It’s Time for a Professional Development Evolution

Patrick Sillup. Photo By: Garry G. Uniique.

Patrick Sillup, my friend, former colleague, and current Head of School at Middle States-accredited Malvern Preparatory School, once told me, “You cannot design great learning experiences for students that you have not had yourself.”

What makes for a great learning experience? It’s actually simple: When learners apply the knowledge they’ve gained to real-world situations that genuinely matter to them.

That is why teachers should have the opportunity to participate in project-based professional development. But that kind of PD can be:

• Hard to find.

• Expensive.

• Challenging to trust (unless you already know the source).

On the other hand, traditional professional development has its own shortcomings:

• You are often subjected to a one-size-fits-all approach.

• You rarely determine the pace of your own learning.

• You get a lot of theory, but little (or no!) practice.

• You rarely receive evidence of successful completion.

• You rarely receive recommended next steps.

For all these reasons, we created The MSA Evolution Academy. As former school leaders and classroom teachers, we want you to have an easy time finding, accessing, and trusting great professional development.

Many of the learning experiences in The MSA Evolution Academy are project-based. You pick the project that most matters to you. Then we help you build it.

Sign up for early access. The professional development evolution is coming soon.