A DIY Approach to Professional Development for Principals

Ideally, professional development for administrators is a team activity, with colleagues in leadership positions providing each other feedback, building shared understandings, and collaboratively devising best practices. In practice, however, many school leaders are left to their own devices, circumstances requiring them to learn on their own.

Part of the problem is the organization of schools: While every school is characterized by a cadre of teachers able to participate in professional learning together, the principal is a solitary figure, often paired with just one assistant principal. The complexity of schooling imposes another impediment: Even when schools sit just a short walk apart, their organizational structures, cultures, and day-to-day realities are uniquely their own, which makes it hard for professional development programs to lend transferable skills. One solution is for principals to develop a DIY (do-it-yourself) approach to their professional development plan that meets their school’s unique needs.

7 Ways to Build Your Own Professional Development Program

One-size-fits-all approaches to school leader professional learning fail to address individual principal needs. National opinion polls of principals reveal widespread dissatisfaction with training organized by school districts. Principals are not asked for input when planning their professional development, a significant deficiency considering that research demonstrates that high-quality learning must lead to practices that a school leader can apply back in school the next day.

1. Prioritize learning. As longtime school leaders, we found that our days were controlled by our calendars. To overcome this, we designated a time slot for professional development on our schedules, and instructed our administrative support staff and vice principals to avoid interruptions unless a genuine emergency arose. The exact time slot depends on the ebb and flow of an individual principal’s typical week; a two-hour window on alternating Fridays might work.

2. Set annual goals. A second step in prioritizing professional development is to be intentional by setting annual professional learning goals. Here are some examples of annual professional growth goals:

• This year, I will study the following perennial issue in my school...
• This year, I will improve this leadership practice...
• This year, I will investigate the future of... in schools.
• This year, I will consult with the following people... to understand the issue of... from a variety of perspectives.

3. Try reciprocal peer coaching. As we reflect on our decades of school and district leadership, we have come to realize that we were largely on our own in honing certain routine yet critical administrative skills, such as clinical observation feedback, parent conferences, or leading faculty meetings. As Yogi Berra, baseball player and commoner’s philosopher, noted, “You can observe a lot by just watching.” We suggest forming a partnership with a respected colleague. Arrange to observe each other practicing leadership skills, followed by discussions to dissect techniques. Consider ongoing monthly sessions focused on a particular leadership skill set.

4. Take a field trip. Hop in your car for an offsite, the corporate term for an out-of-building retreat. Sometimes acquiring new perspectives requires a physical departure from one’s accustomed environment and point of view. If leaving school is tough, go online—the internet enables school leaders to travel, virtually. A few examples follow:

• Tour colleagues’ schools nearby to observe model programs in action. Reciprocate the visit a month later, offering to play host to the other school’s principal.
• Visit “feeder schools” (e.g., elementary schools in the case of a middle school) to better understand transitions that children experience as they progress to the next school.
• Browse the websites of schools, particularly those outside the local region, to discover how these communities address similar concerns to yours.
• Sub for another principal, an idea suggested in another Edutopia article. Acting as principal for a day in another school, author Jessica Cabeen discovered, “reinforced the strengths of my own school, reminded me to revisit a few practices when I returned, and sparked fresh ideas.”

5. Look closer to home. You don’t need to leave the building to embark on an exploration. Launch a targeted learning walk around the building, choosing “look fors” in advance. For example, you could decide to look for evidence of teacher questioning to prompt higher-level reasoning in classrooms.

You could also shadow a student to observe their academic and social experience up close and firsthand. Seth chose students to shadow by randomly picking the name out of a hat. The child’s parent was called to explain and obtain permission. To expand the scope of this practice, share your observations with faculty. Shadowing a student one morning led to a faculty meeting discussion of fidget balls: Why were students using them, and should the practice be encouraged?

6. Interview experts. Pick the brains of youth and adult experts on your school.

• During the holiday season, when many college students return home, invite former students to join a panel exploring significant memories of your school and how well they felt prepared for their subsequent school and life journey. Pro tip: Serving pizza increases the participation rate.
• Consider faculty members who may have a unique perspective, such as teachers who were themselves English as a second language students or first-generation college students. Ask them to offer an informed perspective on how they would assess the experience of students in your school today.
• Identify experts in the community you may call in for a big-picture conversation. Some examples are child psychologists to probe community mental health issues, pediatricians to ascertain a developmental perspective, and nutritionists to sample lunch in the cafeteria and evaluate menu offerings. You might assume that professionals would be hesitant, since you can’t offer remuneration, but we’ve discovered they jump at the opportunity to help their local schools.

7. Maintain a professional development journal. A journal is an effective vehicle giving shape to new learning. A Psychology Today article cites a multitude of benefits to journaling that are both emotional (stress reduction, enhanced motivation and mental health) and performance-based (improved creativity, memory, self-awareness, relationships, productivity, and sense of accomplishment). Journals are a space to record anything you want to remember and maybe return to. Ideas need not be fully formed; one of the prime advantages of journaling is its role in germinating one’s thinking from seed to seedling. For example, you can use them to do the following:

• Record notes
• Compose personal reflections
• Jot inspirational quotes

A digital journal or note on your phone allows you to post screenshots of favorite reading passages or photos of meaningful moments, perhaps from a model lesson in progress. You can also include links to vital professional articles or webinars.

We urge school leaders to view professional learning as a precious time to pursue passion projects, find the roots of perennial problems, enhance professional practice in meaningful areas, and envision the kind of learning tomorrow’s world will require of today’s students. The term principal derived from the original job title, principal teacher. DIY professional development may engender an enriched conception of the administrator’s role: the principal as the school’s learner in chief.