District Strategic Plans and Professional Development

Video Transcription

In this tutorial, we'll begin to explore how an understanding of adult learning theories, including Knowles's six assumptions for adult learners, can help us to design effective professional development and to create district strategic plans.

We'll begin with an overview of district strategic plans, site-based management, and individual professional development plans. We'll then begin to explore the connections to adult learning. Throughout this study, it's important to realize that site-based management plans are aligned to district strategic plans, and likewise, each teacher's individual professional development plan is aligned to the site-based management plan.

And so while this alignment at each level is a crucial element, we also want to be able to analyze our professional development plans for their alignment to adult learning theories. So really, in all stages here from the design of the plan to the implementation, teachers need to be able to identify how their professional learning in their classroom practices are connecting to the implementation of the new knowledge and skills of Knowles's six assumptions for adult learning.

So let's get started. Let's begin with an overview of district strategic plans. A strategic plan for a school district is a roadmap of sorts that provides direction for all of the stakeholders in the overarching goal of improving student achievement. Remember that stakeholders in a district include not only the district and the individual schools in the district, but also the administrators, the teachers, the other staff members, even the parents and the community. So having this well-developed strategic plan can help everyone to communicate effectively about the goals for the district.

The strategic plan should facilitate progress towards the desired student achievement outcomes. So it should outline not only the specific desired outcomes, but also any resources that are going to be needed, such as professional development resources that are needed to reach each of those goals. A district strategic plan is developed by the Board of Education and the stakeholders, including staff and community members. They work together to create this overarching plan.

The strategic goals that are included in the strategic plan need to be focused on students and student achievement outcomes. But they also may include specifics about the rigorous content that will be covered or about the instructional strategies that are going to be utilized. The strategic plan does need to be formally approved by the Board of Education, and at that point, the district strategic plan really does become the responsibility of all of those stakeholders, of the individual schools and programs. Each of the schools and programs in the district, then, needs to develop their own building or site goals or plans that are aligned with the district initiatives.

So that brings us into our discussion of site-based management plans. A site-based management plan needs to ensure that those district strategic initiatives are followed through on and ultimately achieved. So though site-based management, or SBM, does allow for autonomy in each of the schools or sites, it is important that the individual school improvement plans and school goals are aligned to the overall vision and mission and goals that are outlined in the district strategic plan.

And then just as each site-based plan needs to be aligned to the overall district's plan, each teacher's individual professional development plan needs to be aligned to the site-based goals and initiatives and, perhaps, to PLC goals as well. It's important to be aware that not every district is going to be using that acronym IPDP. Sometimes these plans will be referred to as professional growth plans, individual growth plans, or another similar acronym. For example, in my district, we call them individual growth and development plans.

No matter what terminology is being used, the idea is the same, that the individual plan outlines the goals and expectations for the teacher, and these need to be aligned with the site-based plans, which are then aligned with the district-wide plans.

So let's look at some of the connections here to these adult learning theories. We know that a thorough understanding of adult learning theories can help an individual to be a more effective adult learner in professional development settings. So it isn't just about learning how to provide more effective professional development, though, certainly, that is going to be a key element here, but it's also about making sure learners are informed of these adult learning theories so that they themselves can help the learning process to be more effective as the learners in the situation.

So as part of this process, teachers can analyze their professional development opportunities for alignment of their professional learning to their classroom practices. There is no single theory of adult learning that is going to be the best fit for all adult learners or for all situations. But there are three overarching theories that we study in this course.

The first of these is andragogy, which is defined as the art and science of helping adults learn. Our study of andragogy includes Knowles's six assumptions about adult learners. These assumptions or principles can help to guide us as we design effective instruction and effective educational experiences for adult learners.

The next theory is self-directed learning. This is a theory that builds on the idea that individuals find value in taking the initiative in planning and carrying out and evaluating their own learning. And finally, transformational learning focuses on the way in which learners change the way that they are thinking about themselves fundamentally and the way that they think about the world around them, creating, essentially, a shift of consciousness as a result of their learning experiences.

So with an understanding of these three adult learning theories in mind and, again, keeping in mind Knowles's six principles or assumptions of adult learning, we're ready to begin the process of developing and analyzing our professional development, always keeping in mind that we want the professional development opportunities to be aligned to these theories and especially aligned to those six assumptions of adult learning.

In this tutorial, we discussed district strategic plans, site-based management plans, and individual professional development plans. And we especially looked at how each level of plan here needs to be aligned to the others. And finally, we connected these different types of strategic plans to adult learning theories.

So now it's your turn to stop and reflect. Consider taking some time to locate the initiatives and district goals that are outlined in your district's strategic plan so that you can keep these goals and initiatives in mind as we go through the process of analyzing our professional development experiences.

For more information on how to apply what you learned in this video, please view the Additional Resources section that accompanies this video presentation. The Additional Resources section includes hyperlinks useful for applications of the course material, including a brief description of each resource. Thanks for joining me. Have a great day.