Research School Network: Professional development: moving from informing practice to sustaining change How can we make professional development truly impactful?
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Professional development: moving from informing practice to sustaining change
How can we make professional development truly impactful?
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by Research Schools Network
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Sarah-Louise Johnston
Director of Essex Research School.
Sarah-Louise is a former secondary school English teacher with 17 years’ experience in a large comprehensive school in Ipswich. She has a deep understanding of classroom practice and the complexities of secondary education.
Too often, professional development (PD) in schools can end with understanding rather than mastery. Teachers leave sessions with enthusiasm, but without structured rehearsal and refinement, teacher learning can fade as the daily demands of teaching return. Even the most carefully designed PD will lose impact if teachers do not have time, support, and structured opportunities to practise.
The Missing Piece: Practice
EEF’s Effective Professional Development guidance highlights developing teacher techniques and embedding practice as two of the 4 groups essential for effective PD. Teachers need repeated, supported opportunities to apply new strategies. Likewise, A School’s Guide to Implementation reminds us that habits form over time through deliberate rehearsal and feedback, not one-off training.
To make PD stick in your school, you must build time and space for teachers to practise, not just understand, new strategies. Doing so ensures that high-quality teaching becomes routine, benefiting all pupils and closing gaps for disadvantaged learners. Planning professional development
EEF Effective Professional Development – Planning PD Tool
Embedding Practice into Daily Teaching
Practice does not happen by accident. As a leader, you must design it in. Think carefully about how teachers can safely try strategies, receive feedback, and see themselves improving.
During sessions, we now build in explicit rehearsal. Teachers plan, model, or role-play aspects of a strategy. For example, in a session on modelling writing, colleagues’ script and practise think-alouds with peers. In a session on questioning, we pause to practise prompts that stretch pupil thinking.
The real value comes from shared reflection. Teachers discuss what worked, what was challenging, and how strategies could be adapted for their pupils. Reflection turns rehearsal into genuine learning.
Why This Matters for Disadvantaged Learners
Embedding practice is especially critical for disadvantaged pupils. These learners may have the highest need for consistent, high-quality instruction to make progress. Gaps in teaching practice often widen inequalities, while well-rehearsed, embedded strategies help close them.
EEF evidence confirms that improving teaching quality has the largest impact on disadvantaged pupils. Sustained PD ensures that impact lasts. Framing professional development this way helps you, as a leader of teaching and learning, focus on what matters most: embedding high-quality teaching that benefits every learner.
Sustaining practice beyond a one-off session
Powerful PD continues beyond the workshop. Leaders can embed practice in simple, sustainable ways:
Coaching cycles where teachers revisit the same strategy
Short practice moments at the start of staff or department meetings
Peer drop-ins focused on one shared priority
These are not extras; they are part of PD itself. Creating rhythm and routine around practice is essential for sustaining change.
What leaders can do
Sustaining PD is less about new content and more about deliberate, structured practice. Teachers need time, space, and encouragement to embed strategies effectively in classrooms.
When planning PD, we build in three commitments:
Plan for practice, not just participation. Every session should include a chance to try, rehearse, or discuss strategies.
Create ongoing opportunities. Practice continues through coaching and planning cycles, not just the initial workshop.
Nurture a learning culture. Teachers, like pupils, need encouragement, safety, and constructive feedback to improve.
When teachers have time to practise and embed new strategies, consistency grows and disadvantaged learners may benefit most. This is when professional development truly shifts: moving from informing practice to transforming it, and from short-term inspiration to sustaining change.
Key Consideration
How will teachers continue to practise the strategies they have learned to ensure high-quality teaching reaches every pupil, particularly those facing disadvantage?
Answer it clearly, and PD in your school moves from understanding to action, and from momentary impact to lasting improvement for every learner. References:
