Why Don’t We Differentiate Professional Development?

Most of my fellow teachers prepare for professional development activities by making sure that they bring plenty of work to do (papers to grade, lesson planning, etc.). This isn't because they have a bad attitude and hate professional development (PD). A great PD event can really energize teachers to improve classroom instruction. However, the sad fact is that the majority of PDs I have attend are repetitive, simplistic, or downright boring. Teachers bring other work to do so that they don't get irritated when they feel that my time is being so carelessly wasted.

Wasted Opportunities!

We educators find meaning in work that stems from inner passions, interests, ambitions, and the desire to help young minds grow. We also discover meaning as we build our own capacity to continually improve. Noteworthy lightbulb moments and learning experiences related to our particular disciplines lead to valuable awakenings we use to refine our skills and help children along their path of academic discovery.

It appears commonplace in education, however, that teachers find these special moments and true learning experiences to be scarce during typical professional development (PD) sessions. Many educators maintain that this training lacks relevance to their practice, and the term professional development conjures up images of Ben Stein instructing Ferris Bueller’s classmates half to sleep.

So what gives? The answer is simple: Frequently, teachers are right about PD.

Administrators must confront the inert hypocrisy that a one-size-fits-all PD model reveals: Teachers aren’t given the same voice, choice, differentiation, and engagement opportunities afforded to students in droves. This model is rigid and limited in responsiveness to teacher, interests, skill-sets, and overall needs. We wouldn't teach our students this way. And if we don’t expect our students to come to class at the same level and learn in the exact same way, why do we expect it from teachers? “Boxed” PD lacks flexibility and fails to incentivize teachers to seek out learning opportunities separate from in-house training. It jeopardizes the professional growth that is so vital to the wellness of the lifelong learner.

This conundrum begs the following questions: How can administrators make professional learning more meaningful to every individual teacher and, in the current state of remote learning, achieve this from a distance?

Here’s the good news: Administrators can breathe new life into PD. Acting as catalysts for teachers to create their own opportunities for learning can help administrators reinvigorate PD through a collaborative process that augments relevancy and highlights different avenues to pursue growth.

4 Suggestions for Differentiation

Why don't we differentiate teacher professional development like we differentiate our classroom? Here are some simple but effective strategies to improve teacher professional development sessions through differentiation:

1. Gauge teachers' readiness.

Take a survey of your teachers to see what they know about a professional development topic, and how skilled they consider themselves in that area. While you probably already have a sense of this from knowing the teachers in your building and being in their classrooms, like any good principal or administrator, getting their reflective feedback is important as well.

This information will also allow you to tailor the PD session to meet teacher needs, designing smaller group sessions with flexible groupings to instruct teachers at their varying readiness levels. For example, maybe you want teachers to implement a new executive-functioning curriculum. Novice teachers can attend a curriculum overview session to learn about what it is and what it will entail for them. Instead of providing this overview for all staff and boring those teachers who might already have experience with such a curriculum, more experienced teachers can get together to problem-solve difficulties they might be having, or compare and share strategies they've used. This way, teachers of all readiness levels are engaged.

2. Utilise teachers' interests.

Take some time to figure out what your teachers themselves want to improve upon. When you work on areas of their interest, they're more likely to be engaged, making the work more productive -- just like with students.

Surveying teachers about areas of passion and concern establishes a safe space for teachers to lift their voices and start a healthy dialogue focused on professional growth. The benefits of remaining curious are the invaluable takeaways administrators learn about faculty and their specific needs.

By providing them with a platform such as an anonymous survey to self-assess and identify expertise in need of sharpening, administrators are better able to avoid prepackaged professional learning sessions and replace them with more tailored and meaningful experiences for teachers to improve their practice.

3. Get teachers involved.

In the classroom, we often have stronger students help their struggling peers. Allow teachers that have skills or experience to run smaller group sessions. It provides leadership opportunities for teachers and develops a sense of ownership over the school improvement process. Also, sometimes teachers are more open to listening to someone in a similar position to themselves than they are in taking directives from an administrator. In the example above, teachers who have already worked with such a curriculum could run smaller breakout sessions with their grade-level or content-area peers. Here, they could provide examples of how they have implemented such a curriculum into their instruction.

4. Provide opportunities for continual assessment.

One of my pet peeves of PD is that often, after it's given once or twice, there's never a follow-up, so many teachers never bother to implement these practices. Provide time for teachers to discuss and reflect on how they are incorporating the given area of development into their classroom practice. Have opportunities for feedback, allow teachers to set goals, provide continuous support, and assess progress toward the goals they've set. Only when you make follow through and action a priority will you see real results.

Isn't it about time that we practice what we preach? If professional development is about educators' growth and improving our schools, then why can't we improve the process itself?

Credits: Eutopia, Personalised Development: Andrew J. Canlé