Strong Staff Development Includes Research + Practice
I am the daughter of public school teachers. In fact, much of my extended family were public school educators. Early on, I learned that teaching is a profession that everyone knows about. I remember parents of students happily advising my mom or dad on how to better do their jobs. I recall other kids’ parents complaining about the easy life of teachers who “play with kids all day” and then “get the whole summer off.” And heated school board debates where elected community members who care, but have not necessarily ever taught, made decisions on hiring, funding and curriculum.
Sure, it’s easy to know about teaching because we’ve all been to school. But we haven’t all taught. And therein lies the difference. To “know about” good teaching and learning does not necessarily mean to “know how” to do it.
When considering how to design staff development for this summer and next fall, it’s important to bring together both the “knowing about” and the “knowing how.” To paraphrase Immanuel Kant,
Action without theory is baseless. Theory without action is pointless.
When we have researchers, academics and policymakers describing the theory of what is important in youth programming or what should be included in effective youth programming, it’s helpful…to a point.
For example, Wallace Foundation published last month a brief, Evidence-based Considerations for COVID-19 Reopening and Recovery Planning: Summer Learning with Academic and Non-Academic Activities. It’s great that this brief can provide some broad information for those who don’t know much about summer programming: “Some, but not all, summer programs are specifically designed to achieve both academic and non-academic outcomes. Our research shows that such programs must be targeted to the needs of participants, have programming linked to desired outcomes, be of sufficient duration, and promote strong attendance.”
But when it comes to moving that knowledge into action, we have to remember that researchers find generalizable knowledge that has come from environments with controlled variables. I like the quote attributed to Yogi Berra,
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.
Those of us who have worked in youth programs know that the beauty of programs is that they are not generalizable. They are joyously unique and messy.
Your programs are unique because they include real young people and real staff and all the humanity that goes along with them. Each brings their own stuff— social identity, experience, bias, preparation, personal life— with them and that affects how they engage and do their work.
Your programs do so much more than provide what research briefs describe: “time on task” or “offer enrichment activities.”
Your programs weave together the hopes, dreams, skills, interests, hardships, sorrows and joys of your community members in relation to the cultures, personalities and influences within neighborhoods that have their own dynamic, long-standing histories, eyesores and gems. And you create moments of wonder, curiosity, inspiration, aspiration, meaning and possibility.
As we prepare to prepare educators, volunteers and staff for the upcoming summer and fall, it’s important to broaden our view of staff development. Often we see staff development efforts that focus explicitly on skill development or how to teach a specific curriculum. While that’s useful for day one of the job, it is not a way to build capacity toward ongoing passion and joy in this work and in life.
Staff need to know the research and theory. It gives credence to their actions. It provides the grounding to their work and can offer overarching direction.
But then, they need to be able to customize that knowledge to their own contexts and be able to discuss and practice that knowledge over time.
That might look like:
Accessing the research by reading an article, attending a conference presentation or participating in a workshop.
Then, asking: What have I learned? What does it mean? How does it matter to me and our organization?
Then, informed by your new knowledge and reflection, doing one or two things differently than you have before.
Supervisors, coaches and peer mentors can provide feedback and support as staff continue to their practices.
As leaders of professional learning, we are constantly navigating the line between research and practice. We don’t want to overwhelm with citations and academ-ese, but we also don’t want to undervalue the work of staff by offering only prescriptive basics. Set staff up for success by helping them learn about and also learn how to do their work.