Professional Development Benefits Teachers and Students
“It’s so important to continually ‘sharpen the saw’ in order to be the most effective teacher you can be.”
“It’s great to get information that you can take into your class and use immediately. . . . My students and I are all benefitting.”
That’s how two pleased educators view the two and a half hours each week that every teacher at Principia School spends engaged in structured, in-house professional development. This time includes an hour before classes start on Thursday mornings (while students are enjoying a “sleep in”) and an additional session after class on Monday afternoons.
Most of these sessions are led by Upper School Assistant Principal Peter Dry, supported by Director of Teaching and Learning Jane Rieder. Since the start of the academic year in August, a key focus has been on reviewing, revising, and documenting the academic curriculum to ensure that it is meeting the needs of twenty-first-century learners. According to Mr. Dry, this ongoing, iterative process helps ensure “a common planning framework and a common language about teaching, learning, and assessment across the School,” which benefits continuity between grades and across levels.
Naturally, the process has also sparked discussion and a deeper exploration of what actually constitutes twenty-first-century skills, with the team often referring to the groundbreaking work of Dr. Tony Wagner of Harvard University’s Innovation Lab. Wagner’s extensive research with business, nonprofit, and educational leaders indicates that, more than graduates with deep technical knowledge or “hard” skills, employers are looking for individuals who “can ask good questions,” know “how to think,” and are effective communicators.
The emphasis on thinking skills is, of course, a key Principia policy, which affirms the institution’s dedication to “training its students to think—and to think clearly, vigorously, fearlessly, tolerantly, unselfishly.” In fact, these characteristics of deeper thinking are embodied in what Wagner has identified as the “seven survival skills” today’s students need in order to thrive in the future:
- Critical thinking and problem solving
- Collaboration and leadership
- Agility and adaptability
- Initiative and entrepreneurialism
- Effective oral and written communication
- Accessing and analyzing information
- Curiosity and imagination
With these emphases in thought, Principia teachers at all levels are rethinking and reviewing their approach to framing “essential learning questions” that will get students to this deeper level. Working in subject- or level-specific groups, the teachers develop, refine, and critique unit plans based on the essential questions and expected student outcomes.
In many cases, the approaches themselves may not be new to faculty members, but the twice-weekly emphasis is. As one teacher puts it, “It’s ‘in our face’ every week, and that’s a good thing,” adding that “being more intentional, more extrinsic, and more open to taking risks has probably been the biggest outcome for me from [this process].”
The School is also enhancing in-house professional development with targeted external resources. Five teachers are currently pursuing master’s degrees, and one administrator is seeking a terminal degree. In most such cases, Principia provides financial support.
Another, broader example is February’s Midwest Educational Technology Conference (METC), attended by 12 faculty and staff. Three Upper School teachers—Jodi Fielding (English 1), Kathy Foy (Physics 1), and Sheila Hobson (Algebra 1)—delivered a presentation about their experience teaching freshmen. Titled “Flying High with Interdisciplinary Learning,” the presentation shared how they weave aspects of the arts and humanities into the math and physics curriculum.