The learning never ends

The first time I stepped into a classroom as a teacher, I knew I was in for a tough year. It had been drummed into me that the first year is always a challenge and not to judge my potential as a teacher by that first year. Still, I thought I had a basic grip on how to do the job. If I didn’t, why would I be given full charge of a classroom?

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What I didn’t understand at the time is how much learning happens on the job and how the best teachers never stop learning. I mistakenly believed that teaching is a stable practice — you learn the ropes and go. Maybe you add some new ideas here and there, but the basics are the basics. Once you have them down, you’re good.

In their study of the lasting effects of professional development, Judith Haymore Sandholtz, Cathy Ringstaff, and Jessica Triant found that teacher learning doesn’t work that way. Without follow-up support, it can degrade over time. The good news is that the follow-up supports don’t have to be as extensive as the initial learning.

Throughout this issue of Kappan, authors describe how teachers need to keep learning throughout their career. And the nature of the learning might vary, depending on the school context and the teachers’ needs. As Ann Mausbach and Kim Morrison Kazsmierczak explain in their article, the best professional development offers the same kind of differentiation that teachers offer to their students. It meets teachers where they are and helps them get to where they need to go. Geoffrey Schuerman and Michael Yell share how they created their own professional development, aligned to their specific needs and interests. As their partnership as a university professor and a middle school teacher grew, they were able to expand their work across their respective schools. And Aleta Margolis tells us that professional development must help teachers build on the challenges they experience every day, just as skilled improv actors build on the work of their scene partners.

Professional development and teacher education programs also must take into consideration the needs of educators who have too often been sidelined. We know that the education profession remains predominately white, even as our student population grows ever more diverse. If we want students to have teachers they can relate to and who understand their experiences, we need to embrace the perspectives of teachers of color. Christopher J. Cormier, Elizabeth Bettini, and Kristabel Stark describe the double bind that many teachers of color face as they navigate predominately white professional spaces. And Jalene Tamerat and Clifford Lee tell us that educators of color can be a valuable resource to our schools and our students. We need to make sure they have space to develop as professionals and that white educators are willing to learn from them.

Any effort to diversify the profession must look at the barriers that keep people from entering the profession in the first place. That’s what the Connecticut Teacher Residency Program did. Violet Jiménez Sims, Kerry Lord, Marlene Megos, and Ushawnda Mitchell share how their program helped reduce the financial and other burdens that kept noncertified professionals in their districts from pursuing teacher certification. Their grow-your-own program also eased these new professionals into their roles, giving them a year of residency, plus extensive mentoring support over three years. Programs like this make it clear from the beginning that teachers’ learning doesn’t stop once they have their own classroom. It’s an ongoing practice.

This article appears in the May 2023 issue of Kappan, Vol. 104, No. 8, p. 4.