I’ve made mistakes in my life. Plenty.  In my professional life. In my personal life.  And, yet, from each apparent mistake or failure, I learned exponentially more than I did from any success. Paradoxically, I have learned to embrace failure with the realization that learning from failure markedly increases my probable odds of success in the future.

The world of professional development is much the same. We have certainly made our fair share of mistakes. These mistakes provide wonderful jumping off points for future successes.  Henry Ford once offered: “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” So, the questions that arise from this realization are: What mistakes do we continue to make in PD? What lessons have we learned by making these mistakes? And, how can we begin again, this time more intelligently?

Lesson #1: Pull the weeds in your PD garden, cross-pollinate what remains

Research and horse sense tell us that our PD gardens are over-grown. We are all too eager to plant new PD initiatives without considering what we already have growing in our garden. From time to time, we all suffer from initiative fatigue. Reeves (2006) offers that: “Fortunately, there is an answer to initiative fatigue, and that is the common sense of the gardener. The strategic leader must have a garden party to pull the weeds before planting the flowers,” and I offer that we need to cross-pollinate what remains. Too often, as a profession, we are guilty of splintering initiatives rather than overtly connecting them. As leaders, we have our work cut out for us! The key, I think, is in pulling the weeds, while cross-pollinating what remains.

Lesson #2: Survey your landscape

All too often we trudge forward with our PD plans without considering our landscape. Essentially important to the success of any PD plan is taking time to find out what kind of professional development teachers really need to improve their practice to better support their students. Additionally, we should also consider that deeper success is experienced when teachers are also provided guidance in what nurtures students’ intellectual development and affects the learning process. Equipped with this understanding, teachers are more communicative about the sort of PD that could address the learning essentials of students.

Lesson #3: One-size-does not-fit-all

A one-size-fits-all approach to professional development presumes that all teachers are inherently the same. However, the truth is that the PD needs of a staff of teachers are vastly differing. And, yet, we are all guilty of turning a blind eye to the experience a teacher brings with her or what she actually needs in the way of professional development. In the world of PD, one-size, quite honestly, does not fit all. If our goal as professional developers is to promote growth, improvement, and continuous development, then we would be remiss to continue with this charade approach to PD.

Not long ago, our school district purchased a curriculum management system that provides powerful tools to align curriculum, instruction, and data to enhance instructional practice. In doing so, countless hours have been spent in planning the most effective way to provide teachers with the training necessary for utilizing this system. At a recent district leadership meeting, several campus administrators shared their PD plans, and I am happy to share, all of them mentioned the need for differentiating their training. Their plans involve teachers self-assessing were they are with learning new technologies and, in turn, dividing them into one of four learning paths based upon a continuum of learner needs. They realize that (insert sigh of relief here) one-size-does not-fit-all.

Lesson #4: Provide a menu of choices

At various points in my career, I remember attending conference-style PD sessions where I was allowed to choose from several PD offerings.  I found these opportunities rather gratifying as I was allowed to design my own professional growth; after all, I knew what areas I needed to improve. By providing a menu of choices, we are better able to address the differing needs of staff.

One campus administrator shared recently that this past Fall, she greeted staff with a non-traditional “check-in” sheet. Each year, district-wide, teachers are engaged in week-long PD with an aim to prepare for the return of students. As you can imagine, there is much business to attend to – from setting up your classroom, to reviewing discipline procedures, to gaining insight into a new (or returning) PD initiative. At this particular campus, staff members were able to glance at their “check-in” sheet in order to determine what their week would look like. There were certain PD pieces that were non-negotiable, yet each was offered at multiple times. The outcome was a more relaxed school opening because teachers were allowed the privilege of determining when they would complete each request.

It is inevitable, in the world of PD, we will continue to slip-up and commit blunders. But, quite humbly, my preference is to learn from the PD mistakes rather than repeat them. And, yet, it is only in being wrong that we can learn to be right.

Resource:

Reeves, D. (2006). Pull the weeds before you plant the flowers. Educational Leadership, September, 89-90.

Dr. Glenda Horner is the Coordinator for Staff Development in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston, Texas.  She has participated in ASCD’s On-Site Capacity Building services. Go to www.ascd.org/oscb to learn more.