Superintendents and administrators routinely identify personalized PD as a helpful way to reduce teacher burnout and improve retention. So, how can school systems enable professional learning that is more valued by teachers?
From classroom management to pedagogy to creating tech-enabled lessons and beyond, K-12 teachers need an extensive, evolving tool belt of knowledge and skills to serve the diversity of their students and expected roles. Yet, too often, their professional learning opportunities fall short of these varied needs.
In a D2L-commissioned survey of 1,000 U.S. K-12 educators, 91% of respondents expressed interest in professional learning targeted to their unique needs and interests. Yet only 20% reported increased access to targeted professional development, and a further 25% reported no or decreased access to it. Being able to access forms of personalized PD was also highly correlated to teacher satisfaction.
With that in mind, it’s not surprising that superintendents and administrators identify personalized PD among the practices most helpful for reducing teacher burnout and improving retention.
So, how can school systems enable professional learning that is more timely, relevant and flexible and, therefore, more valued by teachers?
When D2L assembled a working group of a dozen educators with expertise in teacher PD, these educators were clear about how to increase personalization: Start by aligning school culture and communications. In a nutshell, school communities must value teachers as professionals and, therefore, as professional learners. Schools are learning organizations, and their learner-centered growth mindset must apply to educators and not just to students.
Just because teachers may want to complete this professional learning ‘anytime, anywhere’ does not mean we should expect them to do so unless they are also provided the enabling supports, incentives, agency and tools.
Allie Sberna, pHCLE, professional development eLearning coordinator, Ohio Department of Education
This starts with creating and communicating a shared school community understanding and expectation (among parents and school boards, in the strategic plan and school calendar, etc.) that:
Implementing these values requires enabling teacher voice and agency, both collectively in shaping PD programs and individually in empowering teachers to help identify their own learning needs and pathways. It also requires intentional efforts to individualize learning across system PD experiences.
To help support the need for modernized K-12 professional development, D2L convened a working group of educators to identify practices that will help reimagine teacher professional learning. This guide delivers their top eight recommendations for improving the timeliness, flexibility and relevance of professional learning.
The D2L working group also identified the importance of flexibility in measures and incentives. For example, school systems should recognize and address the varied cognitive, social, financial and other factors that motivate each teacher’s learning, such as enhanced credentials, peer recognition and student success.
School systems can also show that they value and trust teachers to own their professional development by providing flexibility in when, where and how they can access that learning. This includes policies that provide the necessary flexibility in time and resources that relax rigid seat-time requirements.
“Just because teachers may want to complete this professional learning ‘anytime, anywhere’ does not mean we should expect them to do so unless they are also provided the enabling supports, incentives, agency and tools,” suggested Allie Sberna, pHCLE, professional development eLearning coordinator, Ohio Department of Education.
Teachers may be more responsive to learning that is adjusted to their schedule and interests, but that does not diminish the effort and time required to complete it.
| How Traverse City Area Public Schools Incentivizes Teacher-Centered Learning |
| When Traverse City Area Public Schools introduced the D2L Brightspace learning management system across all of its schools, the Michigan-based district created teacher training courses within the same platform and established an accompanying reward system to accelerate teacher adoption and boost student access to digital learning innovation. “Teachers who go through the program can progress through four different badges based on their level of adoption,” said Heidi Maltby-Skodack, executive director of school improvement and innovative programming at TCAPS. “As well as benefiting from upskilling and enhanced resources, we even offer a financial bonus to teachers who achieve ‘advanced’ and ‘innovator’ badges.” The TCAPS training course and rewards system has already helped about half of the district’s teachers develop new skills and realize the full potential of digital learning, and that number is set to increase in the coming months. |
The D2L survey also uncovered great disparities between teacher and administrator views. For example, 51% of district administrators indicated that PD will be regularly available in their districts, compared with only 34% of teachers. This finding suggests differences not just in opinion but in definitions and awareness, perhaps caused by inadequate shared understanding.
A shared vision of teachers’ personalized learning is best enacted and enabled with clarity of definitions and effective communications about goals and needs, and about expectations and options.
Start with soliciting teachers and creating feedback loops to dynamically identify needs and satisfaction. Schools should also streamline and target communications across varied channels so that teachers receive the most relevant information. Driving all communications back to a single source such as a portal or LMS can also help teachers know where to find any and all relevant information.
| How the Lastinger Center Empowers Teacher Voice to Tailor The PD Experience |
| Central to the University of Florida Lastinger Center’s support for K-12 student learning is their delivery of customized PD that is online, instructor facilitated and competency based. The provision of 360-degree communications through multiple embedded channels is critical to scaling personalization and success. This model starts with the Lastinger Center’s recognition of educator variance. For example, at the start of each course, educators are surveyed about what they will need to succeed in the course. “Educators come from a wide range of contexts and backgrounds and bring a variety of needs and strengths, and so we try to be very sensitive to their individual preferences,” said Cathy Cavanaugh, chief experience officer at the University of Florida Lastinger Center. The Lastinger Center uses a team approach to meet each learner’s unique learning and technology needs. One team serves a help desk role. Another team communicates to every educator throughout about registration, certification, etc. At the end of the course, Lastinger surveys teachers for their feedback to drive continuous course improvement. |
Modernizing professional learning to be more teacher centered starts with aligning culture and enhancing communications, but other actions are needed to foster PD personalization and satisfaction.
Our expert work group identified eight practices, including building modern infrastructure, designing authentic learning experiences and supporting personalized pathways. Each of the eight practices includes a number of specific considerations and action steps to operationalize these options.
While the full list may seem overwhelming, you can start by creating a shared vision that prioritizes teachers’ personalized professional learning enabled by effective communications and teacher voice. Next, identify a few new practices and grow from there, being certain to include your teachers in system planning and delivering the professional learning.
Written by
Mark Schneiderman is Senior Director for the Future of Teaching and Learning at D2L. Mark curates research and strategic partnerships to support the K-12 education sector in identifying and implementing best practices. He previously held senior roles in the technology and nonprofit sectors where he built public-private partnerships to help imagine and advocate for public and school policies that enhance student success through the use of technology and digital learning.
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