Book review: Transformational Professional Learning

The trouble with having the word “transformational” in a title is that you set yourself up for a fall. Surely, thinks the reader, if I read this, I will experience a deep – nay, transformational – shift in my understanding. The earth will move, the scales will fall from my eyes, my cup will runneth over. Inevitably then, with the bar set so high, this book disappoints.�� However, if we overlook the false promises inherent in that particular adjective, this book gives a useful overview of different approaches to professional development and their relative strengths and weaknesses.  If the diagnosis of the problems is more engaging than the sections on possible solutions, that’s maybe less a criticism of the book and more a criticism of reality. For, as author Deborah Netolicky explains, the disappointing message from different researchers is that we simply do not yet know what helps teachers improve.  Underwhelming conclusion After surveying the research on several different approaches to professional learning, she comes to this underwhelming conclusion: “Professional learning that transforms teachers’ and school leaders’ beliefs and practices can happen in diverse ways and in a variety of sometimes unexpected contexts.”