When it comes experiencing "Professional Development" in a traditional sense, it oftentimes becomes shrouded with a dark cloud in our minds.
Why is this so? Why hasn't professional learning shifted in the same ways that student learning has grown and developed... for the better?
This is where research, studies, readings, and educational materials can help us SHIFT our mindsets and the way in which we both DESIGN and IMPLEMENT professional learning, especially within the realm of education.
(Moiseenko, n.d.)
To get us started, we must first understand WHY professional learning must change. Where did it start and why did it get so bad? These underlying questions have allowed researchers to dig deeper and find SOLUTIONS for this modern-day dilemma that plagues so many of us in the work field.
I suggest we begin with a short READING and a VIDEO explanation surrounding the defects and potential solutions surrounding current day professional learning.
Please review the following information:
The Why - WHY should professional learning change?
Ineffective professional learning has been seen and felt by teachers around the world. This idea was also mentioned multiple times throughout Gulamhussein’s (2013) report “Teaching the Teachers: Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability” where it describes how professional learning workshop models are ineffective since they have no impact on student learning outcomes and also no direct impact on teacher practices. Why is that?
According to the data, teachers actually need about fifty hours of learning through a combination of direct instruction, practice, and coaching before a new ideas or strategy is mastered and put into practice effectively (Gulamhussein, 2013). How crazy to reflect upon! It really makes me think about all the time that has been spent merely “sitting and getting” within past school districts.
Many additional studies back up this same claim: Most Professional Learning time is wasted.
The New Teacher’s Project website published a study entitled “The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth About our Quest for Professional Development.” This report (2015) indicates very few differences between teachers who have improved and teachers who have decreased in overall improvement through professional learning and professional development times. This is not a promising data correlation. School systems around the world have hired TNTP to solve their educational problems and setbacks. Through their case studies, they have discovered that school districts spend on average $18,000 per teacher each year on professional development costs despite its ineffectivess (“The Mirage,” 2015). Maybe there’s a better way!
Try this video: A New World of Professional Learning & Professional Development Within Schools - https://youtu.be/LPWcgSuQGWQ
The What - WHAT is professional learning and what should be studied?
The professional learning and development research that I will be creating is focused on Blended Learning.
“Blended Learning” creates personalized and competency-based learning, educational efficiency, increases content and contextual relevance, authenticity, and provides opportunities for individualized differentiation, remediation, and extension for each student within the classroom.
My audience will be targeted toward secondary teachers and administrators. These lessons will be able to be applied to any campus! How great!!
Want to learn more?
a) Try clicking on the links above.
b) Check out my Innovation Plan directed at implementation of Blended Learning.
c) Or read through a research-based literature review on the same topic.
This will be a topic worthy of effective professional learning and development.
Please click HERE for a full explanation and further details from another post on my blog.
Done reading? Finished watching??
Ok. Let's dig deeper.
The How - HOW can we change professional learning for the better?
As I work through this project, I will be using the Screencastify screencapture app as an extension on Google Chrome to record my professional learning and development video lessons. I will also be using TikTok’s green screen features to help with visuals during the video editing phase. The iMovie software on my laptop will assist with further editing and the final production of my PL videos.
I will also be focusing on utilizing 5 key principles of effective PL:
1) DURATION: The duration of professional learning surrounding the ideas of Blended Learning must be significant and ongoing to allow time for teachers to learn new strategies and grapple with possible implementation setbacks.
2) SUPPORT: There must be ongoing support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of changing classroom practice to reinforce Blended Learning.
3) ENGAGEMENT: Teachers’ initial exposure to a concept should not be passive, but rather should excite and engage teachers through varied approaches so they can participate actively in making sense of this new Blended Learning practice.
4) MODEL: Modeling has been found to be extremely effective in helping teachers understand new practices, such as Blended Learning.
5) SPECIFICS: The content of Blended Learning presented to teachers shouldn’t be generic, but instead specific to their subject/discipline or grade-level.
Throughout these key principle concepts, I will be teaching ideas surrounding “Blended Learning” and how to successfully go from the understanding phase of BLoom's Taxonomy all the way through to application and further into evaluation.
So what's next?
Blended Learning.
A Plan for Professional Learning
When it comes to ideas surrounding the implementation of Blended Learning, pure intimidation can be a huge hurdle to overcome in the initial stages. If school administration truly has a growth mindset, then they WILL want to “fix” their schools by making changes and improvements for the benefits of the students. They will also NOT want to haphazardly create and distribute a plan that hasn’t yet been fully planned. Bottom line, planes in need of renovations will not fly. And planes that have not yet been built, will also not fly!
