Over 20 years ago, Bob Marzano wrote a book which became a foundational text in school reform – What Works in Schools. In it he looked at factors that impact learner achievement, categorising these into three groups – school-level factors such as a guaranteed and viable curriculum, teacher-level factors such as classroom management and instructional strategies, and student-level factors such as background knowledge and the home environment.
His findings, in hindsight, were obvious. Of all the factors within the control of the school, it is the quality of teachers and teaching that has the biggest impact on student performance. The difference in learning between a student taught by a highly effective teacher and that of an ineffective teacher was, he found, around 40%. Or, put another way, two years of a highly effective teacher can support a child to make almost two years of growth in a single year. Teaching is an art. It is a science. Teachers matter.
At NIS, we find this simple truth energizing. It means that great learning for students begins with great teachers; teachers who don’t leave learning to chance, but are equipped with the emotional intelligence, pedagogical skills and clarity of judgment to impact learners and learning. This kind of high-quality teaching does not just happen; it grows through curiosity, reflection, collaboration, and the courage to keep challenging yourself as an educator. For just as great learning happens for children when they are being challenged to think, feel and grow, the same is true of teachers. Great teachers love learning just as much as they love teaching – just as the best chefs love to eat and the best authors love to read.
This belief shapes how we think about professional learning and growth at NIS. If teacher quality is the most powerful lever a school has to impact learning, then investing in teacher growth becomes a core responsibility. And if great teachers are also great learners, good schools must continually strive to be learning cultures, rich in opportunities to reflect, be curious, and grow. In this sense, professional learning is not an event, a PD day, a guest speaker or an online course. Rather, professional learning is a cultural commitment to reflection, humility and continued evolution as a professional. It recognizes teaching as complex, relational, and intellectually demanding work. Here at NIS, we take seriously the responsibility to ensure that this culture is rich, fertile and effective.
Our approach aligns closely with what thinkers such as Daniel Pink describe as the drivers of adult motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Teachers are at their best when they are trusted to shape their own practice, pursue new learning, and anchor their work in a clear sense of personal and school mission. Our Professional Growth Pathway reflects this approach. It does not function as a top-down checklist, but is a reflective cycle of inquiry, action, and feedback. Using evidence from peers, students, and supervisors to identify both strengths and blind spots, teachers are supported in setting personalized goals that stretch their thinking and resonate with their context. Coaching, peer relationships, and shared dialogue support them – but the motivation as a professional comes from within.
We design professional development days each year not as breaks from learning, but as learning itself—opportunities for colleagues to collaborate, examine practice, challenge assumptions, and deepen their craft. This past November, our work on what we call the "DuCKS" supported teachers in aligning pedagogy with how the brain learns skills, dispositions, and concepts—and our continued work on Inclusion and Belonging, including the rollout of our Gender Inclusion Policy, which supports our growth in cultivating classrooms of safety for all. In the Elementary School, we hosted PYP training with colleagues from other schools, and across the school, Staff Skill Shares continued to offer opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, with colleagues leading workshops, book studies, and action research groups. None of this is “extra” to the core work of teaching. It is professional learning. And learning is the core work of all of us who work in schools.
Our NIS Learning Principles make sense of this. The same ideas that define high-quality learning for children—authentic contexts, meaningful feedback, co-constructed goals, and the emotional conditions that enable growth—shape the way we design professional learning for adults.
A school committed to learning for children must be a school committed to learning for everyone. Teachers as learners. Learners as teachers. And a community that understands the value of the people who dedicate their lives to making the mission come alive for each and every one of our students, each and every day.
So to all the staff at NIS – the teachers and those who support them in their work – thank you for your dedication as learners, because by doing this, you create opportunities for each and every NIS student to Inquire, Inspire, Impact and to be included!
- Matthew Parr, Head of School, NIS