Professional Development & Teacher Engagement - An Administrator's View

At LEGO^® Education we imagine a world where both students and teachers wake up every morning excited to go to school. One where they can’t wait to answer the question, “How was school today?”. We also know that there’s a lot of work to be done to get us there and to break the cycle of disengagement impacting so many students, teachers, and parents.

We talked to Dr. Zheadric Barbra, Deputy Superintendent of Liberty County School system, about the teacher engagement side of that coin and how his district is prioritizing that. Dr. Barbra believes it’s a topic that should be at the forefront for any administrator saying, “Teachers who feel good, do good work.” One element he says is critical to making that happen is professional development and the research backs him up. According to the International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, “Effective professional development not only improves instructional practices but cultivates a sense of motivation and confidence among educators.”

We asked Dr. Barbra to dig into this idea for us, this is what he had to say:

Q. Why are teachers and students facing this cycle of disengagement?

A. I believe many teachers are under so much pressure to meet standards in a specific way that they are just doing their very best to move through the content, which impacts careful lesson design. This impacts the engagement level of both students and teachers. It is very easy for teachers to allow students to participate in low-yield strategies like working independently or solely from a website rather than doing something that drives any understanding through application. There’s nothing to spark engagement or excitement on either side.

None of that is meant to be critical. Teachers are burnt-out, they’re under intense pressure and they haven’t been given the opportunity to get creative in how they execute the curriculum and meet the standards. But if you can take one of them and say, “Here are the standards, tell me what you need, to meet them in an engaging way.” Then you see a change. It’s like we’re building them a plane, fueling it up, telling them where they need to go, and saying now create your own flight plan.

Q. You mentioned teacher burnout, how do we begin to address this issue that’s so top-of-mind for administrators everywhere?

A. In Georgia we’ve been fortunate in that there’s been a real effort to bring teacher voice into the rooms where decisions are being made about curriculums, school improvement and policy implementation that impacts public schools. Teachers are joining with leaders on task forces and committees and more and more they’re influencing those decisions that can impact teacher burnout.

I’d also add that we need to let them teach. The pressure of being a teacher is very high. They’re carrying this already heavy load and then being asked to spend so much time on non-teaching tasks. What they want is to get in the classroom and teach and we need to prioritize that.

Q. What role does professional development play in getting teachers engaged?

A. Professional development plays a very big part in driving teachers’ confidence in their ability to fulfill their roles. Effective professional development needs to be targeted and specific. Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and Brown University did some research on successful professional development and found that PD focused on instructional practice, teaching strategies, and support for making changes in the classroom was much more effective in improving student performance.

So the connection happens when we give them the PD that they really want and need and then they leave feeling confident and excited about bringing those practices and strategies into the classroom. And if they come into the classroom with that energy the students are going to be naturally engaged as well. When teachers are engaged, the students connect to the excitement and become engaged as well.

Q. How did the professional development you experienced with LEGO Education measure up in that respect?

A. Well, the first thing I’ll say, is that when we announced that LEGO Education was going to be part of our program, we had more than 100 teachers sign-up. And when they arrived there they were immediately engaged by the simplicity and hands-on nature of the materials. Everyone I spoke with about the LEGO Education sessions said they felt really good, they felt like the PD had a clear purpose and that they were leaving with a real understanding of how to teach with the sets. The only complaint we got is they wanted to spend more time with them, they were having such a good time.

Q. From your perspective as an administrator, did you get the value you expected out of the sessions?

A. The value is there for sure. One of the key ways I look at it is that our teachers left the training really understanding how valuable these LEGO Education experiences could be for their students. Then they took that engagement and excitement and did an incredible job with our summer school this year. But it doesn’t end there, because now these teachers can take the strategies they learned and the LEGO Education materials into the classroom. So now all the students are benefitting, not just those who attended summer school. At the core level our business as educational leaders is to improve performance and that’s what this does.

Q. Is there anything else you’d like to say about how we support teachers?

A. I would say that despite statistics, I don’t believe that students are incapable of mastering most of, if not all of the standards that are presented by State Departments of Education nationally. I do believe that we have a gap in being able to know and understand the curriculum and deliver those standards in a way that is meaningful and engaging to all students of any learning level.

As an administrator, we must do a better job of helping teachers to understand the standards, provide the support and resources to deliver them, and then follow-up by being present and ensuring they are supported in using those resources. If we can do that, then performance is going to soar.

Ready to supercharge teacher engagement and motivation? Learn more about LEGO Education professional development offerings today!

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