Plan Professional Learning to Promote Early STEAM

Making Progress Toward Your Early STEAM Goals

Next, your team will plan how to use PL and other ongoing supports, such as coaching, to accomplish your overarching goals. This section offers a process and tool for planning early STEAM PL and ongoing supports. It also provides some examples of ways to promote early STEAM.

For even more information on these topics, you might explore other self-study modules, such as Facilitating STEAM Professional Learning and Early Math Coaching.

Professional Learning Experiences

PL experiences allow educators to explore the ways they support children’s development and learning. PL experiences include a series of workshops and other ongoing supports, such as coaching or a community of practice. PL experiences engage educators in ongoing reflection, peer support, application of new learning, and modification of teaching practices based on child assessment data.

Active, collaborative PL experiences often influence educators’:

mindsets about math and science,
math and science knowledge and skills, and
early STEAM teaching practices.

Planning With Your Early STEAM Team

Let’s explore a process, including guiding questions, for creating a PL plan with your early STEAM team. Use the STEAM Professional Learning and Ongoing Supports Guide to record your ideas.

Think about the areas of strength and opportunities for growth in early STEAM that your team identified using the STEAM Goal Setting Guide for Agencies. Reflect on the overarching early STEAM goals you set for the group(s).
Consider specific attitudes, knowledge, and skills that would support participants to move toward these goals.
Identify potential participants for PL. For example, you might invite all educators to each PL experience, or you might tailor the invitations to address educators’ needs and interests or target a particular age-level (for example, educators in preschool/TK).

Explore this Resource

STEAM Professional Learning and Ongoing Supports Guide

Planning Tool

Use this tool to plan professional learning (PL) and other ongoing supports with your early STEAM team.

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Choosing a Professional Learning Format

PL can be delivered in different ways. Let’s explore three PL formats: in-person, virtual, and hybrid.

Facilitators and participants gather face-to-face in one learning space.

Strengths

promotes feelings of community
provides opportunities for active learning
supports collaboration
allows facilitator to check for individual participant understanding

Limitations

scheduling can be difficult (for example, educators may work at different sites or organizations or live in remote areas)

Facilitators and participants come together on an online platform.

Strengths

offers opportunities to reach educators in a variety of locations
makes PL more accessible for some educators (for example, messaging, closed captioning)

Limitations

relies on stable internet connectivity
may be difficult due to distractions at home
requires access to technology
may be challenging to facilitate collaborative learning activities

Participants choose whether to participate face-to-face or access PL through an online platform.

Strengths

offers opportunities to reach educators in a variety of locations
may allow learners to choose the type of learning that works best for them

Limitations

can be challenging to facilitate
may not be equally accessible and engaging for in-person and virtual participants

Reflect:

With your early STEAM team, think about which PL formats would work best for your educators and why. Then, use the STEAM Professional Learning and Ongoing Supports Guide to record your responses.

Considering Duration, Partners, and Resources

Reflect on the following details as you plan your PL.

Frequency: How often do you need to offer PL experiences to make progress toward your goals?
Length: How much time will PL experiences take?
- When deciding on a PL experience length, be sure to think about an appropriate length given the PL format to be used. For example, you might consider shorter amounts of time for virtual PLs. You might also consider the content and topics you plan to cover and the time needed for adult participants to engage in playful, hands-on early math and science activities. You might vary the length of PLs by topic.
Timing: When will you offer PL experiences?
- Consider what works well for your educators, budget, and facilities. For example, if your agency has space for PL and funding for substitute educators, you might offer PL while children are in the learning setting. Alternatively, you might offer evening or weekend PL experiences if your agency does not have the resources to provide substitute educators.

Who might facilitate PL or provide coaching? Your agency and partners may provide some of or all the PL experiences.
What related PL opportunities are available? Community organizations, community colleges, and child care resource and referral agencies offer a variety of PL for early educators.
Which CPE resources might be useful for PL providers and coaches? Your agency might use the CPE Facilitator Resources and Self-Study Modules.

Reflect:

With your early STEAM team, identify the frequency and lengths of your PL experiences. Then, identify who will provide PL experiences. Use the STEAM Professional Learning and Ongoing Supports Guide to record your responses.

Ongoing Supports

Ongoing supports, such as communities of practice (CoPs) or professional learning communities (PLCs) and coaching, help educators apply what they learned during PL experiences. Incorporating ongoing supports within your early STEAM PL plan offers a welcoming environment for educators to participate in the following:

practice what they learned
share challenges
ask for advice
receive feedback
feel a sense of belonging and mutual support

CoPs and PLCs

CoPs and PLCs bring together people who share a common goal, commitment, experience, or role. As part of learning from others’ practices, CoP or PLC members share experiences, learn from each other, and develop and share resources. For examples of how to facilitate early math CoPs, you might observe the Count Play Explore CoPs (CPE, formerly known as the California Early Math Initiative or CAEMI).

Coaching

Coaching is a relationship-based process that supports educators’ PL and growth. Coaching can provide opportunities for follow-up, co-teaching, co-reflection, and sharing feedback after educators have participated in other types of PL such as workshops. Coaching can be done one-on-one or with small groups and offers opportunities to provide educators with support and feedback to enhance their knowledge, skills, and mindsets. For more information on coaching, explore the Early Math Coaching self-study module.

Observe: Connecting Professional Learning and Coaching

Coaching helps educators apply what they learned in PL or receive additional individualized support on an area they hope to strengthen. Observe this video of a program supervisor within a county office of education, Mary Childrey, describing how their early math team connects early math PL with coaching.

Reflect:

With your early STEAM team, consider your educators’ needs and your agency’s resources. Use the STEAM Professional Learning and Ongoing Supports Guide to record your responses.

What types of ongoing supports, such as communities of practice and coaching, will your agency provide to enhance early STEAM PL? How frequently will educators receive these supports?