From Compliance to Connection: The Leadership Shift We Need

PD + Culture Series

Recently, I’ve been supporting schools around teacher effectiveness. What I’ve seen is both promising and concerning:

Some teachers are genuinely receptive to support and lean into coaching. Others nod along, appear compliant during training, and then privately express frustration — not to me, but to their administrators. Instead of holding teachers accountable and framing support as essential to improving instruction, administrators sometimes pass along those complaints and shift the frustration back onto the support team.

But here’s the question we must ask: How is this helping children?

If our professional development and coaching aren’t pushing teachers toward growth — even when that growth feels uncomfortable — then we’re not truly serving our students.

PD as Compliance

Too often, professional development is treated like a checkbox. Teachers attend, sign in, maybe complete an exit ticket. Administrators feel they’ve “done PD.” But compliance-based PD rarely changes instruction — and it almost never changes culture.

PD as Connection

The real power of professional learning lies in connection — between teacher and coach, between admin and staff, and ultimately between teacher and student.

• Connection builds trust. Teachers must feel safe to admit where they struggle.

• Connection builds relevance. PD should directly link to teachers’ current instructional challenges, not sit on top of them.

• Connection builds culture. When leaders model coaching and growth, teachers follow.

The Leadership Shift

This requires administrators to shift from appeasing teachers to supporting teachers through accountability. It’s not about being aggressive or punitive. It’s about saying:

“We believe in your ability to grow, and we’re going to walk with you through this — even when it’s hard.”

When leaders reframe PD as ongoing coaching — not just a requirement — they create the culture shift schools desperately need.

Final Thought

If PD feels like “just another thing” for teachers, we’ve missed the mark. But if PD becomes a culture of coaching, collaboration, and accountability, then every classroom grows stronger — and students win.