Data Discoveries

“Any time I’m put in a position where I can learn, I’m very excited and eager to learn and know how I can make that applicable into my classroom.”

Those words, written by a Region 10 teacher, reflect the views of most of our teachers, according to the yearlong research study conducted by Region 10 on what teachers believe about their own professional learning.

At Region 10, we wanted to be sure we were on the right track with the support and learning experiences we provide for teachers. When we dug into previous research, we were surprised at what we found--or didn’t find! No Child Left Behind (NCLB) focused the spotlight on professional development (PD) more than two decades ago, but in all that time, only 23 studies have been conducted on teachers’ reflections about their own learning. Since teachers are the best source of information about what they think, we recruited a broad section of them (more than 400) from diverse grade levels, types of schools, experience levels, and backgrounds, and we asked them! We started with an anonymous survey and followed up by conducting semi-structured interviews with six different focus groups. Here’s part of what we learned.

Region 10 teachers are eager to learn and grow.

The overwhelming majority of study participants (99%) stated that they believe formal professional development is an important part of their growth as educators. In our sample, teachers at Title I schools were slightly more eager for professional development opportunities than teachers at non- Title I campuses, but all subgroups expressed favorable views. Many of the teachers in our study reported that they attend professional learning events at their own expense because they value the potential benefits they see for their teaching practices.

A high school teacher who participated in one of our focus groups stated it perfectly: “As educators, we’re all lifelong learners. I don’t know a single educator who does not have a growth mindset when it comes to their classroom.”

Teachers, like their students, need time to collaborate and process.

When asked an open-ended question to discuss the most helpful trait of a good professional development session, 51% of our survey participants wrote that they need time to engage with the content of the session and a chance to talk about it with peers. Focus group participants mentioned it a total of 71 times--far more than they mentioned any other single aspect of professional development.

This comment by a focus group participant reflects the opinions that were expressed to us by many Region 10 educators: “Whenever you just get up in front of a class and just say, Well, this is what you’re gonna do. How many kids actually understand? We have to model it. We have to! We do it together… [We say,] 'We’re gonna have a practice run first, and then I’m going to set you off.' And I feel like PD should be that way, too.”

Likewise, another teacher conveyed her need for “the opportunity to plan a lesson or make a quiz or implement whatever it is that we are learning about into practice within the very same PD session.”

Those of us who plan professional development for teachers sometimes feel as though we should pack as much information as we can into every minute of the session. It would serve our teachers better to give them, as one elementary teacher said, “the time to assess my own teaching practice outside the classroom with like-minded colleagues.”

The first step in planning PD should be asking teachers what they need.

When we began our study, we knew there was very little research on teachers’ opinions of PD. When we started asking teachers for their points of view, they were eager, excited, and a little surprised. One participant stated, “As a professional, I know the areas of growth I need. I’m glad someone is asking.”

Bragging about his own district, one seasoned teacher said during a focus group discussion, “I’ve been a part of districts where...they surveyed the teachers and asked, ‘What is it you’re lacking? What is it that you feel you want to learn?’ And then they would put things together for PD to address that. Those for me were some of the most beneficial PDs because I was able to say, ‘OK, I know I need this, and that’s what I want to do.’”

That’s just a sampling of what we learned from our study. John Steinbeck wrote, “Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.” After gathering the insights of teachers across Region 10, we’re convinced we have some master artists.