Bridging the Knowing-Doing Gap with Professional Learning
At some point in their careers, most educators will experience traditional professional
development: sitting alongside colleagues while an expert lectures at them. It is no surprise, then,
that teachers’ practice often reflects a similar “sage on the stage” style of pedagogy. As with
students, teachers’ responses to this model vary. Some passively listen while others grade papers
and a handful may surf their social media accounts. While it is widely acknowledged that the
traditional approach does not meet the needs of the diverse students in today’s classrooms, it still
dominates in many of today’s staffrooms.
At IEE, a nonprofit, university-based research center, we know that to support high-quality
instruction for students across settings – in school and beyond classroom walls – educators must
constantly refine and grow their practice. Professional learning is essential for this process of
growth and refinement. For these reasons, we define professional learning as ongoing
opportunities for educators to reflect on their practice, experiment with new strategies, and
problem-solve with colleagues. Professional learning is effective when educators learn new skills
and then change their practices until they see desired results. Over time, this type of professional
learning contributes to positive outcomes for students.
Not all professional learning results in educators changing their practices. The traditional
knowledge-transfer model described earlier adds to the knowing-doing gap, where educators
know what they would like to change but are unable to act for a variety of reasons: lack of time,
limited resources, curricular demands, etc. In other words, knowing is different than doing.
This brief outlines research-informed strategies for designing professional learning that bridges
the knowing-doing gap and pushes educators’ practice to the next level. We begin with a concise
review of adult learning principles. We then examine how to practice those principles, focusing
on experiential learning as a model that attends to the needs of adult learners. Finally, we dive
deep into a real-life example from our work at El Camino High School (ECHS) to explore how
these practices look in action.
What do we know about how adults learn?
While every learner is unique, research indicates that there are some cross-cutting adult learning
principles that, when attended to, will result in enriching learning experiences for educators1. To
close the knowing-doing gap, professional learning must address these principles. Here is what
we know about adult learners:
1
Knowles, M. (1988). The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Cambridge Adult Education.
(Re)designing learning to close opportunity gaps in a changing world™
1. Adults prefer self-directed learning - Once they have gained some foundational skills
and knowledge, educators want to choose what they learn and the best way for them to
explore new topics.
2. Adults want to extend prior knowledge and experience to address their goals Educators come to professional learning opportunities with a wealth of experience as well
as ideas about what they want to gain. The more that professional learning incorporates
educators’ experiences and goals, the more engaged educators will be in the process.
3. Learning opportunities should connect to the unique contexts in which adults work School and other learning environments are just as distinct as learners. Encouraging
educators to share their unique contexts and how they will use new skills and knowledge
is a critical part of all professional learning.
4. Adults make meaning in different ways2 - Research points to three core ways that
adults process new knowledge and skills:
a. Instrumental knowers appreciate clear goals and expectations. They respond to
explicit instructions and processes supported by examples and dialogue.
b. Socializing knowers prioritize relationships. They learn best in a safe space that
values and invites multiple perspectives.
c. Self-authoring knowers also seek exposure to multiple perspectives and respond
well to opportunities to practice and exhibit their competence.
There is no one way to attend to each of these principles. Rather, professional learning specialists
are encouraged to draw from field-tested frameworks supported by research. Experiential
learning, professional learning communities, and instructional coaching3 are all strong examples
of such frameworks. At IEE, we often use experiential learning with schools and districts. This
is because the framework aligns with adult learning principles and does not duplicate the work of
schools, many of which already lead their own professional learning communities or employ a
cadre of instructional coaches.
What is experiential learning?
Experiential learning is a four-step learning process that is guided by a facilitator. The facilitator
maintains the physical and emotional safety of the group and invites active participation from
2
Drago-Severson, E., Blum-DeStafano, J. Asghar, A. (2013). Learning for leadership: Developmental strategies for
building capacity in our schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing Ltd.
3
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.; DuFour, R. (2007). Professional learning communities: A bandwagon, an idea worth considering,
or our best hope for high levels of learning?, Middle School Journal,39(1), 4-8; Desimone, L. & Park, K. (Winter,
2017). Instructional coaching as high-quality professional development, Theory Into Practice, 56(1), 3-12.
