A meeting to establish a teacher’s professional growth plan goal can either be a perfunctory activity to be checked of the “to do list” or the start of a year-long do — reflect — apply cycle that generates professional learning. Ask these questions at the end of the planning meeting:
- Does the teacher own the goal?
- Is there something they’re curious about?
- Have they identified something they want to learn rather than simply something they want to accomplish?
- Do they know what evidence they’ll examine?
- Are they leaving the conversation thinking more deeply than when they entered it?
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Podcast Transcript:
[00:00:00.340] – Steve [Intro]
Welcome to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast. As instructional coaches and school leaders, you are tasked with guiding continuous teacher growth to create student success. This podcast looks to support you with strategies from experienced guests, as well as my own insights that I’ve gathered over the years. I’m thrilled to have you with us. Thanks for tuning in.
[00:00:29.960] – Steve
More Than Setting a Goal: Turning Professional Growth Plans into Professional Learning. One of the beginning-of-the-year activities in many schools is for teachers to sit down with their administrator and set a professional growth goal. In most cases, teachers are then expected to work on the goal throughout the year and gather evidence of progress. There’s usually some expectation that the principal will observe formally or informally during the year with the teacher’s goal in mind. And near the end of the year, a conference around the results is held. I’m currently working with a team of district principals to explore their roles in this process. Our starting point looks at the initial conversation with the teacher to identify the goal. Here’s what the district requires of teachers and administrators. The focus area goal meeting is where the educator and the administrator will review a self-evaluation that the teacher completed and collaboratively document a goal which will identify specific criteria on the district’s effective teacher rubric that the teacher will focus on in order to develop more effective teaching and learning practices with students. This focus area goal meeting can either be a perfunctory activity to be checked off the to-do list or the start of a year-long do, reflect, apply cycle that truly generates professional learning.
[00:02:25.790] – Steve
That distinction brings me back to a statement frequently attributed to John Dewey: “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” Whether or not Dewey wrote those exact words in that exact form, is debated. The concept, though, runs throughout his work. One, experience alone does not guarantee learning. Two, reflection turns experience into learning. Three, inquiry begins when we encounter uncertainty. As an instructional coach or school leader, supporting teachers’ continuous growth is a key responsibility of yours. So what needs to happen in a PGP goal-setting meeting to increase the likelihood that the process generates teacher learning rather than teacher compliance? Let’s approach our planning backwards. These questions may help identify desired meeting outcomes: Does the teacher own the goal? Is there something they’re curious about? Have they identified something they want to learn rather than simply something they want to accomplish? Do they know the evidence they’ll be examining? Are they leaving the conversation thinking more deeply than when they entered the conversation? If those are the outcomes we want, what does the leader need to do? And perhaps just as importantly, what does the leader need to resist doing during the conversation?
[00:04:24.570] – Steve
First, be a thinking partner. Leading with Curiosity: Questions and Deep Listening. A thinking partner is not primarily trying to fix the teacher’s problem, approve the goal, or steer the teacher toward the answer the leader already has in mind. A thinking partner is working to help the teacher clarify what matters, examine assumptions, identify possibilities, and make thoughtful decisions. That means leading with curiosity. Instead of quickly deciding, “Here’s what this teacher should work on,” the leader is wondering, “What is this teacher seeing? What are they concerned about? What are they hoping will be different for students? What do they already know and where is is the uncertainty. Questions are important, but questions alone don’t make someone a thinking partner. The quality of the next question depends on the quality of listening that came before it. Deep listening means listening not only to the teacher’s words, but also for beliefs, concerns, intentions, confidence, and commitment. That is where paraphrasing becomes important. A paraphrase can help the teacher hear and refine their own thinking. Imagine a teacher says, “I’d like to focus on students taking more responsibility. I feel like I’m spending more and more time managing students.” A coach might paraphrase the concern: “It sounds like that’s become increasingly frustrating for you.” Or paraphrase an intention: “You’re hoping students can take greater responsibility so that you can spend less time managing.”
[00:06:29.960] – Steve
Or perhaps confirm a belief: “You believe changing student behaviors rather than simply changing management techniques is where the greatest leverage lies.” Notice that paraphrasing isn’t simply repeating the teacher’s words. You’re listening for the meaning underneath the words and offering it back for confirmation. The teacher may say, “Exactly!” or she may say, “Not quite. What I mean is…” Either response generates greater clarity. A good paraphrase helps the teacher hear, clarify, and extend their own thinking. And that deeper thinking informs the leader’s next question. A leader behavior to resist is defining the goal. Imagine the teacher says, “I’m spending too much time managing students. I want them to take more responsibility.” A leader could immediately see a possible goal and respond, “It sounds like your goal should be increasing student independence and engagement. We could connect that to this indicator on the rubric.” While that might be an appropriate goal, we got there too quickly. The leader did most of the thinking. Instead, a leader should stay with the teacher, perhaps asking, “What would students be doing differently if they were taking more responsibility?” The teacher might respond, “They’d get started without waiting for me. They’d know what resources to use when they’re stuck.
