Page 6 - The Architecture of Professional Development

The Architecture of Professional Development

The idea of teacher professional development as the design and construc on of opportuni es for
professional growth and improved prac ce is not a new one. See for example the works of Joyce
and Showers, 1995; Sparks and Hirsch, 1997; Loucks‐Horsley, Hewson, Love, and S les, 1998;
Bredeson, 2002. These scholars and others have argued persuasively thatdesigns for on‐going
professional learning are cri cal to successful implementa on of various educa onal reform
ini a ves focused on enhanced student learning outcomes. I believe examining professional
development through the lens of architecture is helpful to scholars, policymakers, and prac oners

in several ways. To begin, architecture is an evoca ve metaphor with a rich language and compelling
visible structures that illuminate various aspects of professional development and their connec on
to professional prac ce in schools. For instance, the sugges ve comparisons from such architectural
terms as foo ngs, design themes, style, materials, space, site, and plan offer possibili es to scholars
and prac oners to “make the familiar strange” and to think in new ways about the design, delivery,
content, context, and outcomes of teacher professional development. The architecture of
professional development, located at the intersec on of educa onal reform, teacher work, and
professional learning, is also a unifying concept. As a structural metaphor, the architecture brings
together in concrete and crea ve ways the some mes contradictory and fragmented elements of
the context, content, and processes of teachers’ work and learning giving them wholeness and integ‐
rity. Lastly, the metaphor of architecture is empowering to teachers and administrators sugges ng
that they are in charge of professional learning that enhances prac ce and contributes posi vely to

school improvement.

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