Another school year begins in August. Anxious and excited five-year olds begin their school experience, as rising seniors are getting ready for their last year of high school. Most teachers have been working during the summer to get ready for the school year, focused on Alabama’s standards and working together to craft lessons that challenge, engage, and improve the learning of their students.
Recently I came across an interesting chart developed by Learning Forward’s Executive Director Stephanie Hirsh that describes the type of professional learning that schools and districts should embrace.
As a preamble to the chart, Hirsh stresses that effective professional learning causes two important results: (1) it improves teacher practice; and (2) it improves student learning. To ensure this type of effective professional learning, Hirsh points to some big shifts needed: moving away from the more traditional “workshop” approach to the type of ongoing powerful learning that improves practice and learning.
Take a few minutes to review this chart and think about your school’s current professional learning offerings. Which of these shifts are either already in place or planned? Which shifts require greater attention?
Use the following measurement system to gauge the current status of your school’s professional learning:
5 = The “MORE” category defines how we work all the time
4 = The “MORE” category defines how we work most of the time
3 = We operate sometimes in the “LESS” and other times in the “MORE” category.
2 = The “LESS” category defines how we work most of the time.
1 = The “LESS” category is most characteristic of how we work.
Use the scoring rubric below to see where your school currently stands. Consider asking your faculty to do the same. Use the results to engage your faculty in a discussion about strategies to strengthen the professional learning. Dream a bit. One of my favorite reflection tools is to imagine that I have a “magic wand.” If your school had a “magic wand” and could do anything you wanted to related to professional learning, what would you do?
Once you identify that vision, then begin to develop a plan that will help you reach that goal. Of course, the plan should be accomplishable, over time. But, too often, we limit ourselves before we dream. By describing the ideal professional learning, you can begin to prioritize and chart a course to achieve it over time!
This post was adapted from “The Shifting Landscape of Adult Learning: Less of This, More of That,” by Stephanie Hirsh. JSD: The Learning Forward Journal, April 2014
