Same old PLD, just a different slideshow format?

Where does your best professional learning happen these days? 

One of the ongoing challenges with professional learning can sometimes be that the more you know, the harder it is to find professional learning that challenges you at the right level. As a PLD junkie in my early years of teaching, I have found on more than one occasion that many of the PLD opportunities out there have become a lot of the same ideas, just recycled into a new PowerPoint. Maybe I sound cynical, but it is hard to ignore that our refreshed curriculum's essential pedagogies are based on the professional learning workshops I have been attending and running for years - power sharing, design for inclusion, connecting learning to each learner, being urgent about progress... If you are ahead of the curve, where does your learning come from? Where do the new ideas, and new inspiration come from? Where can you go to ask and answer harder questions and debate more challenging problems? I would love to hear your ideas about this. Here are mine...

There is no substitute for a good book.
The benefit of a book over other PLD tools is that it is a super cheap way to get direct access to the author's arguments, evidence and explanations. You can go back to them, read them over and over, and check the fidelity with which you have remembered and implemented their ideas. You can also check their facts and follow up on their references. A book also tends to be way more in-depth than any workshop you can attend or conference you can see them speak. Books also mean that your access to experts increases exponentially. John Hattie, Russel Bishop, Jane Gilbert, Carol Dweck, Howard Gardner, Ann Milne, Ivan Illich and Keri Facer are all hanging out in my handbag right now, ready to go on my Kindle at a moment's notice. 

Coaching
One of the most impactful types of professional learning I have experienced over the last few years is having an effective impact coach. This has meant that I have had a safe place on a regular basis to help me unpick my assumptions and theories. It has meant having someone to help me sift through the noise to identify where my focus should be to really make a difference for students. (In case you are wondering, I am talking about Laurayne Tafa - an incredible coach). This has also meant that I have had a chance to develop my own coaching skills. This explicit focus on how I might become a better coach has also been invaluable as it has allowed me to build my skills in having conversations that challenge deficit thinking. 

Evidence towards: PRACTICING TEACHER CRITERIA 2: PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Use inquiry, collaborative problem-solving and professional learning to improve professional capability to impact on the learning and achievement of all learners." Inquire into and reflect on the effectiveness of practice in an ongoing way, using evidence from a range of sources.

• Critically examine how my own assumptions and beliefs, including cultural beliefs, impact on practice and the achievement of learners with different abilities and needs, backgrounds, genders, identities, languages and cultures.
• Engage in professional learning and adaptively apply this learning in practice.
• Be informed by research and innovations related to: content disciplines; pedagogy; teaching for diverse learners including learners with disabilities and learning support needs; and wider education matters.
• Seek and respond to feedback from learners, colleagues and other education professionals, and engage in collaborative problem-solving and learning-focused collegial discussions.