One of my primary functions (and one of my favorites) as a digital innovation coach is to create, design, and facilitate professional learning experiences for educators. Sometimes this is for an entire school district, and sometimes for individual schools. Sometimes I facilitate for large groups and other times for small cohorts of educators. Regardless of the demographics, the planning process always includes creating shared ownership.
As a reflective practitioner, I realize that I can provide opportunities to learn, but those opportunities have to be attached to a shared vision. We often discuss what good professional learning can look like and how to use data to inform our decisions, but less often do we take time to actually think about and unpack the process of planning together to create ownership. Every relationship I create with districts and schools that I serve is built on the idea that we are working together to multiply our efforts rather than duplicate them. Some of the things I find important (and therefore communicate with them) are:
- Involving leadership in the professional learning process each step along the way
- Creating professional learning experiences with them, not doing it to them
- Creating a culture of transparency
- Changing and updating professional learning experiences to be in sync with the evolving needs of the school/district
When I begin a new relationship with a district or school, I always begin with a meeting to discuss their needs, the vision for the project and beyond, and what they want for their educators and students. These meetings range from phone calls, face to face, and video chats. I also have a shared document in Drive with an agenda and meeting notes. Like all of my agendas, these notes build on each other with the most recent meeting notes and agenda at the top. I find that by keeping the notes and agenda in one place, it’s very easy in later meeting to go back to points that we made prior. And while some meetings are more informal, having an agenda helps us to prioritize and value both each other’s time and effort. You can see an example of a meeting agenda below. 
Regardless of how we meet, I start by listening. I ask them to begin with the why. Then we move on to the who, what, and the how. Instead of beginning by asserting what I think will help them, I give them time to lay a foundational context. And what I find is that this usually leads to them feeling validated and heard.
I am very clear in telling project leaders that I will be including them in each step of the process – and more importantly, I explain to them what this can look like. For some, inclusion means communicating the what and how. For others, this means allowing them to help create content. And for some, inclusion is us facilitating professional learning together, as a team. Whatever they decide they are comfortable with, this is how we proceed. Oftentimes, we begin with simply communicating and by the end of a project we’ve created a partnership where they are creating and facilitating as well. Creating ownership and buy in for the professional learning process helps to ensure that the work is sustainable and that the enthusiasm and motivation will continue once the contract has ended. It also helps to give leadership more confidence in their efforts to provide quality learning experiences for educators.
It’s easy in the beginning stages of planning to meet and plan together, but it can be harder to continue this along the way. People get busy, situations arise, life happens. However, I am very clear, from the beginning, that I will work hard to bring us together not just before the professional learning starts, but in the interim between learning experiences. As a team, we have to share in the vision of the project, not just in the beginning, but as it evolves and we move forward. After each professional learning experience, I reach out to project leadership and set a convenient (for them) time and date to meet to discuss the participant feedback (from the previous session’s evaluation) and their changing needs. A few days before we meet, I share the updated agenda and notes with them, which always includes a two column chart with a summary of the evaluation data (GROWS) and my observations. This gives them more context for the meeting and also helps to show them how their educators are using what they learn, what they need/want moving forward, and where they struggle.
After we discuss the evaluation results and in general how the professional learning felt, we move on to visioning the next session. I come prepared with ideas and generally take the lead during this time (this is what they pay me for), but I include the leadership team in the process, listening to and considering their ideas alongside my own. Many times the professional learning session starts to take shape with activities growing out of a combination of the team’s collective creativity. This is also where, if they are interested or ready, we discuss using their capacity to facilitate activities and parts of the larger session. Not only does the leadership experience more ownership of the professional learning experience when they’re involved at this level, but this also helps to create transparency. They know what the day (session) will look like. They can prepare for and communicate this to participants with a sense of enthusiasm for what’s to come.
As we near the end of a contract, the communication doesn’t end. Even after the last professional learning day is over, I plan a final meeting with the leadership team to discuss the evolution of the project as a whole – both the GLOWS and GROWS that participants have alluded to in their feedback, the scope of the work (which often amazes them), and how they can move forward maintaining the effort and enthusiasm created by the professional learning experiences so far. We also discuss the known and identified capacity both within their team and their district or school and how they can utilize these people as leaders for the vision.
Nothing about my process is revolutionary – it’s all grounded in good communication, transparency, and team work. When working with districts and schools I always try to remember that opportunity without vision is fruitless, it causes effort to be duplicated, rather than multiplied. My goal is to focus on the question, “How are we multiplying our effort to serve educators and children?” This is what I lead with and in hopes leave the district or school considering as they move forward.
Screenshot with annotations created using Nimbus.