The world has pivoted following the COVID-19 trail. Schools as many know them have changed for the adults and students who have experienced disruptions beyond belief. For too many teachers, leaders, and other school personnel, professional learning has fallen off the radar given the triaging necessary to meet the needs of students. Students always will remain the focal point of attention for schools; however, equally important are teachers and their professional learning needs.
Job-embedded professional learning is situated in the very work that teachers do in and out of their classrooms; therefore, it needs to adapt to the time and space in which teachers find themselves as they continue to pivot between in-person, hybrid, or fully online teaching arrangements. The “classroom” changed for teachers, who were expected to adapt curriculum, instruction, and the ways in which they engaged with students. More than likely, for too many teachers, job-embedded professional learning did not follow shifting landscapes.
The learning cycle was disrupted. There is no pause button on disruption.
Purposefulness
For teachers, survival was the watchword. Now, the watchword must be “purposefulness.” Teachers must become purposeful about their own professional learning, finding ways to embed opportunities to grow and develop while facing the new and ever-changing realities of teaching. Working alongside colleagues might look different—across a screen instead of side-by-side in a classroom during team meetings, grade-level meetings, or collaborative planning periods.
The “one-and-done” and “one-size-fits-all” approaches to professional learning must be flatlined. These outdated approaches can no longer serve as the basis of professional learning. These approaches didn’t work before the pandemic, and they certainly will not meet new but unknown learning trajectories for student and teacher learning.
Job-Embedded Professional Learning
Job-embedded professional learning is steeped in content, focuses on the ways in which adults learn, and includes such supports as coaching. Job-embedded professional learning can continue in the virtual space—in other words, learning for adults does not have to be limited or confined by time or space. Teachers can plug in anytime, anywhere. Perhaps, as schools and school life normalize, so too will job-embedded professional learning to fit new structures.
It is whimsical to think that a formula or model for achieving a new type of job-embedded professional learning could be developed. It is hardly realistic to think that such lockstep models could be nimble enough to encompass and address the needs of all teachers across a globe where customs, cultures, policies, and working arrangements all differ.
There are, however, key foundations that support embedding professional learning that is responsive to teacher growth and development, regardless of time or space. These key foundations actively engage teachers in learning from their work and their colleagues, whether they are across the hall or on a different continent.
Coherence Ensures Purposefulness
Coherence is the centerpiece to all professional job-embedded learning. Foundational approaches ensure coherence by offering and solidifying opportunities for teachers to make sense of their learning before, during, and after formal professional learning. For professional job-embedded learning to promote coherence, three foundational approaches are offered.
- Coaching: Teachers who create innovative learning environments for students experiment with practice. Teachers learn by examining the impact of their efforts. A colleague can observe practice and give feedback, not as an evaluator but as a friendly critic. Teachers who coach need to engage in conversations situated in practice.
- Collaborative conversations: Teachers need to engage in conversations that allow them to look deeply at their practices based on how students are learning—or not. In other words, teachers need to make sense of their learning situated in the context of their classroom.
- Reflection and inquiry: Reflection—serious thought about professional practice—thrives in an atmosphere where teachers are free to make decisions about their own learning based on the realities of their situations. Reflecting with a colleague enables teachers to ask questions, challenge one another’s ideas, and think through ways in which they can improve their practices.
As schools continue with changing trajectories, we much look ahead and learn more about how teachers connect with colleagues—from within and external to their school sites. New applications and technologies can support more active approaches that foster collaborative, job-embedded learning opportunities.
Today’s blogger is Sally J. Zepeda, a Professor in the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy at the University of Georgia. Her book—Job-Embedded Professional Development: Support, Collaboration, and Learning in Schools (3rd ed., Routledge)—situates teachers and other school personnel at the front of the class with its exploration of job-embedded professional learning. Her article (coauthored by Feiye Wang and Sevda Yildirim), “Professional Learning: Views from China, Turkey, and the United States,” appears in the January 2022 issue of the Kappa Delta Pi Record. Get free access to the article through the month of February.