(Re)designing learning to close opportunity gaps in a changing world™
educators.4 The process is a natural fit for working on complex problems and encouraging the
use of new practices.5 The fours steps are:
1. Concrete experience - This is where educators engage in an actual task, experiment, or
hands-on activity. To be authentic, it should relate directly to the context the educators
want to impact. In this way the experience remains responsive to context, a core adult
learning principle.6 Grounding experiences in the unique contexts of educators
encourages them to think through how the use of new skills and knowledge may respond
to their settings. Experiences, according to experts, should also expose educators to new,
rich content.7
2. Reflective Observation - This is a time for educators to examine the concrete
experience, comparing it to their prior knowledge as a way to gain new insight, including
successes, challenges, and strategies. Tapping prior knowledge during reflection allows
educators to build on the wealth of knowledge that they already possess and is one of the
adult learning principles.8
3. Abstract conceptualization - In this stage, adults connect their experiences and new
insights to existing concepts and/or create new concepts. Here we see Aha! moments in
which educators articulate how new knowledge and skills have shifted their thinking.
Because educators are making meaning, it is critical to use strategies that appeal to the
three types of knowers: instrumental, socializing, and self-authoring.
4. Active Experimentation - The knowing-doing gap is closed in this stage, as educators
test new ideas and knowledge by putting them to use in their learning environments.
Active experimentation embraces self-directed learning, another adult learning principle,
because participants choose what, when, and how they engage in experimentation.
Additionally, this stage involves educators in active, collaborative problem-solving which
scholars also identify as a best practice with adult learners.9
4
https://facultyinnovate.utexas.edu/teaching/strategies/overview/experiential-learning
5
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
6
Knowles, M. (1988). The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Cambridge Adult Education.
7
Garet, M., Porter, A., Desimone, L., Birman, B., & Yoon, K.S. (2001). What makes professional development
effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 915-945.
8
Knowles, M. (1988). The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Cambridge Adult Education.
9
Sandholtz, J.H. (2002). Inservice training or professional development: Contrasting opportunities in a
school/university partnership. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 815-830.
(Re)designing learning to close opportunity gaps in a changing world™
Experiential learning not only upholds the principles of adult learning, it also promotes the use of
best practices designed with adult learners in mind. For example, scholars call for professional
learning that is continuous and ongoing,10 which experiential learning has the capacity to be.
Other best practices like active involvement, opportunities for choice, and peer-learning11 fit
nicely into any stage of the experiential learning process. Finally, new, rich content can be
explored in multiple points in the process.12
What does experiential learning look like in practice?
The IEE approach to professional learning invites teachers to actively engage in the process of
meaning-making and integrating novel practices, both in service of closing the knowing-doing
gap and producing better outcomes for students. We use an example from our work with ECHS,
a comprehensive urban high school in San Diego County, to illustrate our approach.
School leaders at ECHS wanted to address a theme that surfaced in survey data they collected
prior to initiating the partnership with IEE. In the survey, students repeatedly reported feeling
“bored” at school, indicating that they did not see a connection between what was happening in
the classroom and their personal post-secondary goals. School administrators wanted to explore
this challenge through a workshop series, centered upon making school “real” for students. To
meet this key objective, we created a learning sequence for the workshop that was grounded in
experiential learning and inquiry. While this model was new to teachers at ECHS, we knew it
aligned both with adult learning principles and the goals of our work.
At ECHS, two essential questions guided teachers’ inquiry: 1) What are our fundamental beliefs
about effective teaching and learning? and 2) What does that look like in the classroom? At IEE,
we believe that in order to answer essential questions and close the knowing-doing gap, teachers
must organically arrive at their own conclusions. In our role as facilitators, we designed the
experiences and create the conditions for powerful meaning-making to occur.
Concrete Experience
At ECHS we used the Design Thinking model to structure the experiential learning process.
Design Thinking is now a popular model to use in classrooms, but it is rarely used in
professional learning. Over the course of a seven-day workshop, we engaged teachers in a
number of concrete experiences that ranged from hands-on thinking challenges, such as Ready,
Set, Design! to teacher-led “empathy interviews” with their students in order to better understand
school from the perspective of the learner. The student interviews were particularly powerful for
10
Ibid.