[00:08:27.300] – Steve
Maybe they’d even turn to each other before coming to me.” Now the leader can continue, “So if those are the student behaviors you want to develop, what might you need to learn or experiment with in your teaching to increase those student behaviors?” Now we’re getting closer to a professional growth goal, and the teacher is constructing it. Resisting defining the goal doesn’t mean the principal has no input. It means delaying the input long enough for the teacher’s thinking to emerge. Lastly, move to a more mentoring or supervisory role when necessary. Resisting defining the goal doesn’t mean the leader must remain in a coaching role throughout the entire conversation. There are times when the teacher needs information or a suggestion. That’s when you might shift to mentoring. Would it be helpful if I shared a couple of possibilities I’ve seen other teachers explore? At other times, especially for a principal, there’s a supervisory responsibility. An identified area of required growth or an important expectation from the teaching rubric that may need to be addressed directly. Most of the time, as principal and instructional coach, you can stay in the coaching role and engage the teacher in a professional learning growth plan.
[00:10:10.450] – Steve
It might sound something like this: Teacher: I think I’d like to build my focus goal around students taking more responsibility. I feel like I’m doing more management the last few years, as students seem less prepared to take responsibility. Principal: You’re concerned that more of your energy is going towards managing students rather than supporting their learning. Teacher: Yeah, and I don’t think becoming better at managing them is really what I’m looking for. I’d like them to need less management. Principal: So you’re interested in changing what students are doing, not just improving how you respond when they aren’t doing it? Teacher: Exactly. Principal: What would you see students doing that would tell you they are taking greater responsibility? Teacher: They’d get started without waiting for me. When they’re stuck, they’d try something before coming to me. They might even use each other more. Principal: So independence problem solving, and using peers as resources. Teacher: Definitely. Principal: What are you wondering about what you might do differently to encourage more of those behaviors? Teacher: I think I’ve probably made it too easy for students to come directly to me whenever they’re unsure. I’m always available, which sounds like a good thing, but maybe I’ve actually trained them to depend on me.
[00:12:10.700] – Steve
Principal: You’re wondering if being so available has unintentionally increased their dependence on you. Teacher: Maybe I need to change what happens when they get stuck. Principal: What possibilities come to mind? Teacher: I could teach some routines for what to do before asking me. Maybe check your notes, ask someone at your table, look at an example. But I realize I have to teach those routines rather than just expect students to know them. Principal: So you’re thinking that increasing student responsibility may require you to explicitly teach and reinforce some independent strategies. Teacher: Right, and I want to see whether students actually start using them without my prompting. Principal: What might you look for that would tell you that’s beginning to happen? Teacher: I want to see fewer students immediately raising their hands when they’re stuck. I want to see them using resources or talking with a peer first. And eventually, I’d hope they’re getting started and staying engaged without me constantly redirecting them.
[00:13:44.840] – Steve
Through questions, listening, and paraphrasing. This school leader has helped the teacher move from a fairly broad concern, “I’m doing too much classroom management,” to identify student behaviors, possible teacher actions, and even evidence the teacher could collect to determine whether those actions are having an impact.
[00:14:11.420] – Steve
This illustrates being a thinking partner. The teacher has arrived at a hypothesis: “If I explicitly teach and reinforce strategies students can use when they’re stuck, then students may become less dependent on me and assuming greater responsibility for their learning.” Think back to the outcomes we identified earlier: the teacher owns the focus, there’s curiosity and uncertainty, The teacher has identified something to learn, something to try, and evidence to examine. And the teacher has done considerably more thinking because of the conversation. A focus area goal meeting should produce a documentable goal. That’s part of the process. But I’d suggest that’s not the best measure of whether the meeting was successful. Did the teacher do the thinking? Does the teacher own the goal? Is there something the teacher is curious about and wants to learn? And has the teacher identified evidence that will help her reflect on what she’s learning? If so, we’ve accomplished much more than completing a professional growth goal. We’ve launched professional learning. In a follow-up podcast, I’ll explore what happens next. How do leaders generate continuous teacher learning and increased student success? Let me know if you have questions about professional growth plans and how they can support teachers generating increased student success?
[00:16:04.850] – Steve
You can respond at barkleypd.com. Thanks for listening.
[00:16:12.990] – Steve [Outro]
Thanks for listening, folks. I’d love to hear what you’re pondering. You can find me on Twitter or LinkedIn @stevebarkley or send me your questions and find my videos and blogs at barkleypd.com.
