ETHICAL LEADERSHIP
Establishing a Continuous Professional Learning Culture
Sabrina L. Manuel
College of Education, Grand Canyon University
EAD 513: Shaping School Culture
Daphne Lowe
December 1, 2021
Professional Learning Topics
The professional development that we receive in our school district currently is derived from research and assessments given at the end of previous PD sessions throughout the district that have either assessed our understanding of the training that was offered or has assessed our need for the training in the first place. We are usually given a tinyurl survey to complete at the end of a training or prior to a training for future interest in trainings or if we are in need for further elaboration of the training we just received. This has been useful to the district in developing the most useful forms of professional development for all those involved.
When this training is given, it is usually given as a whole staff training by a district personnel and it is advised that the training is then articulated again at the school level and a check for understanding is sent out to ensure that all staff have a clear understanding of the training for the day. At the school level, a team, usually the administrative team (department chairs, leadership, community coordinator, and school support team), must agree on how best to articulate this training to the staff so that it is best utilized in the school and classroom environment. As a team, we will focus on the professional learning opportunities offered by the district and apply those that best fit our schools needs and when the designated day is assigned, we will plan to have staff attend the various professional development sessions that pertain to their department areas.
Professional Learning Shared
The district has formulated a platform for staff to take part in individual trainings and those trainings have content based on different departments for different views and relevance. Once it is determined by the leadership team which professional development course is relevant to our school, staff are assigned to attend the PD in their content area for that day. After each department has attended their professional development training for the day, I will have a google classroom platform that all staff will use in their common planning time with their department chair where they will share the information from that professional development session. Staff will be required to formulate a lesson from the training that they could possibly share with the staff on how the training is relevant to their content area and how it will benefit the students in those classes. This will allow myself and the members of the leadership team to develop the next professional learning day to roll out the information shared in this platform.
Implementation into Professional Practice
Under the leadership of each department chair and with the support from the school support teacher, administrators and any additional support staff, the professional development lessons and the content from the district professional learning session will be shared with the teams in each content area. These groups will be referred to as think tanks and they will be responsible for giving feedback on the lesson and its relevance to the professional learning and how it fits best into the classrooms here at our school. According to the article 7 ways to maximize professional learning, (Briggs, 2018) it is best to give the teachers an opportunity to be involved in the PD and develop how they see it best fits in our school.
As the leader, I would feel strongly about the staff taking what they have learned and then implementing it after we have all had an opportunity to hear it and give some form of feedback, I think this builds a sense of trust with myself and the staff and this is important to develop the systems that we need in the school with total fidelity and execution. I believe some of the best creativity comes from a collaborative effort. There is no one way to do anything and getting the opinions of others will allow you to see various points of view before making the final decision on putting something in place. If the entire staff are on board with an idea of professional learning, it is easier to roll it out. After the think tank has solidified their lesson’s, they will move them to the staff share drive so that they can be permanently stored and that all staff can always access them even if they are not attached to the google classroom. This will give us multiple digital sources to use for implementing the lessons, professional learning content, think tank notes, and all feedback gathered during the professional development.
Providing Reflective Feedback
During all common planning time, and after implementing the lesson in the classroom for thirty days, each department, with the school support teacher facilitating, will provide professional learning outcomes from their individual classrooms. The administrator on each team will be required to have visited each classroom from the think tank team they were assigned to a minimum of two times during those thirty days for monitoring of the professional learning outcomes. Staff will then be required to apply the professional learning concepts to their student learning objective/ professional practice goal (SLO/PPG).
While sharing information and collaboration should happen year-round with staff, applying professional learning concepts need to happen rapidly to ensure that they are effective and not forgotten. Monitoring allows for effective evaluation and discussion regarding the effectiveness of how we executed the lesson and if we need to revise it going further. It allows our teams to come back to the table and discuss ways to make the lesson better and as articles suggest, when developing your employees, you want to set an environment that will help your employees learn from each other. (Blake and Palmer, 2018) Effective leaders give their staff the platform and resources they need to learn from each other. The article by Blake and Palmer suggests that employees learn best from their peers. I agree with this method of learning and professional development. Giving my staff an opportunity to collaborate and develop a solid plan allows for varied levels of professionals to sit together and work on something that will ultimately benefit the students and the school in a way that is off the charts, because everyone has something unique to bring to the table.
Rationale
Based on the three scholarly articles, I found that the best way to use the professional learning was to formulate a professional learning community (PLC/Think Tank), allow for staff to facilitate their own learning with other staff, and to allow for additional time for staff collaboration to happen around those lessons from the unit created from the professional learning day that took place with the district personnel.
Creating a safe space for staff to talk about their needs and supporting their needs as their leader would be my personal goal. One of the reasons why there would be an administrator within each think tank is to provide resources and to be able to give feedback on what is available for us to give to the teachers from the administrative level to support their efforts in the classroom. The professional learning community will always be centered around ways that we as a school can build on the professional learning that was provided and utilize that information to build a strong learning environment, curriculum, and teachers for our scholars.
As school leaders we will often be given certain things that the district will want the staff to be informed about and there will be room for the staff to still use this same format for executing the information, however, that type of professional learning will come directly from myself or the leadership team but it will ultimately be an overall team effort so that the staff is included in the way that it helps our school culture. I want my staff to feel like the professional development that they are required to take are more of a benefit to them rather than just another requirement of them so that they can utilize the information in a way to help them both professionally and personally to enhance both the school and their classroom environment.
References
Thoma, J., Hutchison, A., Johnson, D., Johnson, K., & Stromer, E. (2017). Planning for Technology Integration in a Professional Learning Community. https://web-p-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=94387d18-4d2f-4b51-9c8a-0e719b0fa468%40redis
Briggs, L. (2018). 7 Ways to maximize professional learning. https://web-p-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=2d0b73ef-beb0-4fd3-ab0a-feef65a08dfa%40redis
Blake, D. & Palmer, K. (2018). How to Help Your Employees Learn from Each Other. https://hbr.org/2018/11/how-to-help-your-employees-learn-from-each-other
Establishing a Continuous Professional Learning Culture
Sabrina L. Manuel
College of Education, Grand Canyon University
EAD 513: Shaping School Culture
Daphne Lowe
December 1, 2021
Professional Learning Topics
The professional development that we receive in our school district currently is derived from research and assessments given at the end of previous PD sessions throughout the district that have either assessed our understanding of the training that was offered or has assessed our need for the training in the first place. We are usually given a tinyurl survey to complete at the end of a training or prior to a training for future interest in trainings or if we are in need for further elaboration of the training we just received. This has been useful to the district in developing the most useful forms of professional development for all those involved.
When this training is given, it is usually given as a whole staff training by a district personnel and it is advised that the training is then articulated again at the school level and a check for understanding is sent out to ensure that all staff have a clear understanding of the training for the day. At the school level, a team, usually the administrative team (department chairs, leadership, community coordinator, and school support team), must agree on how best to articulate this training to the staff so that it is best utilized in the school and classroom environment. As a team, we will focus on the professional learning opportunities offered by the district and apply those that best fit our schools needs and when the designated day is assigned, we will plan to have staff attend the various professional development sessions that pertain to their department areas.
Professional Learning Shared
The district has formulated a platform for staff to take part in individual trainings and those trainings have content based on different departments for different views and relevance. Once it is determined by the leadership team which professional development course is relevant to our school, staff are assigned to attend the PD in their content area for that day. After each department has attended their professional development training for the day, I will have a google classroom platform that all staff will use in their common planning time with their department chair where they will share the information from that professional development session. Staff will be required to formulate a lesson from the training that they could possibly share with the staff on how the training is relevant to their content area and how it will benefit the students in those classes. This will allow myself and the members of the leadership team to develop the next professional learning day to roll out the information shared in this platform.