Garet, M., Porter, A., Desimone, L., Birman, B., & Yoon, K.S. (2001). What makes professional development
effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 915-945.
12
Hawley, W. D., & Valli, L. (1999). The essentials of effective professional development: A new consensus. In L.
Darling Hammond & G. Sykes (Eds.), Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice (pp.
127-150). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
11
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teachers. One teacher shared his shock at hearing a low-achieving student explain that, “school is
preparing [him] for a world that doesn’t exist.” Others realized that many of the higher achieving
students were motivated by compliance, not a passion for learning.
Reflective Observation
After each concrete experience in the ECHS learning sequence, teachers completed reflective
observations using structured discussion protocols, such as a Chalk Talks. The National School
Reform Faculty has a number of additional protocols that can be used and adapted for use with
educators. In our experience, a mix of individual and collective reflection leads to the greatest
insight. For example, to develop a common understanding of how teachers might see evidence
of critical thinking in their classrooms, they reflected on how they, as learners, employed critical
thinking in the Ready, Set, Design! challenge. In this case, educators unpacked, or explicitly
stated, the skills they used in their concrete experience.
Abstract conceptualization
In each day of the learning series, the teachers at ECHS synthesized their ideas through drawing
and writing. This was an iterative process in which they continually revised and built on their
developing understanding of the instructional vision. Initially, this was as simple as creating
Google Drawings of what the instructional vision looks like, sounds like, and feels like. Teachers
then followed a text-based discussion protocol to draw meaning from the collection of drawings.
The “texts”, in this case, were their illustrations. This resulted in a framework that was revisited
and revised in each session based on new knowledge and experiences.
Active Experimentation
At the close of each full-day workshop, the teachers at ECHS planned at least one change to
make in their classroom. This is how we encouraged teachers to close the knowing-doing gap.
Teachers gave and received feedback on their change ideas by following a Charrette protocol.
Teachers were expected to implement this in their classroom, and then share and reflect on it at
the following session. Teachers really embraced this practice. On teacher remarked, “I like
hearing about the other ideas teachers did in the class. [It] gave me a heads up for issues I may
have when I try those same things.” Another teacher described the value of the process stating,
“It is just a good reminder to 'keep it fun' in my classroom. Every time I leave here I leave with
an idea for immediate implementation in my classroom.”
By the end of the learning sequence at ECHS teachers had not only developed a clear framework
for good instruction, but had also developed a lesson, unit, and resource bank to exemplify this
framework. Additionally, they opened their classrooms for peer observations to spread the
practices they had collaboratively developed.
Conclusion
(Re)designing learning to close opportunity gaps in a changing world™
Traditional-transfer models of professional learning are often informative, but seldom bridge the
knowing-doing gap. The reasons for the knowing-doing gap are myriad, but educators can work
to close it through ongoing, effective professional learning. Experiential learning is a flexible and
engaging professional learning framework that can incorporate innovative learning models such
as the Design Thinking process.
There is no one silver bullet strategy for professional learning. However, when facilitators use
the adult learning principles and best practices described in this brief they can lead more
effective professional learning; the kind that leads to real shifts in classroom practice and,
ultimately, student learning outcomes.
Resources:
Frameworks:
Design Thinking - This is a curated set of resources such as videos, activities, and facilitation tips
to help you use design thinking with students and educators.
Activities:
Ready, Set, Design! - This small group design challenge from the Cooper Hewitt museum will
boost creativity and collaboration on any team. Learn the technique through an instructional
video and accompanying facilitation guide.
Protocols:
National School Reform Faculty (NSRF) Protocols - This is a collection of field-tested guides to
facilitate a variety of small and large group experiential learning activities aimed at problemsolving, reflection, active listening and more. The Chalk Talk protocol and the Text-based
discussion protocol are examples of the caliber of activities available from NSRF.
School Reform Initiative Protocols - This collection of guides covers a range of topics from
extending practice to emphasizing equity. The Charrette protocol from this collection can be
used to build on promising ideas and practices.
(Re)designing learning to close opportunity gaps in a changing world™