Three Events. One Question.

Last week was one of those weeks that reminded me why I do what I do. Three very different professional learning experiences. Three very different communities of people. And one question that kept surfacing for me: are we doing enough to ensure that professional learning actually meets people where they are? As a coach, I think about this all the time. Coaching, at its heart, is about meeting the individual where they're at. That is, understanding their context, their starting point, their goals, and designing a learning journey that serves them. Professional learning, when it's done well, should do exactly the same thing. Last week offered no shortage of ideas, questions, and observations to reflect upon.

When One Person Speaks to Many Worlds

The week began at school, where our Principal, Chris Bradbury and Prof Phil Cummins had organised professional learning across several different communities- our student school leaders, our leadership team, an ACT Teachers' Guild event that brought together staff and educators from across the ACT, and a masterclass for our parents and carers. Each group was distinct. Each brought different experiences, different questions, different needs.

It was so interesting to watch Phil navigate each audience across different sessions. Phil and I have known each other and each other's work for years. That matters more than we sometimes acknowledge. He was able to draw the through-line between professional learning and coaching in a way that resonated deeply for me, because he understood the lens I bring to this work. When someone already knows you, your thinking, your values, your professional history, the conversation starts somewhere different. That's the power of relationship in professional learning, and it's something no program or platform can replicate.
 
It's also what I kept returning to across the whole week: the moments that mattered most were the ones built on connection. Reconnecting with educators I hadn't seen in years. Conversations that picked up where they left off. The particular ease that comes when someone already knows your work, and you know theirs. That kind of knowing is what coaching is built on, and it's what the best professional learning is built on too.

EduTECH Sydney: Big Energy, Little Space to Think

EduTECH was a different experience entirely. Huge. Energetic. I've known Andy Hargreaves for years and always enjoy his presentations, so it was great to catch his keynote and then fall into one of our long conversations afterwards about the things keeping leaders, teachers and academics up at night: the current climate in schools, the teacher shortage crisis, and the complicated role that tech and social media are playing in it all.                    

The workshops were embedded within the commercial exhibition space, which created a kind of noise, literal and metaphorical, that was hard to escape. Some sessions had you wearing headphones just to hear the presenter, which meant losing those small spontaneous moments of turning to the person beside you to share a thought. Others relied on microphones and good listening skills, both of which were tested against the constant ambient hum of a busy conference floor. People moved constantly around you, not necessarily in search of learning, but for products, connections, the next shiny thing. It was at times overwhelming, and yet that's the nature of an event this size. The value is still there, just buried a little deeper. You have to go looking for it, usually in the quieter corners, in the unplanned conversations that end up staying with you long after you've forgotten the slide decks. 

What I noticed most was what was missing: silence. Space to think. A quiet corner to process what you'd just heard. I tried to have informal conversations with people during sessions, but we had to physically remove ourselves from the space to do it. Randomly meeting up in different parts of the world, Dr John Cleary is one of the most generous people I've had the privilege of learning from. He freely gives his time and knowledge in a way that stays with you and his way of being is inspiring. I feel lucky to have crossed paths year ago and valued our informal chat in a quieter space. The opportunity to debrief, discuss, or ask the what ifs or share your wonderings was limited, yet, the message was clear. AI is here, and the sessions that cut through the noise did so because they asked the right questions.

 

Laura Bain asked, What if we designed schools today? Her presentation reminded me of Sir Ken Robinson and do you remember, “Most Likely to Succeed” (Wagner & Dintersmith) and “What School Could Be” (Dintersmith). The big questions haven't changed. We just keep finding new reasons to avoid answering them.

 

The conversation around AI in education has been dominated by fear. Fear that students are cheating, that assessment is broken, that we've lost control of what we can measure. But that's the wrong starting point. Used thoughtfully, AI has the potential to personalise learning, provide meaningful feedback, and free teachers and administrators to do the human work that no algorithm can replace. 

That brought me to a question I haven't been able to shake: who is going to help teachers learn about AI and how it is influencing teaching and learning that is sometimes reflected in assessment. I thought about ISTE in 2013 and 2015, where I met technology coaches who were embedded in classrooms. Those who are skilled, knowledgeable educators whose job was to work alongside teachers to integrate technology meaningfully. Do we need that model again, but for AI?

