Expanding Our Reach Through Professional Learning

From the outset, the Institute prioritized efforts that seek to support and develop the knowledge, skills, and well-being of those who care for and educate young children. The activities of the Superintendents’ Plan, including PD for All, are an important part of these efforts, but they represent only a fraction of the work the Institute does to support professional learning among the early childhood workforce. Ongoing efforts in research, practice, policy, and outreach across the Institute, including several initiatives of the Institute’s signature program, Elevating the Early Childhood Workforce (see Chapter 5), are designed to support the professional development of the workforce. To facilitate a cross-unit, cross-disciplinary approach to professional learning, the Institute established a new unit, Professional Learning, in 2019. The goals of the unit are threefold:

• To collaborate across the Institute by focusing on strategies used to implement evidencebased practices and enhancing cross-disciplinary use of applied research and experience to change practice and build professional capacity.

• To develop, disseminate, and support the implementation of multi-modal methods of professional development designed to increase the capacities of schools and communitybased programs to reduce and/or eliminate income- and race-based disparities in opportunity and social, cognitive, and academic outcomes among young children.

• Working with university, state, and national partners, collaboratively lead initiatives that will increase the knowledge, skills, and well-being of the early childhood workforce and other professionals in Nebraska and beyond. Develop strategic, capacity-building competence in the workforce in areas of teaching, learning, leadership, family partnerships, and community connections.

To address these goals, the Institute is developing a variety of new professional learning opportunities. Key areas of focus include:

• Diversifying delivery methods for professional learning. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nebraska early childhood professionals made clear that they were interested in a 21st-century approach to quality professional learning in formats that more effectively support their learning and development. In response, the Institute is increasingly using social media (e.g., Twitter chats, infographics, short videos) to implement a microlearning strategy. Microlearning is the use of “bite-sized (chunked), well-planned modules and short-term learning activities.”132(p. 385) Using social media for microlearning provides flexible and self-paced learning opportunities that fit teachers’ daily demands and leverage local expertise. Furthermore, the Institute will offer and support cohorts or communities of practice for educators who would like to extend topics of interest by coming together to engage in reciprocal learning, both in the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties and beyond.

• Supporting the development of future early childhood educators. In addition to offering professional learning to those who are in the early childhood workforce, the Institute will partner with university faculty to support the development of future early childhood educators, with a focus on cultivating and promoting equity-minded early childhood professionals. This work is taking place in conjunction with UNL’s Racial Literacy Roundtable, which plans and delivers virtual professional learning sessions for pre-service teachers to help them develop their “racial literacy” skills and strengthen their sociocultural interactions in PreK–3 classrooms.

• Supporting professional learning within the Institute. The learning and development of Buffett Institute staff is critical to advancing and enhancing our skill sets and knowledge as we pursue this work together. The Professional Learning unit will continue to design and facilitate learning opportunities for Institute colleagues that support the priorities articulated in the Institute’s strategic plan. These learning experiences will include lunch and learn presentations to share staff expertise and project updates, book studies linked to strategic plan values and goals, and presentations from experts and partners.

• Expanding the role of the early childhood workforce in improving Nebraska’s early childhood systems. The Institute helps create the conditions necessary for early childhood professionals from across settings to learn and grow from and with each other, in the classroom and beyond. A primary example of this is the Nebraska Early Childhood Leadership Cadre—which represents increased collaboration within the Institute and authentic engagement with the early childhood workforce. More information about the cadre is provided in the next chapter (see p. 114), which focuses on Elevating the Early Childhood Workforce.