How Learning Happens

Professional Development Focus for Secondary Teachers

If you were asked to draw the water cycle from memory, you may be able to recall the main elements: evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, and what that looks like in a cycle. If you were asked to draw the circulatory system, you might also be able to sketch the general flow: the heart pumps blood through the body to deliver oxygen and nutrients to cells through arteries. Then, the blood returns to the heart through veins to be sent to the lungs for fresh oxygen before starting the cycle again. But if you were asked to draw or explain how learning happens and you were given a picture of the brain to sketch it out, what might that look like? This year, the secondary teachers in our district explored that question in their embedded professional development using the text The New Classroom Instruction that Works: The Best Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement by Bryan Goodwin and Kristin Rouleau. 

The goal of the text, and our professional development, was to help teaching become a “profession with a practice… moving beyond fads and unsubstantiated theories and drawing instead upon cognitive science and experimental studies” (Goodwin & Rouleau, 2023) so that we could identify and implement strategies that will increase student achievement. 

Model for how learning happens.

In The New Classroom Instruction that Works, Goodwin and Kristin outline the 6 Phases of Learning that are shown in the image above. Through these six phases, they identified 14 research-based strategies that teachers could use to help in each of the phases, leading to increased student achievement.

Sarah Pepper, Journey Middle School IP, leading a session of PD.

For our professional development, our Instructional Partners (IPs) led a phase each month, sharing and modeling strategies from the text, as well as additional resources. In this professional development, teachers learned about the myths and truths of educational research and strategies that were tied to educational case studies. For example, when leading phase 5, Practice and Reflect, the IPs modeled different retrieval practices and targeted support (scaffolding) as a way to show teachers what the strategies would look like in their classes. We hope that teachers walk away from PD with practical strategies that they can implement immediately, so it is crucial that our IPs model those strategies during their professional development. The 6 Phases of Learning, and associated strategies, were also able to reinforce foundational instructional priorities for the district, like strategic teaching, quality questioning, and tiered instruction.

Many schools had accompanying monthly learning walks (teachers observing teachers) to go with this professional development. The learning walks encouraged teachers to look for the particular strategies that were mentioned in that month’s professional development to see how a strategy may be implemented in a different content area or grade level. 

Our teachers are skilled carpenters, carefully selecting the right tool to address the specific needs of each student. The professional development for this year gave teachers even more tools to put in their toolbox so they can continue to provide strategic and personalized support for each student they work with, to empower all our students for global success.