Blended Learning will benefit the learning of middle school students everywhere in any class. The real and final question remains: How can Blended Learning be understood and implemented successfully by all middle school teachers?
An easy way to begin tackling this seemingly overwhelming inquiry would be to begin breaking down Gulamhussein's (2013) FIVE Key Principles of Professional Development. In this way, the ideas surrounding Blended Learning can be broken down and more easily digested for the support of everyone. Here is a list and explanation of those components:
One - Blended Learning can be best understood, accepted, and appreciated over a lengthy period of time. Approximately 50 hours of PD learning must take place for teachers to properly implement ANY type of new foundational learning strategy. In this way, teachers can feel fully and truly supported through the entire learning process.
Two - When it comes to the implementation of Blended Learning, teachers need continued support. Each classroom should feel ready to implement their new learning strategies and each teacher should be well practiced and prepared. This strategic shift should be targeted to benefit every learner.
Three - When educators are introduced to the idea of Blended Learning, it should not be within a passive workshop PD environment. Instead, teachers should learn through a variety of ways including action, discussion, reflection, and more to ensure that everyone knows and sees how Blended Learning works and can be most effective.
Four - Administrators and teacher mentors should be modeling Blended Learning concepts throughout training, PD sessions, and in their own meetings and classroom environments. Teachers should have a variety of encounters with this method of learning. For example, teachers could visit a variety of classrooms to see examples of powerful implementation practices.
Five - As educators are understanding and practicing Blended Learning techniques, they should begin to realize how their own classrooms of students can directly benefit. Each discipline should be given time, resources, and structure to work collaboratively toward a plan for success. For example, math instructors can be given time during PD to meet with additional math teachers in which they can create a way to connect Blended Learning into their upcoming unit. This ensures that everyone knows they are an important part of a successful transition.
COLLABORATION
In addition to these five key principles, it is also important to ensure that collaboration occurs in and throughout each school. For Blended Learning, it is critical for middle school teachers to be able to learn from and understand each other since they are the experts of their own student learners and their individual needs! Built-in Professional Development time will be given during each meeting to allow for teachers to meet and discuss within small teams, ensuring relevance, deep reflection, and a constant sharing of ideas. Grade-level collaboration and content-specific collaboration will be helpful for success.
LEADERSHIP
Varieties of leaders can guide each school through the full step-by-step implementation of Blended Learning. A “technology coach” (or coaches) can be at the forefront of true core leadership. This individual can be a go-to beacon for presenting overall goals and key information.
Additional “instructional coaches” and “curriculum coordinators” can be a second layer of foundational structure for key questions, celebrations, and concerns. A newly formed “Blended Learning team” of volunteers can assist with guiding Professional Learning activities, take feedback from fellow coworkers, assess implementation success rates, and create/track overall targets and goals. School administration should be active within PD sessions, supportive during classroom observations, and serving as role models throughout their own daily tasks and routines.
A team of dedicated Blended Learning modeling teachers will be selected for coworkers to observe in action and seek for direct mentoring. Grade and subject “team leaders” can also serve as flagstaff leadership to guide on a more direct level, influencing and supporting from within their teaching teams. If everyone lends a hand, then any school can account for swift successes.
AUDIENCE
When it comes to Blended Learning within a middle school environment, the audience for education is each middle school teacher. When widening that perspective, the true audience becomes every middle school student since they will be the ones directly benefiting from this shift within their school.
Each teacher will need to have understood with clarity the meaning and benefits of incorporating Blended Learning strategies. This audience will also be given the opportunity to safely voice their needs so that the leadership team and their coworkers can continuously work toward viable, specific solutions. Middle school students specifically need ongoing support that oftentimes changes on a daily basis. Due to this concern, targets can ever shift to make sure each teacher and classroom environment is well-supported.
3 Column Table
When it comes to planning for exact ways in which Blended Learning can be accomplished within a middle school setting, it can be broken down into bite-sized goals and achievements through the use of a 3 Column Table as modeled by Fink’s (2013) research. This is a great way to understand the variety of ways in which learning can take place surrounding this topic. This table is presented below.
