Professional Learning for School Staff Members
Good professional learning is reflective—it helps all members of the school community examine their practice in light of outcomes, or student learning. For example, professional development activities lead staff members in analyzing data about student learning to identify needs and brainstorm possible improvement strategies. This process works whether the strategies involve instructional practice, school climate, or the effectiveness of assessment tools. In each case, the reflection activity asks practitioners to reflect on their efforts to determine “Did this work?”
All adults at a middle school benefit from collegial professional development opportunities that include reflection about how well the school as a whole is achieving the goals for student achievement. Reflections by professionals also need to consider the needs of young adolescents and the overall learning climate of the school. Teachers look at how their instructional practices help students learn. Counselors reflect on how they are helping students set personal and academic goals for success. Library/media instructors examine how they are helping students develop research skills and a love of reading. Custodians, lunch monitors, volunteers, and paraprofessionals examine their daily interactions with students to see how their practices affect student attitudes and behaviors as members of a community filled with respect for others.
Each adult in the school needs these opportunities to reflect. Considering the wide range of duties and daily schedules of the adults in any given school, administrators need to make every effort to provide learning opportunities for all staff members within a time frame that works for them and that allows opportunities for non-classroom personnel to participate. To optimize training effectiveness, professional development opportunities should fit into the regular school calendar and within the school day. For example, effective schools create a modified schedule that builds regular time each week for professional learning. In addition, scheduling for professional learning should avoid the following times whenever possible:
- Before or after school times that are not included in the contract
- Conflicts with the testing calendar or holidays to make sure people are not distracted
- Semester, trimester, or quarter deadlines for finals and grade reporting
In addition, administrators need to consider the learning styles of adults so they can respect their needs—particularly when developing half- or full-day training sessions. Teams responsible for creating professional learning activities can work with local district, county office of education, or higher education experts to learn how to address adult learning styles in each training session.
Previous
For middle grades principals
Next
How school design fosters professional learning
Back to top