Teaching is Learning: The Critical Importance of Professional Development

We’re almost at the two-year mark of when the pandemic changed higher education overnight. We never quite got “back to normal.” Instead, we're in the middle of co-creating a new reality with lots of challenges but also interesting opportunities.

Everyone in higher education - faculty, students, staff, administrators, parents, etc. - was challenged. And everyone rose to the occasion in different ways. As faculty, we learned how to deal with uncertainty. We tried new approaches to teaching, sometimes failed but more often than not, we succeeded. We learned quickly how many things we took for granted in the classroom and how fragile learning can be. We adapted to the situation even when it really tested our patience and perseverance. We certainly experienced the wonders and pitfalls of technology and through it all, learned many things along the way. Everyone had a learning curve but it was steeper for some than others.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to throw challenges our way and although there is light at the end of the tunnel, chances are, future crises will likely occur. It’s in our best interest to prepare ourselves now so that we can adapt more quickly and efficiently when a major shift of “normal” happens again. Regular professional development (PD) plays a critically important role. I like to think of it as a way to pay it forward.

Usually, professional development in higher education is encouraged but optional. However, a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education makes a case for requiring professional development in higher education. Written from the perspective of administrators and unit leaders, it lays out the reasons why institutions need to support faculty and staff development. As many faculty are re-thinking their careers in higher education, universities are scrambling to retain their employees and to get them to produce the best possible work. The article describes professional development as “anything that enhances your ability to do your job” (Basko, 2022, para. 5), which can come in many different forms, including things like hourly webinars, a day-long workshop, a week-long conference, or a year-long fellowship. Basko’s plea to support faculty and staff development goes beyond retaining faculty. Institutions need to keep growing and innovating and they need people to lead the charge to solve complex problems of the future. He says, “Failure to connect your employees with professional development is dangerous to the health of the whole” (Basko, 2022, para. 12).

From a faculty/staff perspective, professional development is critical so that we can prepare for the next crisis more smoothly, keep our research pipeline moving, contribute to the success of our institutions, nurture our mental health, and live a life that includes our families and friends.

As institutions recognize the importance of professional development and put more dollars into PD efforts, faculty and staff need to be willing and able to take advantage of these opportunities. The last two years have been exhausting and have led to widespread burnout. Classes need to be taught, graduate students advised, and research published. Making time for professional development is not as easy as it sounds, even if funding is made available. 

It’s helpful to start thinking about how to integrate professional development into our lives regularly, starting small. Many of us in higher education are learners as much as teachers. In fact, every time I update my Clifton Strengths Assessment, one of my top 5 strengths is “learner.” The learner theme tells me that, “You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning” (Clifton Strengths, 2022, para.7). Many of my colleagues have mentioned that the learner theme is one of their top strengths as well, so professional development as a process is something that we love to do naturally.

For those of us whose strengths do not include the learner theme, engaging in professional development activities is still critical because it simply increases our value, not only to the institution we serve but to ourselves. PD gives us the tools to deal with crises more effectively but it also helps us to connect with students and colleagues better. We invest a little time into learning something new and it often saves us exponentially more time in the future. There are many ways to participate in your own professional development. Here are four ways to get started:

Quick Bites

Add at least one hour of professional development to your calendar every week. I do this over the lunch hour and watch a webinar that is related to my industry or teaching. Check in with your professional organizations. Many offer excellent (and often free) webinars about interesting developments in your industry. 

Also, check out your institution’s Center for Teaching and Learning. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, universities offered many helpful professional development opportunities mainly to help faculty move their in-person courses online. At my institution, our Center for Transformative Teaching quickly developed short, hour-long, interactive workshops as well as an online summer institute to help with the transition. Although I am a certified online instructor, I participated in several of these workshops and I’m so glad I did. I remember that it was tough to justify spending the time to participate but it paid off exponentially. I learned about new tech tools that emphasized student engagement, which was critical as we moved everything online. The workshops also created community among the faculty and we were able to coach each other. 

Find out if your institution is a member of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD). It offers a multitude of workshops ranging from teaching and research to productivity and mental health as well as two-week writing sprints if you need to get that “almost done” article out the door.

Day-Long Deep Dives

A slightly bigger investment of time is participating in a day-long workshop about a particular topic. My university offers a teaching symposium once a semester that starts with a keynote speaker who is a thought leader in the field of teaching, followed by faculty poster presentations and the scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as interactive workshops. The key is to get this type of event on your calendar as early as possible and plan everything else around it. The deep dive into teaching once a semester is incredibly helpful and fun! 

Other day-long workshops that many universities offer are related to grant-writing and research collaborations, which are critical as we’ll increasingly participate in interdisciplinary research clusters.

Leverage Conferences

Many conferences include professional development opportunities beyond presenting and discussing research. If you are already participating in a conference, find out if there are sessions related to professional development. Not only do they provide opportunities to learn something new, they are also great in building your network. And since you’re already at the conference, make it a habit to add at least one professional development session to your schedule.

Long-term fellowships and coaching programs

Many fellowship opportunities exist for aspiring academic leaders and they are very helpful if administration is something that you see in your future. Some fields also offer fellowships for faculty in conjunction with industry. One such program in my field is the Advertising Educational Foundation’’s Visiting Professor Program, which pairs faculty with an advertising agency over the summer. These types of experiences are transformational and I wrote about my own experience in a recent article (p. 7 & 8). Not only do these types of programs enhance your teaching and expand your network, they are a ton of fun!

Another way to work on professional development more holistically is to invest in a 3-6 month coaching program. Coaching programs are for highly functioning individuals who want to take their lives and/or careers to the next level. You can work with a coach one-on-one, which usually consists of weekly deep dives into specific goals and topic areas decided by you. A coach can help you accomplish your goals by identifying and removing blockages and holding you accountable. Another way is to participate in group coaching, which includes a group of like-minded individuals, who together, explore challenges and opportunities led by a coach.

There are many professional development opportunities in the higher education space and whether you start with hour-long webinars or hire a professional coach, now is the time to evaluate how you might invest in yourself and subsequently your institution. If you are worried about time, start with webinars an hour a week or every other week over the lunch hour. If you are under the assumption that there is no funding available, think again. Identify a program that might work for you and ask your chair or dean for support. Chances are, they will be delighted that you want to invest in yourself, which will also benefit the institution. And if they aren’t able to help you right now, they may do so in the future. Before you ask, think about a way to share what you’ve learned with others. Maybe you could host a brown bag for your colleagues and talk about what you’ve learned. Good luck and enjoy!