EP324 Five changes teachers want to see in professional development

Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers

Angela Watson

Teachers, Courses, Education, Teaching

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

PD is supposed to help teachers grow, but so often, it feels like a missed opportunity. In this episode of Truth for Teachers, I’m sharing five things teachers wish PD presenters understood—straight from your thoughtful comments and the experiences I've had attending and delivering professional development over the past 25 years.

If you’ve ever been frustrated by PD sessions that feel irrelevant, condescending, or like a waste of time, you’re not alone. This episode explores what makes PD meaningful for teachers and what presenters can do differently to better serve the educators in the room:

Treat us like professionals. Teachers don’t need to be managed like students—we want PD that respects our expertise and autonomy.
Give us practical tools we can use. We value strategies, materials, and ideas that are immediately applicable in our classrooms.
Stop reading the PowerPoint. We can read—we’d rather spend the time diving deeper into the content.
One-size-fits-all doesn’t work. PD should be differentiated to reflect the diverse needs of teachers based on grade level, subject area, and role.
Inspiration is key. Great PD leaves us motivated and energized—not overwhelmed or bogged down by irrelevant details.

This episode is a must-listen if you’ve ever felt like PD doesn’t meet your needs as a teacher. It’s also a great resource to share with PD presenters and decision-makers in your district who are designing professional learning experiences.

Get the shareable article/transcript for this episode here.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Episode 324 of Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers.
0:08.0	I'm your host, Angela Watson, and I'm here to speak encouragement into the hearts of educators
0:13.0	and get you informed and energized for the week ahead.
0:16.0	Today, I'm talking about what I've learned over the past 25 years in education, about
0:21.5	what makes professional development really high quality.
0:25.7	Visit truthforteachers.com for an easy-to-read, easy-to-share version of this podcast episode.
0:35.5	Today we're talking about professional development, PD, those two letters that can either strike
0:41.1	dread into a teacher's heart or spark real excitement and growth. It's something that's been
0:46.3	on my mind a lot this year in particular. As for a variety of reasons, but mostly based on
0:52.0	opportunities that have presented themselves,
0:59.9	I'm finding myself doing a lot more speaking and traveling than I did last year. So I've been reflecting more about what's working and what's not when it comes to teacher development
1:04.5	trainings. I decided to ask a question on my Truth for Teachers' Facebook page about the things
1:10.6	that teachers want from
1:11.7	good PD and what you hope to never experience again in a training. After reading through so
1:18.1	many comments from you all, I realize there's an important conversation to be had about what
1:23.0	makes professional development meaningful, helpful, and respectful of our time and expertise.
1:29.2	So in this episode, I want to open that conversation and share five things that I've learned
1:34.2	about good PD, both from my own experiences over the past 25 years in education, as a teacher,
1:40.6	instructional coach, educational consultant, and yes, professional development provider,
1:45.7	and also from what you have shared as well. Let's reimagine professional development together
1:51.3	and talk about how it could look when done right. The first thing is treating teachers like
1:58.4	professionals. This is consistently the number one thing that I hear from
	...

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