The audience is king! Just as it was with the call to action for my implementation plan, carrying this mantra into my call to action for change in professional development will be key in encouraging my administrators and colleagues to move towards a more effective model of training. The change that I wish to see on my campus cannot move forward and spread without them. Therefore, I have to make sure that as a presenter, I fulfill my role of effectively communicating my ideas to my audience in an engaging way that will appeal to their emotions, grab their attention and get them to not just understand why I want our professional learning style to change but feel my idea enough to prompt action. I plan to do this by first connecting with my audience and then showing them what my suggestion for change can do for them, how it can meet their needs,why they should follow it, and what they need to do to get there (Duarte Inc., 2009). Doing this will help create a sense of loyalty in my administrators and colleagues towards me which, in turn, will help them align more quickly with my idea(s) (Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2013).
When building my connection with my administrators and colleagues, Duarte claims that one of the most powerful ways to do this is through storytelling (Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2013). This is because a great story demonstrates transformation that we as humans are hard-wired to enjoy, remember, and pass on because we feel change in the process of hearing it (Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2013). To create a connection with my audience using this strategy, I plan to tell a story of the training environment as it is now and what it could be using the Freytag Dramatic story structure. More specifically, I plan to tell the relatable story of going to our current lecture-style trainings and, even after receiving a wealth of information, still feeling like I did not learn very much once it was all over. Because this is a very relatable situation for so many educators, I think this will help to grab their attention and appeal to their emotions from the beginning. To emphasize the undesirable nature of these types of trainings, I may use media such as solemn background music, images, and speech intonation during this part of the presentation. To keep their attention, I will then present the alternative professional learning style that challenges the status quo and presents a solution to this problem of ineffective professional learning. This is when, if I choose to use music, images, and speech, they will become more upbeat and positive to change the audience's mood. This contrast will get my administrators and fellow teachers thinking and forming opinions about this new idea. My next step, the middle of my story, will then be to highlight even further the desirability and superior appeal (TedEx Talks, 2010) of new professional learning by alternating between the downfalls of the current “sit and get” trainings and the positives of the new individualized, collaborative professional learning style. For the new professional learning style, the main ideas highlighted will be 5 key principles of effective PL: ongoing learning to allow time for teachers to learn a new technology and grapple with the implementation problem, teacher support during the implementation stage, various opportunities for teachers to actively participate and make sense of the new technology, adequate modeling for teachers to help them understand how to effectively use new technology and catering professional learning to meet specific content and pedagogical needs (Gulamhussein, 2013). Once again, the media used during the alternating can be used to create negative and positive feelings about the current status quo professional development and the new style respectively. This constant toggling back and forth between the two professional learning styles will also help to counter potential apprehensions, obstacles, and roadblocks towards implementing this new style of professional learning. Seeing the continuous contrast between the two styles will create a more unappealing view of the status quo (TedEx Talks, 2010) for administrators and teachers and make them more open to the new style.
Finally, the end of my story will be when I make a call for action to my administrators and fellow teachers. In this stage of my story, I will appeal to their emotions by dramatically expressing how, by choosing to change to this more effective style of professional learning, we are providing our students with what we promise them and their parents every day when they come to school and what they truly deserve. I also like the effect of asking a question at the end to keep my audience thinking. So, I may end with a question like “Do you want to let them down?” or something to that effect. If you have any suggestions for possible closing questions, please feel free to comment below. I am definitely open to different ideas!
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