2018 CAIS Heads & Chairs Conference

Although the goal of Professional Development for educators is to improve teaching or leadership practice, research shows that it is often only mildly successful at doing so. In fact, by nature people are resistant to new learning. Although we often say that we want to learn, our minds play games in ways that act as barriers to new learning. This workshop will focus on why this happens and how to avoid it. Participants will explore what learning really is and why traditional forms of professional development tend not to positively impact teaching or leadership practice. They will also learn about the cognitive biases, inherent in human nature, that act as barriers to successful learning, as well as strategies for intentionally interrupting these biases to enable real learning. The workshop will be particularly useful for Heads who want to better understand how to lead or enable professional learning in their schools, or for Heads or Chairs who want to better understand human nature and how to move their own personal learning agenda forward.