Teachers Learning: Engagement, Identity, and Agency in Powerful Professional Development

Professional development is a ubiquitous, even routine, exercise for teachers. Much more rare is the PD that makes a lasting impression on teachers’ practice or the way they see themselves. In this discussion, James Noonan will briefly share some of his dissertation research on powerful professional learning and then engage in a discussion about why powerful learning experiences merit the attention of educators at all levels and what we can learn from our most memorable and transcendent learning experiences.

James Noonan is an Ed.D. candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and a Spencer Foundation Early Career Scholar in New Civics whose research focuses on the design of professional learning environments for teachers and their impact on teacher practice and student learning. His dissertation explores these topics through an analysis of 25 teachers’ most powerful professional learning experiences. Prior to coming to HGSE, James worked for eight years at Peace Games (now Peace First), where he held numerous school-based and program development positions, including three years overseeing the school-wide implementation of the program at the Nathan Hale Elementary School in Roxbury, MA and a leadership role adapting and piloting the Peace Games curriculum through the Colombian National Program of Citizenship Competencies. In addition, James has trained volunteers to play with children in homeless family shelters and has designed activities at an adult literacy program to help recent immigrants develop their civic awareness and capacities. James’s research has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice, the Journal of Peace Education, and the Harvard Educational Review. James has an Ed.M. in International Education Policy from HGSE, as well as a B.A. in English and a B.S. in English Education, both from Boston University. He lives in Jamaica Plain, MA with his wife, a teacher in the Boston Public Schools, and their two daughters.

Wednesday, November 2, 12:30pm-2:00pm