Effective Ways to Facilitate PD for Teacher Growth

Sometimes, professional development (PD) can feel like something teachers have to do instead of something they look forward to experiencing. However, when it’s framed as a personalized and relevant opportunity grounded in meaningful goals, there’s a shift in perspective. When PD is aligned with individual teacher and broader school goals, it has the power to energize educators, strengthen instruction, and foster collaboration.

As teachers continually learn and refine their practice, students benefit. Part of my role as director of studies is to design and facilitate PD for teachers. I always make sure to focus on how to maximize growth in a way that benefits the individual and the community. This means being intentional, aligning experiences with goals and needs, creating time and space for collaboration, leveraging internal expertise, and ensuring that teachers have a voice in the process.

Connect PD Opportunities to Identified Needs

Designing effective PD opportunities starts with knowing teachers’ strengths and determining potential for growth through teacher observations, frequent touch points, feedback, reflection, and goal development. Each year, teachers set individual goals connected to their own professional aspirations, interests, and student needs. These goals, alongside observations that offer instructional insight, department chair input about content specific needs, and schoolwide priorities and initiatives, provide a road map for how each teacher can continue to grow and develop through PD.

Whenever possible, I provide a range of PD opportunities such as workshops, online courses, conferences, teacher-led PD, schoolwide speakers, etc., and reach out to teachers with various opportunities based on their goals. The balance of guidance and autonomy helps ensure that the experience feels empowering and relevant.

Some of the most powerful PD happens within our school through both traditional facilitated sessions and observation days. In-house PD sessions are designed to be directly relevant and connected to what teachers are experiencing in their classrooms and the needs of our specific students. This can take shape as a session that I lead for teachers based on school initiatives or one that’s teacher-led where they share their expertise with each other.

Schools have a wealth of expertise within a faculty. Creating space for teachers to share their highlights builds a culture of trust and collaboration among faculty. Teachers are often more willing to try something new when they see it from a colleague, and by sharing their ideas, they’re also getting their own PD in leading and presenting.

When this PD is connected to goals, it creates an opportunity for sustained learning instead of a one-off workshop. Building on themes we have learned over time allows for ongoing conversations, follow-up sessions, and opportunities to reflect.

Prioritize Teacher Observations

One of the most transformative structures that I’ve recently implemented is a system for everyone to participate in teacher observation days. All new teachers to our school complete this day within the first few months of school. Teachers in their third renewal cycle year complete their day in late winter to early spring. On these days, teachers are given a full day to observe their colleagues while a substitute covers their classes.

I carefully plan these days by creating individualized schedules based on teacher goals, areas for growth, and the strengths I have observed in their classrooms. The impact has been profound. Teachers gain insights into effective practices, see students in new environments, strengthen relationships and community with colleagues, and return to their classrooms with new ideas and renewed energy. Perhaps most important, these experiences spark meaningful reflection and ongoing collaboration.

Offer Leadership Opportunities and Select Relevant Guest Speakers

PD can also be used to cultivate leadership within a faculty. One way that I support teachers to work toward leadership goals is by encouraging them to apply to present at conferences. This shows them that they are leaders even if they don’t see themselves that way yet. The process of developing a proposal requires deep reflection on one’s practice and a willingness to share with others, and it can transform everyday teaching experiences into professional expertise.

I’ve actively encouraged many teachers to apply for conference presentations and support them through the process, from brainstorming ideas to refining proposals to simply sending them emails with opportunities to apply. In my experience, as more teachers present at local and national conferences, a ripple effect occurs, and others begin to see the possibility for themselves. I make it a priority to present at one conference each year, to continue my own growth and model the commitment to professional learning. These experiences build confidence, deepen expertise, and show teachers their potential to impact others.

Sometimes, attending a conference is better aligned to a teacher’s goals than presenting at one. Going to a conference exposes teachers to new ideas and research; diverse perspectives; and time to reflect, think creatively, and connect with fellow educators. Because travel is often part of the experience, it isn’t always possible to send everyone to every conference that would be good for them.

I work toward maximizing impact within a budget and align conference opportunities with teacher and school goals. When selecting guest speakers, I look for opportunities to deepen existing school initiatives and provide fresh perspectives that we wouldn’t be able to replicate in-house. Inviting authors of books written for middle-grades students, in particular, creates a dual-impact experience. Teachers engage in professional learning connected to the author’s work, while students benefit from meaningful interactions and shared experiences. These visits create a common group and spark conversations that extend across curriculum and grade levels.

PD, feedback, and goal setting are all integral parts of the systems designed within a school. Education is consistently evolving, students’ needs shift, research advances, and needs change. To meet these challenges, teachers need opportunities to learn, reflect, and grow. When systems are created to support this, we empower teachers to do their best work. When teachers grow, students thrive.