The Professional Learning
Revolution

A profession built around learning should be much more serious about the learning of its own professionals.

The Professional Learning
Revolution

A profession built around learning should be much more serious about the learning of its own professionals.

We need a revolution in professional learning

When professional learning is squeezed into occasional INSET days, twilight sessions, staff meeting leftovers or optional extras, the message is clear: this matters, but not quite as much as everything else. And because professional learning rarely produces immediate visible pain when it is displaced, it is particularly vulnerable to being crowded out.

This paper argues for something more serious: professional learning as the core work of school and college improvement.

Not a badge for perfection. A commitment to direction.

The Professional Learning Promise is a public commitment to take teachers’ learning seriously.

It is not a claim that your school, college or trust has already solved professional learning. It is a statement of intent: that building teacher expertise will be treated as core improvement work, not as an optional extra.

Schools, colleges and trusts that make the Promise commit to four things.

The Professional Learning Promise

If professional learning is to become the core work of improvement, schools and colleges need to protect it, design it properly and evaluate whether it is working.

Plan it

We will make building expertise our central long-term strategy for improving outcomes and promoting equity.

The spirit is: Always proud, never satisfied.

Protect it

We will protect regular time for professional learning.

This does not mean pretending that time is easy to find, but we will make professional learning a priority, not a leftover.

Build Expertise

We will design professional learning around how teachers learn and develop expertise.

We will build expertise through goals, understanding, skills and habits.

Evaluate it

We will evaluate whether professional learning is changing expertise and practice.

The aim is not perfect proof. It is disciplined curiosity.

Support the Professional Learning Promise

Anyone can support the Promise. The Promise says: we, as a community of education professionals, are taking this seriously; we are willing to examine our current practice; we will protect time; we will design better; we will evaluate more honestly; and we will keep improving.

If you agree with us, please share it with colleagues, please share it with your networks.

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