Implementation into Professional Practice
Under the leadership of each department chair and with the support from the school support teacher, administrators and any additional support staff, the professional development lessons and the content from the district professional learning session will be shared with the teams in each content area. These groups will be referred to as think tanks and they will be responsible for giving feedback on the lesson and its relevance to the professional learning and how it fits best into the classrooms here at our school. According to the article 7 ways to maximize professional learning, (Briggs, 2018) it is best to give the teachers an opportunity to be involved in the PD and develop how they see it best fits in our school.
As the leader, I would feel strongly about the staff taking what they have learned and then implementing it after we have all had an opportunity to hear it and give some form of feedback, I think this builds a sense of trust with myself and the staff and this is important to develop the systems that we need in the school with total fidelity and execution. I believe some of the best creativity comes from a collaborative effort. There is no one way to do anything and getting the opinions of others will allow you to see various points of view before making the final decision on putting something in place. If the entire staff are on board with an idea of professional learning, it is easier to roll it out. After the think tank has solidified their lesson’s, they will move them to the staff share drive so that they can be permanently stored and that all staff can always access them even if they are not attached to the google classroom. This will give us multiple digital sources to use for implementing the lessons, professional learning content, think tank notes, and all feedback gathered during the professional development.
Providing Reflective Feedback
During all common planning time, and after implementing the lesson in the classroom for thirty days, each department, with the school support teacher facilitating, will provide professional learning outcomes from their individual classrooms. The administrator on each team will be required to have visited each classroom from the think tank team they were assigned to a minimum of two times during those thirty days for monitoring of the professional learning outcomes. Staff will then be required to apply the professional learning concepts to their student learning objective/ professional practice goal (SLO/PPG).
While sharing information and collaboration should happen year-round with staff, applying professional learning concepts need to happen rapidly to ensure that they are effective and not forgotten. Monitoring allows for effective evaluation and discussion regarding the effectiveness of how we executed the lesson and if we need to revise it going further. It allows our teams to come back to the table and discuss ways to make the lesson better and as articles suggest, when developing your employees, you want to set an environment that will help your employees learn from each other. (Blake and Palmer, 2018) Effective leaders give their staff the platform and resources they need to learn from each other. The article by Blake and Palmer suggests that employees learn best from their peers. I agree with this method of learning and professional development. Giving my staff an opportunity to collaborate and develop a solid plan allows for varied levels of professionals to sit together and work on something that will ultimately benefit the students and the school in a way that is off the charts, because everyone has something unique to bring to the table.
Rationale
Based on the three scholarly articles, I found that the best way to use the professional learning was to formulate a professional learning community (PLC/Think Tank), allow for staff to facilitate their own learning with other staff, and to allow for additional time for staff collaboration to happen around those lessons from the unit created from the professional learning day that took place with the district personnel.
Creating a safe space for staff to talk about their needs and supporting their needs as their leader would be my personal goal. One of the reasons why there would be an administrator within each think tank is to provide resources and to be able to give feedback on what is available for us to give to the teachers from the administrative level to support their efforts in the classroom. The professional learning community will always be centered around ways that we as a school can build on the professional learning that was provided and utilize that information to build a strong learning environment, curriculum, and teachers for our scholars.
As school leaders we will often be given certain things that the district will want the staff to be informed about and there will be room for the staff to still use this same format for executing the information, however, that type of professional learning will come directly from myself or the leadership team but it will ultimately be an overall team effort so that the staff is included in the way that it helps our school culture. I want my staff to feel like the professional development that they are required to take are more of a benefit to them rather than just another requirement of them so that they can utilize the information in a way to help them both professionally and personally to enhance both the school and their classroom environment.
References
Thoma, J., Hutchison, A., Johnson, D., Johnson, K., & Stromer, E. (2017). Planning for Technology Integration in a Professional Learning Community. https://web-p-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=94387d18-4d2f-4b51-9c8a-0e719b0fa468%40redis
Briggs, L. (2018). 7 Ways to maximize professional learning. https://web-p-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=2d0b73ef-beb0-4fd3-ab0a-feef65a08dfa%40redis
Blake, D. & Palmer, K. (2018). How to Help Your Employees Learn from Each Other. https://hbr.org/2018/11/how-to-help-your-employees-learn-from-each-other