The overall purpose of this professional development was for teachers to recognize actions and mindsets that indicate when a belief in all students’ ability to achieve is not being upheld and identify the root causes of the fixed mindsets that exist in our building and relate them to the idea of equality. We began the meeting with a discussion on a“Developing Teachers’ Mindsets for Students to Achieve” article that was used to gauge teachers’ current mindsets (whether they are fixed or not). Next, we went through examples of the different fixed mindsets and showed a video on the impact of fixed mindsets. After the video, Career Teachers participated in a timed pair share reflecting on the video, followed by discussing examples of fixed vs. growth mindsets.

The next step of the professional development had the greatest overall impact. This is where teachers participated in a think-write-share and then as a group they listed out examples of mindsets at Alice Harte in groups, followed by each group will reporting out their examples and classify each type of mindset.  Last, teachers discuss strategies to change fixed mindsets to growth mindsets. After leaving the meeting, the teachers were required to reflect on their own mindset and try a strategy discussed in the professional development to change any fixed mindsets they have to growth mindsets. To measure whether the information from the professional development was being implemented in the building, the school leadership team was responsible for conducting informal observations that focus on the learning environment. 

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Reflection

I believe the most important step to planning this effective professional development was the trial-run conducted by the school leadership team. Not only did we take the time out to put the details together, but we also put ourselves in the shoes of career teachers to see how they would react to the information being presented. A building leader should demonstrate values, beliefs, and attitudes that inspire others to higher levels of performance, as well as demonstrate appreciation for and sensitivity to the diversity in the school community. This is the step where I believe my school leader made the crucial step to decide to test the meeting out before presenting it to staff members. It could have definitely been a hit or miss situation, but being able to revise and edit the presentation, while valuing the different attitudes and beliefs that our teachers have when it comes to diversity, assured the positive feedback and turnout that we received in the end.