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Principals possess a vision of quality professional learning

Principals as leaders of learning
#3 in a series

By Dennis Sparks

Results, November 2004

Copyright, National Staff Development Council, 2004. All rights reserved.

"Life is never more rich, more full, or more rewarding than when you are moving faithfully and persistently toward a compelling vision. When you are purposefully creating, you become fully alive."
- David McNally & Karl Speak

Successful principals possess richly detailed visions of the type of student learning and teaching they desire in their schools. They can see in their mind's eye and describe in detail to others the nature of teaching and the quality of student thought and work it produces. Likewise, they are crystal clear about the types of professional learning that will make that vision a reality. They can see, hear, and feel the kind of learning experiences and interactions that provide meaningful and sustaining bonds between members of the school community and produce increasingly sophisticated professional judgment and complex, intelligent behavior on the part of all teachers and leaders.

Successful principals, therefore, devote time and energy to creating clarity and consensus within the school community regarding the most powerful forms of professional learning. To that end they engage the school community in the study of resources such as the National Staff Development Council's Standards for Staff Development, Moving NSDC's Staff Development Standards Into Practice: Innovation Configurations, and Designing Powerful Professional Development for Teachers and Principals. (All three publications are available at store.nsdc.org.)

As a result of study, reflection, and successive iteration of their collective vision, successful principals and the school communities they lead understand that high-quality professional development improves the learning of all students by continuously improving the day-to-day practices of teachers and educational leaders. It does so by promoting deep understanding of subject matter content, expanding teachers' repertoires of research-based strategies, affecting educators' beliefs about teaching and learning through dialogue and other methods, and stimulating a steady stream of goal-focused actions. Such learning is part of teachers' daily work, not separate from it.

Successful principals and their school communities also understand that the most powerful forms of professional learning are based on sustained study of professional literature and candid, dialogue-based exchanges of views regarding the schools they wish to create; data-based assessment of current reality; and selection and successful implementation of the most effective strategies for bridging that gap. As part of their daily work, teachers engage in reading and discussion of research and other professional literature. Teachers brainstorm, examine data and student work, and give and receive feedback in the use of new practices.

The school community's vision for professional learning also includes the kinds of topics discussed by faculty members, the manner in which they are discussed, and an appreciation of the energy generated by connections to a worthy purpose and to respected colleagues. Community members' collective vision sees teachers and administrators speaking with one another in candid and respectful ways, cultivating trust by acting with integrity and interpersonal accountability, and developing school norms that support individual and collective responsibility for quality teaching and the learning of all students.

A clear, compelling, and richly detailed vision of leadership, teaching, student learning, and professional development is essential to the continuous improvement of instruction and achievement. Successful principals can succinctly and powerfully describe the alignment between the attributes of teachers' professional learning, changes in teachers' instructional practice, and improvements in student learning. Without such clarity and alignment most professional development and culture-shaping efforts will be of little consequence. High levels of learning and performance on the part of all students and teachers begin with such clarity of vision.