Some Thoughts on Whole-Soul Professional Development

Dear colleague,

Some time ago, I was listening to some professional development, and I noted something — it was all aimed at my head! The presenter's working theory seemed to be that if I'd just think and understand correctly, then all would be well for me, and my life would be better ever after.

And there's definitely some truth in this assumption — when I think better, I do tend to live better. But a few things were sorely lacking:

• First: HOW!? Telling me that I should start thinking a new way isn't the same thing as showing me HOW to start thinking that way in the actualities of my everyday life. For understandings to change us, they have to work their way in deep. A single blip across the ticker tape of our minds won't create lasting change. This is why stories and analogies and ongoing PD topics are so important.
• Second: what about the rest of me? Human beings aren't brains on sticks — we're souls. We've got these interrelated parts, each of which must be engaged, in order for change to truly last.

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If we're going to lead professional development that really works, we've got to especially attend to the outer four parts in my diagram above — how does this session/article/email/conversation help a person transform intellectually, emotionally, physically, and socially?

Okay, Dave — so HOW!?

Awesome question! Here are some quick examples of how I attempted whole-soul PD recently when working with a secondary staff in South Central Wisconsin:

• INTELLECTUAL: Am I giving people things that they'll be likely to remember and think about? When I share a study, I tell the story of the study, not just its statistics. I share anecdotes. I include simple examples from across the disciplines.
• EMOTIONAL: Am I giving people things to feel? Don't get me wrong — it drives me crazy when I attend PD in which I feel like the speaker is trying to conjure up feelings in the audience. But over time, I've learned that it's not inherently wrong to intend to draw out certain feelings in folks when you're leading PD. My favorite feelings to draw on are hope and nostalgia. I work to draw people back to the central drive that made them an educator to begin with. I throw fuel on the fire of that hope by emphatically and repetitively making the case that the work of education is fundamentally good and worthy.
• SOCIAL: Am I using the group to grow the group? In any session I lead, I want folks to periodically think about and share things from their practice that relate to what we're learning about. And then as soon as I get these examples, I go big on them. (In a yearlong PD I helped with at a middle school in Utah, the going was slow until I started emphasizing contributions the group was making to our thinking.)
• PHYSICAL: Am I showing folks what this actually looks like physically? Lynsay Mills Fabio is a genius at this when it comes to PD. She ends so many of her lessons in the Classroom Management Course by saying, “All right — now get up and try it!” For me, this engagement of the physical looks a bit different. I don't ask folks to stand up and practice, but I do sometimes show classroom examples of strategies on video, and I always describe classroom strategies in terms of what you do with your body.

I hope these quick examples demonstrate that what I'm calling whole-soul PD isn't some pie-in-the-sky idea but is instead a very practical, createable kind of thing. It's a robust framework for increasing the likelihood that folks will leave today's session feeling encouraged and being equipped, which is what so many of my client schools are after when they reach out to me.

Best to you, colleague,

DSJR

P.S. You could say much of the same for whole-soul lessons, too. This is why The Will to Learn starts in Chapter 1 with a discussion of this model of the soul, which I gleaned from USC phenomenologist Dallas Willard. The soul is a critical reality in any learning situation, and one need not be religious to take it seriously as a concept.

P.P.S. ‘Tis the season where schools are considering PD budgets for next school year. If you'd like to get me in the mix at your school, I'm happy to discuss a PD partnership with you. Just use this contact page to start the conversation.