Learning Pioneers

Learning Pioneers is an online professional learning community, built by teachers for teachers We have developed this community over the course of several years in response to the lack of agency teachers and schools often have over their professional learning journey. We were noticing that professional development (or professional "learning" as we call it): Tended to be once off INSET from one key speakers Focused on one item on the school's professional learning plan Didn't necessarily take into account teacher's individual interests, drives, specialisms and inquiries Often got "lost in the wind" after a big bang at the beginning Involved little or no collaboration and sharing of ideas across schools and contexts In short, professional learning opportunities often seemed to be "one size fits all" and put all your learning eggs in one basket. Why? Why not, we wondered: Create a learning programme where teachers can follow their own professional interests with colleagues across the globe which also fits with the schools development plan (Win-Win) Put professional learning into the hands of educators - give them agency, drive and excitement (because then they will enjoy and engage with their jobs more and ultimately impact on the learning and happiness of the children) Invite in the world's leading speakers to answer OUR co-created, tailored questions that will impact specifically on our contexts Create a safe, welcoming, inspiring learning space where we can interact with, learn from and troubleshoot with schools and practitioners across the globe Collaborate with world leaders in developing successful learning communities to embed powerful professional learning programmes in our schools Commit ourselves to making this the most impactful, caring, inspiring and innovative place it can be So, that's what we did. Learning Pioneers is the result.