Leaving EduTECH, I was struck by how quickly AI is evolving and much there is to learn. However, we all need space that learning deserves. Teachers can't do it alone, and sessions at a conference will never be enough. We need to think carefully about how we enable that learning, and about who we trust to lead it. 

 

The EA Conference: A Reminder That PL Is For Everyone

The third experience was a mini conference for Executive Assistants orchestrated by Kristine Niven. I joined because I wanted to support this event and hear my previous principal, Dr Briony Scott, present. But I also joined because, as Director of Professional Practice, I genuinely believe that professional learning is not just for teachers but for all staff who support the education within the school community.

It's a message that still needs to be said, loudly and often: every person in a school community deserves access to meaningful professional growth. EAs do extraordinary work. It's complex, relational, demanding, and yet they are often the last to be included in professional learning conversations. Watching that room come alive, watching people feel seen and valued in their professional roles, was a powerful reminder of the importance of inclusion and acknowledgement.

So Where Does This Leave Me?

Three experiences. Three very different communities. And the same thread running through all of them: professional learning needs to evolve to truly serve the individual.
 
As a coach, I know that the most powerful growth happens when someone feels known, when the learning is relevant to their actual work, and when there is space. The space has to be genuine and protected, to reflect, to question, to make meaning. We don't always build that into our school day or professional learning programs. We build content, we build schedules, we build programs. But do we build in the conditions that actually make learning stick? 
 
EduTECH showed me what happens when those conditions are missing...when there is noise but no silence, content but no conversation, presentations but no processing. The learning gets crowded out.
 
The EA conference showed me what happens when a group of people who are at times overlooked are given their own space to learn and connect. They thrive.
 
And the school-embedded PL reminded me that when you know your people, when the facilitator understands the room and the room trusts the facilitator, real things happen.
 
Professional learning is changing. It has to. The world our teachers are navigating brings rapid change and increasing complexity. This world demands something more responsive, more personalised, more human centred. I'm still sitting with the question of what that looks like in practice for a Pre-K through to Year 12 school that consists of teaching and non-teaching staff. But I know it starts with this: treat every learner as an individual with something to bring and something to grow into. Offer as much opportunity and experiences, and learn from other schools globally.

What does professional learning look like in your context? And who in your school community might be missing out on it?

Presenters and People I Connected With at EduTECH

Part of what makes a conference worthwhile is the people. Here are some of the sessions I attended and the educators I was lucky enough to learn from.
 

Sessions

•      MC Annabel Astbury (met at ISTE, USA in 2015, and she greeted me with, "Your boss is married to my boss!")
•      Aunty Julie Jones: Welcome to Country and Performance
•      Dr Andy Hargreaves: Teaching to repair the world: How to retain AND sustain a strong teaching profession
•      Dr Jason Reynolds: Literacy as liberation: Reimagining engagement for the TikTok generation
•      Matt Esterman, Anna Sever, Paul Tame: AI in the classroom: Supporting teaching and learning in practice
•      Dr Nick Jackson: AI ethics that doesn't bore learners to death
•      Dr Sarah McKay: Neuromyth to neuroscience: How to talk about the teenage brain
•      Julian Ridden, Adam Biggs, Peta Hicks: Smarter work, better outcomes: Using technology in education
•      Dr Andrew Fuller: Converting neurodiversity into neuro-advantage
•      Laura Bain: What if we designed schools today?
•      Dr John Cleary, Jenny Hanson, Dr Dan Edwards, Dr Theo Vlark and Scott O'Hara: Assessment reimagined: Charting the future for learners

Friends and Colleagues

Educators I was lucky enough to reconnect with through a simple smile, hello or hug: Carolyn Morrison, Briony Scott, Terrie Jones, Adam Voigt, Brenda Quayle, Bron Stuckey, Andy Draper, Sarah Warby, Hugh Gundlach, and the Radford IT Team. These are the connections that remind you the education community is small, generous, and worth showing up for.

Staying Curious,

Andrea