THE 6 MOST COMMON MISTAKES SCHOOLS MAKE IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - and how to avoid them
Schools don’t fail at PD because people don’t care. They fail because the structure isn’t right. I’ve had significant contact with schools, and the same PD patterns appear again and again. The good news? These mistakes are easy to fix once you see them.
Here are six of the most common traps — and what to do instead.
1. Too many “events,” not enough follow-through
A big conference, an enjoyable workshop, an outside speaker, a PD day with excellent snacks…
Then nothing happens.
Teachers return to their classrooms and carry on exactly as before — not because they don’t want to improve, but because improvement needs structure, not fireworks.
Build on this through Job-embedded PD. Create a rhythm for the school: PLC meetings, action research, shared reflection, evaluation. Small steps, taken consistently, incorporate those big events and make them meaningful change agents.
2. PD chosen by trend instead of by student need
A shiny new method appears online and suddenly everyone must learn it, the buzzwords are everywhere — even if it has nothing to do with the school’s learners.
Start with the only question that matters: “What do our students need right now?” Does this align with our learners’ needs? Was it something that came our of a university’s ivory tower and now everyone is fired up about it?
Investigate, discuss and then plan PD around that if it has the lasting value that will make an impact on your students’ learning.
In my several decades in education I have seen trends burst onto the scene, the buzzwords flying in every meeting, enthusiastic school leaders expecting all their teachers to implement the latest trend, and a few years later the whole thing had fizzled out like the New Year’s Eve fireworks.
3. Theory with no classroom reality
Teachers listen politely to long presentations… and nobody knows what to do with the information.
Give teachers something they can actually use tomorrow morning. Clear strategies, examples, modelling, and a chance to test ideas and see how they work with their own students. Give the teachers something substantial that can be tested out in experimental lessons and discussed in their PLCs.
4. Treating evaluation as punishment
In many schools, evaluation is a tense, secretive process that arrives once a year and causes mild panic. I even heard a school leader call it “performance appraisal”. Ouch!
Evaluation should be guidance, not fear. Use a clear, shared framework. The most comprehensive evaluation tool is Danielson’s Framework for Teaching which is “A guide for reflection, observation, and conversation” (Enhancing Professional Practice, 3rd ed. (ASCD, 2024).)
When using The Framework for Teaching as an evaluation tool, everyone knows what good teaching looks like. When teachers use the rubric for self-reflection and peer evaluation, the whole tone changes.
5. Expecting teachers to grow alone
If PD depends on individual effort in isolated classrooms, it will not last. Teachers need to talk, compare notes, and look at student work together.
Transformation can only happen through shared practice. Build real PLCs. When teachers plan together, investigate student needs together, and share their findings, improvement spreads across the whole school — not just one classroom.
6. No one leading the process
Even excellent PD ideas fall apart if no one is constantly steering the ship. PD cannot survive on conference enthusiasm alone. Job-embedded BP needs for all leaders to be on board.
Leaders need to protect time, set expectations, encourage reflection, and follow up. When leaders take PD seriously, teachers feel supported and valued — and the culture shifts.
學校在專業發展中最常犯的六大錯誤
— 以及如何避免它們**
學校在專業發展上之所以失敗，並不是因為大家不在乎，而是因為缺乏適當的架構。我與許多學校密切接觸過，而同樣的專業發展模式一次又一次地出現。好消息是：一旦看清問題，這些錯誤其實非常容易修正。
以下是六個常見的陷阱——以及更好的做法。
1. 太多「活動」，缺乏後續追蹤
一場大型會議、一個令人愉快的工作坊、一位外聘講者、一個有豐盛茶點的專業發展日……
然後什麼都沒改變。
老師回到教室後依然照舊上課，並不是因為他們不願意改進，而是因為改進需要的是系統性的架構，而不是煙火式的活動。
透過**職務嵌入式專業發展（Job-embedded PD）**強化此部分。為學校建立一個穩定的節奏：PLC 會議、行動研究、共同反思、評鑑。將這些大活動納入一個長期持續的系統中，才能真正轉化成具體的改變。
學校建立一個穩定的節奏：PLC 會議、行動研究、共同反思、評鑑。將這些大活動納入一個長期持續的系統中，才能真正轉化成具體的改變。
2. 以潮流為導向的 PD，而非學生需求
某個全新的教學法在網路上爆紅，於是大家都必須學，流行語滿天飛——即使它與學校學生的需求毫無關聯。
請從唯一重要的問題開始：
「我們的學生現在需要什麼？」
它是否符合學習者的需求？這是否只是某所大學象牙塔裡冒出的理論，如今大家一窩蜂跟風？
調查、討論，若其內容具備長期價值且能真正影響學生學習，再據此規劃 PD。
在我數十年的教育生涯中，我看過無數教育潮流華麗登場，校務會議上流行語四處飛舞，校長熱情地要求所有老師採用最新方法；幾年後，那些潮流卻像跨年煙火般迅速熄滅。
3. 理論脫離課堂現實
老師們禮貌地聽了冗長的簡報……但沒有人知道下一步該怎麼做。
給老師一些隔天早上就能用得上的東西：清楚的策略、示例、示範教學，以及在自己班級試行的機會。讓老師們在「實驗課」中測試新做法，並在 PLC 中討論其成效。
4. 把評鑑當成懲罰
在許多學校，評鑑是一年一次、令人緊張且半神秘的作業，帶著一點驚慌。我甚至聽過一位學校領導人把它叫作「績效考核」。——哎喲！
評鑑應該是引導，而不是恐懼。請使用一套清晰且具共識的架構。最全面的工具是 Danielson 教學框架（The Framework for Teaching），它是
「一份用於反思、觀察與對話的指南」
（Enhancing Professional Practice, 3rd ed., ASCD, 2024）。
使用 FFT 作為評鑑工具時，每個人都清楚什麼是高品質的教學。當教師以此作為自我反思與同儕互評的依據，整個氛圍便會完全改變。
5. 期待老師獨自成長
如果 PD 依靠每位老師在孤立的教室裡單打獨鬥，它永遠不會持久。老師們需要交流、比較、一起研究學生的作品。
真正的轉變來自於分享實踐。建立真正的 PLC。當老師們一起規劃、共同探究學生需求、分享發現時，改變便會從個別教室擴展至整所學校。
6. 沒有人帶領這個過程
即使再出色的 PD 構想，也會因為缺乏持續的領導而瓦解。專業發展不能靠研討會上的熱情來維持。職務嵌入式 PD（Job-embedded PD）需要所有領導者全程投入。
領導者必須保留 PD 時間、建立明確期望、鼓勵反思並持續跟進。當領導者認真看待 PD，老師會感到支持與被重視——而校園文化也會隨之改變。
由 ChatGPT 翻譯