During my journey at Lamar University Course EDLD 5389, Developing Effective Professional Leaning Dr. Harapnuik and my Team (Allison, Brianna and Colby) helped me to focus on improving my learning environments and the learner achievements by enabling educators to use the key principles of effective professional learning to move from the “sit and get” to the “go and show” model of professional learning.

Professional learning is what professionals do, particularly educators, to learn more about their field in order to succeed and meet goals. The content of this learning is usually decided by administrators or others higher up in the entity, but this need to change if we really want to impact the learner.   

As we all know, Learning never ends. Educators tell their students that often, but it is also true for them as educators and learners. Professional learning needs to be about the learning, just like it should be for students in the classroom.

The need for an effective alternative to Professional Learning is evident in Alison Gullamhussein’s research. As she puts it, “Professional development in an era of accountability requires a change in a teacher’s practice that leads to increases in student learning” (2013, p. 6). If you look at professional development, the motivation of teachers to learn has been masked by initiatives that pull in many directions, sit and get passive workshops that lead to little or no growth, a lack of ongoing support during implementation, and minimal inspiration and guidance to be creative and think outside of the box.

Throughout a study of effective professional learning, it becomes evident that teachers need a timeline for successful implementation of innovation projects and the development of significant learning environments. A timeline and outcomes table provide this structure, putting the implementation in action: