I’ve attended my share of professional development sessions as an educator. Too often, I’ve walked away asking the same question: Is this really how we expect teachers to learn?
Even the most dedicated teachers can wilt in the wrong conditions.
I still remember one session on trauma-informed teaching held in a school cafeteria. The tables and attached seats were too small for most of us, while the lights hummed overhead. For two and a half hours, the facilitator read from an endless slide deck about the importance of connection and empathy. There was minimal context building, limited discussion and no reflection. By the end, the facilitator smiled and said, “Now you are all trauma-informed teachers!” I think my eyes rolled so far back they almost stayed there.
Sitting and listening to someone talk for 45 to 60 minutes is not learning, let alone two and a half hours. My body knows it before my brain does. I get restless, my mind drifts, I check the time and take a walk to refill my water bottle. In that first hour, disappointment sets in fast.
Minimal conditions for adult learning have become the norm. I used to resent that; now I fear it. Because the longer I sat in those breakout rooms, the quieter I became. My curiosity dulled, the topic’s urgency faded and I started doing what was expected: showing up, signing in and leaving seemingly unchanged. That terrified me. I could feel myself becoming the kind of learner I never wanted my students to be. Even the most dedicated teachers can wilt in the wrong conditions.
And here’s what often goes unspoken: teachers already give so much of their time to these sessions, spending hours after school on professional days and during planning periods.
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