Instructors are exhausted, yet professional learning is a lifelong process. Drawing on a recent report about the state of professional learning in higher education, this session offers a structured forum in which attendees will engage in a rich conversation about how to successfully effectively engage instructors in professional learning activities.
This highly-interactive session will begin with an overview of key findings from a joint research venture sponsored by Achieving the Dream, Every Learner Everywhere, and the Online Learning Consortium: the Teaching, Learning, Equity, and Change: Realizing the Promise of Professional Learning Report (Report). Special emphasis will be placed on patterns uncovered in the research related to the engagement in professional learning opportunities on America’s college and university campuses.
The presentation portion of the session serves principally to set the stage for extensive conversations with participants about the challenges and opportunities institutions have when it comes to encouraging professional growth in their instructor corps. The bulk of the session period will be devoted to small- and large-group conversations centered on the key questions inspired during the research process for the Report above. That is, these key questions were identified as outstanding items worthy of exploration beyond the parameters of the initial Report goals. These include:
- What does successful professional learning look like on your campus?
- Why are instructors so exhausted, and what does this mean for professional learning professionals?
- How do we define successful professional learning?
- What models have proven effective - or ineffective - in (1) communicating with, (2) recruiting, and (3) engaging with instructors in the professional learning space?
- Other questions may inspired by prior conversations
To conclude the session, participants will be invited to share key takeaways and anecdotes from their experiences that the facilitators will organize into a shared document that can be formally distributed after the session to all attendees. The goal with this deliverable is to ensure that lessons learned and ideas shared in the group conversations are organized in discernable, discrete, and actionable ways that participants can incorporate into their own teaching and learning contexts after the conference.