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Tannye Stewart

Grand Canyon University

Course Number: EAD-513

Instructor’s Name: Dr. Daniel Williams

Assignment Due Date: January 12, 2022

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Establishing a Continuous Professional Learning Culture

1. How will professional learning topics be evaluated for relevance and worthiness

prior to being shared?

Before professional learning topics are shared with anyone, they will need to be

evaluated. The evaluation will include a professional needs survey being administered,

updated data examination, and required conferences. The purpose of these measures is to

ensure all professional development meetings are valuable and useful to all that require

them.

Changes are always being made at the beginning, middle, and end of the school

year. However, these changes must be monitored and need to be implemented

appropriately. This is where PD seminars become fantastic opportunities. It is

understandable that some PD seminars are required by the school system but attending

additional PD seminars can provide valuable resources and learning experiences.

Administering a professional needs survey to the school faculty at the beginning

of the school year will provide administrators with information regarding where time and

finances should be distributed for professional learning improvement. For example, a

Pre-K teacher that is moved to first grade will most likely require various PD seminars

that cover a range of topics that would be beneficial to him/her for the transition.

Many school districts strongly rely on data trends and the results of state tests,

which indicates whether a plan is working or not. By using these data trends, the school

can select relevant PD seminars for their teachers to attend. The topics covered at these

seminars should meet the needs of the teachers and provide them with valuable resources

and strategies.
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Conferences should be set up and required for the school staff to attend. For

example, improved teaching strategies can only be implemented correctly if these

conferences discuss the current/new curriculum and modified state standards.

2. How will the professional learning be shared?

Professional learning will be shared in a variety of ways. These different ways

include professional learning communities (PLC’s), volunteer opportunities (PTO), and

professional development days.

Each grade has a chairperson that represents their entire grade. The chairperson

attends leadership meetings to support communication amongst the teachers and

administrators. The chairperson shares all information gathered at these meetings with

their grade-level teachers during PLC’s. The information gathered includes all materials

and supplemental resources discussed and provided during the leadership meetings. PD

days include all important information received at the leadership meetings.

All grade-level chairpersons from all the grades will get together and share what

they have learned and their different opinions/ideas. With approval from an

administrator, teachers can set up training session opportunities where they can share

information with each other. Teachers can create Google slides that have helpful

resources and materials that can be shared and utilized for future use. The teacher led

sessions can be recorded and uploaded so others can review the material later in the

future (Briggs, 2018). All these sharing methods will provide useful information to other

faculty members and allow them to have the materials/resources readily available to them

at most times.
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Open communication is important because it assists teachers in sharing different

topics with each other, selecting PD presenters to speak at their school, and helping each

other improve in the education department.

3. How will the shared information be applied or implemented into professional

practice?

Shared information will be implemented into professional practice via lesson

plans and instruction. PD meetings will hold discussions on how shared information can

be utilized during the next PLC.

Administrators will expect teachers to be held accountable for their actions and

ensure that all lessons plans and instruction aligns with student growth and positive

outcomes. After information has been shared during PLC’s, the teachers take what they

have learned and implement those strategies into their own lessons.

Administrators encourage teachers to meet and discuss any changes they wish to

make to lessons plans and/or instruction before implementing anything in their

classrooms. Lesson plans for the following week must be submitted the Friday before so

administrators can review what precisely teachers would like to implement in their

classrooms for the betterment of their students.

Administrators will conduct brief observations weekly to ensure instruction and

procedures learned from previous PD seminars are being implemented correctly.

4. How will teachers provide reflective feedback on what they implemented into

professional practice?

During grade-level PLC meetings twice a week, the agenda should set aside time

for teachers to reflect on the topics/strategies they implemented in their classrooms. The
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teachers can give feedback on what worked, did not work, or needs to be improved upon.

PLCs are meant to be a safe place for everyone to express their feelings, ideas, strengths,

and weakness without fearing ridicule.

PLCs are held with the goal for teachers to share with administrators what they

believe their goals, strengths, and weaknesses are and how to guarantee student success

and growth.

Reflective feedback will also occur during grade-level meetings led by the grade’s

chairperson where everyone can collaborate with one another. Teachers can talk about

their teaching experiences at the meetings. Teachers can discuss what strategies worked

well for them in the classrooms and which did not. By collaborating with each other,

teachers can create better-quality lesson plans.

