Educators Learning Together: Promoting Meaningful and Motivating Professional Development in Christian Schools

Each year, nearly all teachers in the United States participate in some form of professional development (Andree, Chung Wei, & Darling-Hammond, 2009). Much research is available outlining best practices related to professional development in an effort to provide teachers with a positive learning experience so that they can use their expertise and acquired knowledge and skills to ensure that students learn. Schools are not implementing these best practices. As a result, many teachers express a sense of dread when they think about entering a professional development session. There are several reasons for this sense of dread, but there are also several components and strategies that align with Reformed principles that can be employed to provide teachers motivating and meaningful site-based professional development