Professional Learning is ineffective because it is a one-size-fits-all, and teachers sit down and listen to the presenter. Presenters are given a topic, but the PL is not tailored to teachers’ needs. Teachers want to know how this will look in their classroom and how they will start to implement the materials. I struggled a lot as a new teacher with minimal support from my campus. I signed up for many Professional Learning sessions the district would provide. Many of them were repetitive, and if I did not take something to do like lesson plans or grade papers, I would be falling asleep. Another reason Professional Learning fails is that when implementing something you learned, your principal or skills tell you that you can’t do that. Making teachers feel defeated and like they are just complying and checking off a box. Although I enjoy the door prizes at PL sessions, I have won some good things.
The teacher I identify the most with is Mark because I know how to use technology and am not afraid to use it, but I need more information. The school and district I work for also want things to be uniform, so if not everybody is doing it, no one should do it.
I believe my district is not open to making changes, and if they do make changes, it is a slow transition into things that, by the time changes are complete, it is time to make changes again. Changes will need to happen faster and effectively because the district is suffering due to the teacher shortage and not having vacancies in all areas.
According to the Mirage report, school districts spend an average of $18,000 per teacher yearly on Professional Learning. This is a significantly high number that is spent on teachers when the PL is ineffective.
References
Daniels, K (Nov 6, 2013). Empowering the teacher technophobe. TEDxBurnsvilleED. https://youtu.be/puiNcIFJTCU.
Killion, J. (2008). Assessing impact: Evaluating staff development (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Learning Forward (2022). Professional Learning Plan. Retrieved on August 24, 2022, from https://learningforward.org/
