of urgency and a primary way we can fulfill this mission. Our kids—and their teachers—are worth and deserve the effort!
So the big challenge is how do we acknowledge all the learning individuals participate in and acknowledge this along with robust professional goals for learning?
