When Teachers Choose: Agency, Identity, and Powerful Professional Development

• In Event: 69.040 - Positionality, Agency, and Emotion in Professional Development

Abstract

Professional development (PD) is seen by a broad cross-section of stakeholders as essential for instructional improvement and student learning. And yet, despite deep investments of time and money, subjective assessments about PD’s effectiveness remain uneven. In this paper, I focus on PD experiences that teachers identify as their most powerful. Specifically, based on 25 teacher accounts of powerful learning, I use the analytic lens of teacher agency to consider what drives teacher decision-making related to PD. In addition, applying the growing body literature on professional identity, I posit that teachers may be motivated to pursue professional learning experiences that align with their core beliefs and identity. Finally, I discuss potential implications for PD design and policy.

Author

• James Noonan, Salem State University