It would seem common sense to draw the link between the provision of ongoing PLD in schools and how it enables higher levels of teacher morale.
However, we don’t have to rely on common sense. This is in fact a key finding outlined in the New Zealand Council for Education Research (NZCER) research brief, which summarises the results from its 2022 National Survey on Secondary Schools.
‘A strong culture of ongoing PLD is positively associated with good-practice classroom strategies and practices, and is associated with teachers reporting more positive experiences of their work (higher level of morale and more manageable workload)’.
Tackling PLD Planning for 2023
As the start of the 2023 school year approaches, principals will be planning the rhythm of the working year. Front of their minds will be how to continue to respond to increasing concerns about teacher burnout and workload.
Professional learning is a key tool in responding to the unique environment caused by the disruption of the past three years.
I encourage every principal to think beyond the usual and enable the PLD experiences that help teachers experience impactful learning in a way that restores a passion for the job.
Teaching is a job that demands deep wells of resilience and enthusiasm. It is a profession packed with people who choose to teach because growing successful humans is a worthy enterprise. It is a job that requires heart and vision. These qualities need nurturing.
So, think carefully about your 2023 PLD plan.
Top of mind will be the important job principals have to not overburden teachers with too much PLD. In the years ahead, with the NZ Curriculum refresh landing and the additional PLD required to implement the changes, it is key to construct a rhythm to PLD that doesn’t demand too much of teachers. Such an approach would cancel out the positive impact of PLD on morale.
Making Learning Memorable
Esteemed Kiwi academic, late professor Graham Nuthall posits that all learning should activate memory if it is to be effective. Nuthall notes that, when looking at what learners remember, “we find the content wrapped up in the nature of the experience, which means that how learners experience an activity is as much a part of what they learn as is the intended curriculum content.” He encourages us to make learning memorable.
Memorable learning has been a particular feature of my annual PLD plans through the years. A key approach in embedding powerful learning is scheduling a development day for the whole staff before school starts, containing an active adventure designed to gently help staff ‘take risks’, something teachers ask of their pupils every day. Over the years, we have gone white water rafting (grade 2), completed a ropes course, abseiled, sailed land yachts, completed an urban amazing race, and escape room -- all with the proviso of experiencing the fear and doing it anyway!
If we are to grow teachers to be creative, energetic, and brave in their work with children then let’s ensure their PLD is similarly imbued. Being able to walk the talk is fundamental to the practice of teaching.
Growing as a Team
Critical to any PLD is not only learning that is personal but learning that is experienced as a team.
Professor John Hattie’s Visible Learning Synthesis points to the powerful impact of this shared professional work. The top of the effect sizes for impact is Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE). This is the collective belief of the staff of the school or faculty in their ability to positively affect students.
CTE has been found to be strongly, and positively correlated with student achievement. A school staff that believes it can collectively accomplish great things is vital for the health of a school. If they believe they can make a positive difference, then they very likely will.
The principal’s job to design, seek out, and schedule shared professional learning is fundamental to activating CTE.
Principals themselves are fundamental to the role of enabling powerful PLD for their teams. They should also be engaged in powerful PLD alongside their peers. That is why Tui Tuia | Learning Circle in collaboration with partner groups is launching a National Centre for Educational Leadership this year. Principals and middle leaders themselves must be able to have access to coordinated and systemic leadership PLD irrespective of their experience.
What an exciting year!
Despite the challenges of the past few years, we owe it to the tamariki and rangatahi in our care to throw off the COVID shackles and engage with renewed vigour in the challenge of teaching and learning and the provision of powerful PLD.
This year, professional learning that restores the energy of your teaching team and harnesses their skill behind the achievement challenges we confront, is of paramount importance.