As defined by Dey-Twomey (2017) first, we can start with a “big, hairy audacious goal.” When discussing the targets for a school and dissecting the components of Blended Learning, we could set a district-wide goal example of: “Teachers will be able to understand and utilize the components of Blended Learning and for the benefit of all student learners.”
Read more about the three-column table and see a personalized example, HERE on my ePortfolio.
SCHEDULE
Since a minimum of 50 hours of learning, practice, and implementation are needed for true success when it comes to incorporating new Blended Learning benefits into the classroom, it is best to plan out a timeline for goals to be met. Here is an example for implementation:
April - Provide a brief explanation of what new changes (Blended Learning) will be focused on during the upcoming new school year.
May - Present options for professional learning opportunities over the summer months, such as readings, websites, videos, and webinars for teachers and staff.
August - Get leadership team and coaches up-to-date and prepared for rollout.
September - Begin formal PL opportunities surrounding Blended Learning. Dedicate at least one hour each week to introducing Blended Learning within PD meetings.
October - Create a team of volunteer teachers to gather feedback and set/monitor Blended Learning goals. Dedicate at least two hours each week to explaining Blended Learning ideas and benefits within PD meetings.
November - Show examples of Blended Learning in action, through video and live-action examples during PD meetings. Allow teachers to try Blended Learning techniques with peers during informal meeting times and allow for individualized brainstorming sessions. Continue to dedicate at least two hours a week to understanding and setting personal Blended Learning goals.
December - Begin allowing teachers to observe role model teachers as they implement Blended Learning within their classrooms. Continue to dedicate at least two hours a week to the understanding of Blended Learning by creating personalized Blended Learning plans.
January - Teachers in every classroom will introduce new concepts to their students. Continual practice of Blended Learning concepts continues during team and PD meetings.
February - Every teacher implements the first step of their personalized Blended Learning plan within their classroom environment. Feedback is given to the team for reflection, corrections, and feedforward.
March - Focus shifts to further implementation of Blended Learning. The whole student body understands that every teacher and class is working toward the same beneficial goal.
April - Confidence soars as students accept the shift toward dedicated Blended Learning activities. Team of volunteers continues to receive feedback and adjust overall school targets.
May - Whole school celebrates achievements made. A party or specific event is held in which successes are shared and new, specific Blended Learning targets are set for the next school year.
RESOURCES
So where do we go from here?
Well now, change is never easy, but with time and support everyone is able to meet their goal! Here are a few resources where it may prove to be helpful when it comes to the introduction and explanation of Blended Learning within any school environment:
Working together, we all can succeed! Blended Learning can be implemented and utilized as a tool for motivating positive change and creating a better support system for our students and their individualized learning needs. What better way to promote CHANGE than by allowing students to learn and thrive in their own way?
Overall, this means no one will have to stagnate their teaching or learning. Also, no one will have to implement a new meaningless educational trend year after year. One goal can reach all! And that’s the power of Blended Learning through proper planning and support.
So, in conclusion, it's easy to CHANGE and ADAPT professional learning if the key aspects are taken into consideration. Every regard for learning must be in place! The research has shown us what to do... Now, we just need to DO IT.
Are you ready?
Let's do this, together!
Citations & References
5 Principles of Effective Professional Development. (n.d.). H5p.org. Retrieved November 22,
2021, from https://h5p.org/h5p/embed/124294
Dey-Twomey, T. (2017, July 31). Goal Setting 101: Move Your Business To The Next Level.
Alexander Twomey. https://alexandertwomey.com/goal-setting-101/
Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to
Designing College Courses. John Wiley & Sons.
Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers effective professional development in an
era of high stakes accountability. Center for Public Education.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/j13c5mk092kmqv9/Teaching_Effective_Professional_
Developmt.pdf?dl=0
Moiseenko, D. (n.d.). Felic art. Dribbble.com. https://dribbble.com/shots/9805180-Designer
O’Leary, W. (2017, February 23). 5 best practices for personalized professional
development. Blog.edmentum.com. https://blog.edmentum.com/5-best-practices-
personalized-professional-development
Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers effective professional development in an
era of high stakes accountability. Center for Public Education.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/j13c5mk092kmqv9/Teaching_Effective_Professional_
Developmt.pdf?dl=0
The Mirage: confronting the hard truth about our quest for professional development.
(2015). In tntp.org. The New Teacher Project. https://tntp.org/publications/view/the-
mirage-confronting-the-truth-about-our-quest-for-teacher-development
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