Teachers will schedule a conference with administrators two times a year to set

personal/professional goals and discuss how to properly implement them. Furthermore,

all classroom walk-throughs must be followed by a meeting with an administrator to

receive beneficial feedback. During these meetings, teachers are encouraged to reflect on

their actions and identify what their needs/wants are and how that can lead to professional

growth.

5. What is an appropriate timeline for sharing information, implementing concepts,

and monitoring professional learning outcomes?

It can be difficult to find an appropriate timeline for sharing information,

implementing concepts, and monitoring professional learning outcomes. It is imperative

that all three stages of the timeline are equalized.

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Teachers can easily feel overwhelmed and pressured when demands and

expectations are placed upon them. Teachers can feel worse when they are suddenly

expected to implement something new within their classrooms. Therefore, it is important

to set realistic expectations. Not only will the teachers feel less overwhelmed, but

students will benefit from this as well.

New concepts should be implemented gradually. After teachers attend their PD

seminar, the information gathered should be shared with other faculty members within

two weeks of attending the seminar. Then, the information conveyed should be used

during planning periods and in the classrooms. To ensure everything is being correctly

implemented, administrators will review lessons plans and conduct observations during

weekly classroom walk-throughs.

Monitoring student growth and progress is an on-going process. Student success,

growth, and goals can be met if the instructional strategies and resources are consistently

being implemented correctly.

Rationale

Teachers need to collaborate during PLCs to enhance their teaching experiences and

develop effective learning strategies that assist in student growth. Collaboration, reflective

feedback, and shared information should be an important part of PLC’s. PLCs are successful

when teachers share their best teaching strategies, collaborate in a positive school culture setting,

and strive to improve student learning and have them meet their goals (Serviss, 2019).

To support growth and continuous improvement, PLCs should be a safe place where

teachers feel heard and respected. In these PLC’s, teachers should self-reflect and come up with
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ideas on how to further develop student achievement. Educators can learn from each other

through collaboration (Serviss, 2019).

“Learning from others in your PLC allows you to reflect on ways to enhance your

teaching and to adjust your practice. The more minds that come together from different

backgrounds, the more likely we are to add value and purpose to the field of education. When

PLC’s come together, they must focus their efforts on questions related to learning and create

products with the end result of answering questions that lead to student achievement. Student

success must be the focus of the PLC collaboration” (Serviss, 2019).

Collaborating in the education system is essential. Administrators are consistently

concerned with a lack of resources, a limited budget and the short time allotted to them to show

progress. Teachers deserve to be provided with relevant teaching strategies and various PD

seminars on a regular basis. Teachers should never stop learning and should continue to improve

themselves and their teaching practices. Therefore, it is imperative content leaders be present at

PD seminars to impart their knowledge and experiences. By paying for their teachers to attend

content leader PD seminars, the school district is saving money by not having to hire presenters

to lead the seminars all the time.

“Teachers really like the any place, anytime delivery mechanism of online, but it needs to

include a human touch component” (Briggs, 2018). Teachers have the option to utilize the

internet and all its resources to enhance their teaching whenever they want. Human relationships

are strengthened when faculty members collaborate with one another.

Some teachers have complained that the PD seminars set up by their administrators are

useless and a waste of money and time. Teachers should be more involved during these

seminars. They should participate in discussions and base their arguments upon the professional
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needs surveys and the data collected. When administrators allow teachers to actively participate

and support their ideas, trust is slowly built.

Ultimately, PD seminars and training could be done virtually. Virtual seminars would

allow teachers to communicate with other teachers around the world. These on-going virtual

seminars will keep teachers updated on current teaching practices, resources, and data-led

research. In addition, virtual seminars allow educators to catch a glimpse of other schools around

the world and how effective their school system is while on a limited budget (Serviss, 2019).
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References

Briggs, L. L. (2018). 7 ways to maximize professional learning: Take advantage of technology to

help teachers advance. District Administration, 54(9), 84.

Serviss, J. (2019, November 6). 4 benefits of an active professional learning community.

Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.iste.org/explore/professional-

development/4-benefits-active-professional-learning-community