How Can We Save Teacher Professional Learning?
Written by Teaching Lab Staff
There’s a problem with teacher professional learning. Experts believe that it costs too much and takes up too much time — all for minimal impact. These experts include teachers themselves who feel frustrated and unsupported, and most are not satisfied with the current professional learning.
And this problem with teacher professional learning persisted even before the pandemic began. Now, the situation is even more dire as teachers endure an increase in work hours, and struggle with providing instruction, engaging students, and managing technology, all resulting in most teachers leaving the profession altogether.
Naturally, Teaching Lab is concerned with this monumental shift as the organization moves forward with its mission to fundamentally shift the paradigm professional learning for educational equity.
Strategies for Improving Professional Learning
Teacher professional learning should focus less on lesson planning and more on innovating and differentiating for students. Teaching Lab’s method of focusing on Cycles of Inquiry improves teacher mastery of curriculum. It includes:
Convene and identify a common challenge.
Review content and plan for instruction.
Implement in classrooms and gather evidence.
Review evidence to determine effectiveness.
Repeat cycle on similar or new topic.
Also, teacher-led professional learning works. Labs are run by “Lab Leaders,” who are experienced teachers and/or instructional coaches who support their colleagues’ development.
Teaching Lab also believes in a gradual release approach. Specifically, it support educators in progressing through the stages of “Lab Development,” or developing Lab Lead capacity to lead professional learning with their peers over time.
But this is just the beginning. Teaching Lab’s growing body of research “by teachers, for teachers” will give even more answers and solutions to the aforementioned issues, and it will show that teacher professional learning — that’s focused on evidence-based practices, led by teachers, and based in curriculum — is more enjoyable for teachers and can boost student outcomes.
SXSW EDU 2022
To confront this battle head on, Teaching Lab was invited to speak about teacher professional learning at SXSW EDU 2022, led by the CEO of Teaching Lab, Sarah Johnson. There, she will give more details about the strategies to improve professional learning and how it can impact teachers, students, and districts.
SXSW EDU 2022 will happen from March 7-10, 2022, in Austin, TX and will include panels that discuss student mental health, how student developers are saving the world, and confronting systemic barriers in higher education.
If you’re interested in listening to Sarah talk, register for SXSW EDU 2022 today.
