Education Week focuses on Teacher Professional Development Reform

When Teachers Are the Experts

How Schools Can Improve Professional Development

By Ross Hunefeld

I think I’m going to miss the coffee and Danish most of all. I won’t miss staring at the clock with my politely disengaged colleagues. And I won’t miss the guy up front, some former principal or ace teacher, who’s going to teach us about some topic that has been deemed important for the entire staff.

These whole-school workshop sessions that many of us have experienced are what I’ll call “old PD”: professional development in the form of an expert up front and teachers listening passively. If improved teaching practice and better student outcomes are the goal, then these methods of keeping teachers up to date and growing professionally are not working.

What my school is learning, and what current research suggests, is that teachers don’t improve by listening to someone tell them how to do something newer or better in their classrooms. They learn by working together to address problems they themselves identify in their schools and classrooms. This type of staff development goes by many names, but I’ll use the term “collaborative PD.” The problems with old PD are so many, and the benefits of collaborative PD so great, that the days are surely numbered for the former. Yes, old-style...

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The courage to change

Recently, there is much buzzing about teacher competency and the impact on teaching, learning and school conditions. To maintain diversity and high quality education will require more support and appropriate professional development for teachers. Good teachers cannot be replaced with technology or charter schools. We must bring teachers forward by helping them to redefine themselves in an age of constant change. Teachers must be encouraged to develop a fearless and confident approach to teaching in new ways. I have never met one teacher that intentionally wanted to fail or see their students fail. So what is the answer? Every teacher and student has a right to learn. Lets help teachers become learners again using the tools, strategies and habits of mind that support success in the classroom. We must get teachers involved, hear their voices, let them share with leadership in decision-making about their future.