At Shipley, developing a Love of Learning is part of our Mission and extends beyond students to our teachers and non-teaching colleagues. We believe that great teachers must be avid learners and consistently work on their craft in meaningful ways. To that end, Shipley has established three programs to support teachers in their efforts to be the best they can be. 

The Teaching Resource Center is a place for teachers to pursue professional growth opportunities that are both teacher-driven and student-focused, with a main objective of improving learning opportunities for our students. Teachers can work one-on-one or in collaborative settings to learn from each other and share areas of expertise. “We are all acorns and we are all oaks,” says Josh Berberian, Upper School math teacher and Coordinator of Teacher Development. 

The Summer Symposium is a week-long professional development experience for teachers in all divisions. During the week, teachers deepen their knowledge of backward planning as a framework (Understanding by Design is the theory behind it—developed by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins). Using that framework, teachers learn more about integrating positive education in the classroom, incorporating diversity and inclusion and cultural competence, doing interdisciplinary work, and planning and evaluating performance tasks (part of assessment).

 

The Learning Design Teams bring some of the Summer Symposium’s focus to all teachers during the school year. With eight meetings over the course of the year, teachers get to focus their professional learning on positive education integration, diversity and inclusion work, or innovative curriculum, although there is some overlap. “They are important ways that the School reserves time for collaboration across disciplines and departments and to focus on the craft of teaching,” says Wendy Eiteljorg ’86, Director of Curricular Innovation and Learning Design.