Providing Targeted Professional Development and Growth
Despite an audience of lifelong learners like teachers, professional development oftentimes misses the mark. Too often, professional development ends up like a box-checking exercise rather than the opportunity to actually grow.
While not always directly responsible for the quality and subject of professional development, principals still have a great deal of influence in this area. When principals can help ensure that professional development is personalized, relevant, and tied to teachers’ career goals,retention rates improve significantly (Learning Policy Institute 2017). When growth paths are clear without necessitating leaving the classroom, teachers are more likely to stay in the classroom.
One effective move is shifting from one-size-fits-all workshops to personalized learning opportunities. Another powerful strategy is empowering teachers to lead professional development experiences themselves. Peer-to-peer learning is highly effective because teachers often learn best from other teachers (PanoramaEd, n.d.). This can also create new leadership opportunities for teachers who oftentimes see limited growth opportunities (Moreland University, 2025).
Well-being-focused professional learning is also essential, with workload and burnout cited as top reasons teachers leave the profession (WJARR, 2024). Incorporating stress management and balance strategies into professional learning shows teachers that their self-care needs are valued and prioritized alongside their instructional skills.
AI tools can make much of this work more doable. Whether it is supporting the generation of differentiated professional learning modules tailored to specific teacher needs or instantly summarizing feedback from session surveys, these efficiencies can spur creative approaches, free up principals to focus less on logistics, and support teachers more directly.
References
Learning Policy Institute. (2017). The Role of Principals in Addressing Teacher Shortages. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/role-principals-addressing-teacher-shortages-brief
Moreland University. (2025). Teacher Retention Strategies. https://moreland.edu/resources/blog-insights/teacher-retention-strategies
PanoramaEd. (n.d.). Teacher Retention: 5 Effective Strategies. https://www.panoramaed.com/blog/teacher-retention-strategies
WJARR. (2024). Teacher Workload and Burnout Report. https://wjarr.com/sites/default/files/WJARR-2024-3507.pdf
