For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reading Embedding Formative Assessment: Practical Techniques for K-12 Classrooms. It’s one of those education books that really speaks to me, from ‘aha’ moments to moments that I felt comforted as it is validating what I have been doing with my teaching practice for years. I wish I read this book before I became a head teacher. I wish I read this book before I started teaching. In this blog post, I will be reflecting on my own teaching practice according to what I’ve learnt from the book. For my first post on this book, I’ll be reflecting on teacher professional learning.
1. Teacher professional learning needs choice

Teachers are experts in their own learning. Teachers know what their strengths are and what they need to improve on. Most of all, teachers know their students. While schools and systems will have their own strategies, directions and goals, teachers should be able to choose their own professional learning goals within this framework to make the most impact on their students learning. In NSW public schools, teachers select their professional development goals every year within the framework of their school’s strategic planning. I’ve been doing a similar process for a few years before the official professional development goals were implemented. While I was able to support every teacher in my faculty to select their goals, I never felt I supported them enough to develop and monitor the progress of their goals. I had regular follow-up, one-on-one meetings with each teacher throughout the year, along with pre and post meetings for lesson observations once a term. For a couple of years I even had everyone in my faculty doing action learning. However, I never felt the goals, the implementation and the reflections maintained momentum. I had the ‘big picture’ but not the ongoing supportive accountability structures. The book suggests a structured teacher learning community meeting where teachers meet and learn from each other from discussing the implementation and progress of their professional learning goals. The book provides ideal timings for such meetings and ideal frequencies of these meetings. What I find extremely useful is the suggested structure of the meetings as it provides a clear pathway for the teacher learning community to listen to each other, give each other feedback and use that feedback to plan forward. I also really like how this strategy emphasises teachers to be the experts of pedagogy.

2. Teacher professional learning needs small steps.

Teaching is complex. Solutions cannot be copied and pasted from one context to another. What works for one teacher with one class may not work for the same teacher with another class. Teachers need to tailor the strategies they learn in professional learning to make it work for them and their students. This takes time. Often we expect results almost immediately, even for the teacher implementing the change. And when we don’t see immediate results, we think it’s a failure and we don’t implement that strategy ever again.
The book emphasises that new practices take time to develop because they need to become a teacher’s habit. This is the major hurdle. How can teachers be supported so that evidence based practices become habitual, day-to-day classroom practice?

In my next blog posts, I’ll be reflecting on designing learning intentions and success criteria, activities designed to identify students’ understanding and the value of self and peer feedback.

In the meantime, what are your thoughts and experiences on the impact of teacher professional learning. What makes teacher professional learning ‘successful’? What ensures teacher professional learning have impact on student learning?