The Biggest Mistake Principals Make When Running Professional Development For Teachers

Principals and administrators want the same thing as teachers. They want to be respected for their intelligence, their ideas and for the positive outcomes for students. Isn't that why you got into education in the first place?

The problem is that while you were pursuing respect, you forgot to second-guess the "old way" of doing things.

Take for instance your Professional Development schedule and calendar.

Have you booked a motivational speaker for your staff? That could turn out to be the biggest mistake you could ever make and not even realize it.

The Purpose of Professional Development

Before we can dive into why you might be making a huge mistake with your professional development, let's first get on the same page with regard to professional development.

What is the purpose?

Professional Development should be used to help teachers "IMPROVE" their teaching practice inside the classroom.

If you agree with that statement, then why would you book a motivational speaker? In fact, if you believe that Professional Development should help teachers with their teaching practice, then how much time do you spend on lesson planning? How much time do you spend on teaching a lesson? How much time do you spend on assessing student learning and how much time do you spend on setting up a safe and conducive learning environment?

Be honest when you analyze your PD schedule. And if you are, you will notice that going over how to screen for Dyslexia does not help teaching practice. I understand that we need to help students with dyslexia, but there is a much better way than wasting every single teachers valuable time.

"You Make a Difference"

When you book a 90-minute motivational speaker, they are there to deliver one message.

"You Make a Difference!"

There is nothing wrong with this message, but put yourself in your teacher's shoes for a second. They are working very hard for you. They are trying their best. You have given them notes and guidance on areas to improve in the classroom, but when there is TIME to help them--you decided to bring in a complete stranger to tell them "you make a difference" instead of spending that valuable time showing them how to improve the exact notes you gave them.

If students are bored and disengaged in the classroom, that teacher needs time and help on writing expert lesson plans. Maybe they don't understand what the curriculum maps are saying or what the objectives of the maps are. Wouldn't it be more valuable to show them how to read curriculum maps? Or how to outline objectives and to scope and sequence multiple weeks of lessons, instead of forcing them to sit in an auditorium listening to someone tell them "They Matter?"

If teachers matter so much, then why do we "WASTE" all of their time without even second-guessing it?

You ran a teachers' need survey to develop your PD schedule, but did you ask each teacher this question: "How many hours per week do you work as a teacher?"

If you're teachers are working more 45 hours per week, that's your problem, not theirs.

You are the instructional leader of the school. You should be helping your teachers be able to get more done in less time. There have been teachers for thousands of years, and only in the last 20 years has teaching become NEARLY impossible.

Why is that? It's your job to know why. And it's your job to fix it for teachers.

Support Teacher Growth

What if you stopped doing what every other principal was doing? What if you used your education and intelligence to do the right thing for your teachers? Wouldn't they respect you more for NOT following the herd?

Is it hard to be the outlier? Of course it is. But that's what good leaders do. They question the convention, when it no longer works. And I think the data proves it doesn't work. Over 1 million teachers have QUIT the profession in the last decade.

How much more proof do you need?

Teachers need real professional development, not "words," and not "speeches."

You can help your teachers. You can make their jobs easier. You can boost student achievement if you help all of your teachers become experts in the profession. And there are multiple advantages to boosting teacher performance.

First, you become the principal of a school filled with expert staff. Can you imagine what you could accomplish? Can you imagine how many LESS issues you would run into if all of your teachers were experts?

Second, your teachers no longer feel burnt out and exhausted all of the time. Teaching would become fun again for them. Expert teachers work smarter not harder. Average teachers tread water all year, hoping they don't drown.

It's your job to show your average teachers how to stop treading water and become experts.

What Do You Think?

Do you think your teachers receive enough support on teaching practice in the classroom? And if so, give an example. Do you think your hands are tied and teachers have to "make it work" no matter what? What's your opinion? Put your comments below.