5 Ways To Make Teacher Professional Development Effective [With Examples]

Every educator has at least one tale of a teacher professional development session gone wrong. But how can you avoid those mistakes?

It’s difficult to plan and execute creative opportunities for teachers to continue to build their skills. Many school leaders will admit that professional development is the last thing on their mind in the middle of a busy school day.

If you want to improve teacher professional development and build a positive school culture, this post is for you. You’ll find:

What is teacher professional development?

Teacher professional development is any type of continuing education effort for educators. It’s one way teachers can improve their skills and, in turn, boost student outcomes.

Learning can take place in formal or informal settings. Formal settings include conferences, courses, seminars, retreats and workshops. Informal opportunities for teacher professional development include independent research or investigation, peer learning initiatives or even just chatting with a colleague in the staff room.

Professional development for teachers takes place on a number of different levels: district-wide, among teachers in a given school, or even on a classroom or individual basis.

Why is teacher professional development important?

It affects student learning

It’s obvious that good teachers are better at teaching students effectively. When teachers have access to continuous learning opportunities and professional development resources, they’re better equipped to become good teachers — especially if their students have learning needs or are performing below or above grade level.

Student achievement should be the ultimate goal of any teacher professional development activities. Hayes Mitchell of Leaning Forward, a professional development organization, writes:

“The most effective professional development engages teams of teachers to focus on the needs of their students. They learn and problem solve together in order to ensure all students achieve success.”

It encourages the success of new teachers

According to one study, a third of teachers leave the profession within three years, and half of teachers leave within five years.

While there are a number of explanations for this statistic, there is no substitute for hands-on experience when it comes to effective classroom teaching. Teachers spend their whole careers developing new skills in response to the challenges they encounter, but new teachers haven’t had a chance to build their own resources.

Professional development can help new and experienced teachers develop the skills they need to feel confident in the classroom. Effective professional development helps teachers shape career-long learning.

It promotes a growth mindset

Thoughtful, targeted teacher professional development opportunities boost student outcomes and promote a growth mindset.

Teacher professional development encourages teachers to be active participants in their own learning, and ensures that students and teachers alike are eager to learn. When you provide learning and support for your teachers, you communicate that the school community values the work they do and wants them to grow.

A lack of professional development resources for teachers can be discouraging. It communicates that you don’t want to invest in the quality of teaching and puts more stress on teachers to develop their skills alone.

How to make teacher professional development effective and engaging

There are lots of challenges to running an effective teacher professional development session: time, money, engagement, effectiveness, and more. While the challenges may be daunting, they shouldn’t stop you from creating opportunities for your teachers to deepen their understanding.