Sustaining Project-Based Learning: Boosting teachers’ competence
We know that through projects, students can discuss with their peers and share their work with a public audience. Students' ability to strengthen their collaboration skills combines two essential skills that will prepare them for the workforce: solving complex problems in a group environment and working with people from diverse life experiences and backgrounds.
Students can also extend their learning beyond the classroom by collaborating with community or corporate partners, promoting healthy adult connections. While some aspects of project-based learning foster self-directed learning, students still need support from the teacher. For example, teachers can identify topics that address essential concepts through project-based instruction to ensure academic standard alignment.
Teachers who teach through project-based instruction reported several benefits. Research shows that teachers witnessed improvement in their classroom climate, growth in student leadership, and student willingness to collaborate. Effective project-based educators design learning experiences that allow students to solve challenges in their school and community to extend their knowledge beyond the classroom.
That sounds great, but some teachers experience challenges when implementing project-based learning. The successful implementation of project-based instruction depends on the teachers' ability to differentiate activities and motivate, support, and guide students during the unit.
🎧 Do you prefer to listen to this article instead?
Project-based learning can be challenging to facilitate.
I've worked closely with hundreds of teachers, and they have expressed common concerns and challenges they experience when executing project-based instruction. Project-based learning requires that teachers and students shift their traditional roles and responsibilities, which can be difficult.
Teachers must be able to shift to student-centered pedagogy, which involves tolerance for flexibility and ambiguity while integrating experiences beyond the classroom. In addition to shifting to a facilitator or mentor role, teachers need to feel comfortable utilizing various technologies, such as learning management systems with features that promote discussion, feedback, and critique, depending on the project.
Planning project-based learning units is typically challenging, but even if schools purchase curricula that align with a constructivist approach, teachers struggle the most during the implementation phase as they attempt to utilize learner-centered interdisciplinary strategies.
If students lack specific foundational skills, teachers must be able to scaffold instruction, which may be difficult depending on their pacing schedule and ability. As a result, it can be challenging to create a project-based culture in a standards-based assessment and curriculum environment, which causes a steep learning curve for teachers.
Since test scores often measure student achievement, teachers may struggle with assessing students' knowledge during project-based learning. Evaluating students' knowledge can be challenging for teachers who are used to a traditional learning environment because assessment occurs at the end of the learning process during conventional education. Through project-based instruction, assessment occurs more frequently throughout the learning process using formative assessments.
High-performance project-based learning experiences also involve students engaging in independent and group tasks requiring different social skills. Teachers need sufficient training to develop the skills to collect accurate data and use findings to address students' needs during project-based learning experiences.
Another challenge teachers face during project-based learning is students' readiness to collaborate effectively with peers. While some students enjoy working in small groups, some prefer to work solo. Students' work styles vary based on personality and previous experience. For example, students who exhibited a negative experience working with a group during a school project are unlikely to desire group assignments. Therefore, teachers need to foster a culture conducive to project-based learning.
However, some teachers find it challenging to guide students through team-building, such as discovering team members' working styles or creating team contracts to help address conflicts. Group conflict and complaints can lead to frustration, arguments, and loss of motivation to complete the project. Therefore, teachers must develop systems, routines, and procedures to address such challenges.
Another common barrier teachers express is that project-based learning requires extensive planning. Designing high-impact project-based learning unit plans can take longer than crafting traditional ones, but teachers save time during the execution phase. Due to the upfront planning of daily lessons, teachers can focus more on supporting students through the learning process.
Instructional leaders must provide adequate support.
Due to its complex structure, project-based learning requires several years of training and facilitation for teachers to master. Therefore, the level of support teachers receive affects their ability to facilitate PBL and even sustain pedagogy beyond one school year. All teachers, whether novices or veterans, can benefit from ongoing professional development to build confidence in using this instructional method.
It's important to boost teachers' competence and confidence if you want them to facilitate project-based instructional practices in their classrooms. Confidence refers to a person's belief in their abilities. Whereas, competence is the ability to do something successfully or efficiently. The two are connected and affect whether or not teachers will try new instructional strategies.
Teachers want to be impactful, to feel successful, and to change student lives. However, without facilitating project-based experiences with students, teachers can't improve their practice and become high-impact project-based educators.
I've noticed, and research supports this, that teachers typically don't have access to a comprehensive project-based learning curriculum. Often, they modify their existing curriculum to fit the PBL model. Depending on the type of curriculum or resources, this can be challenging to do successfully.
It's not uncommon for school leaders to send teachers to a one-off workshop and expect them to become proficient at project-based instruction. Or they send teachers to a one-off workshop or a conference and expect them to return to school equipped to lead staff training. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but I've rarely seen that strategy work well. The odds of someone attending quick training and becoming a project-based learning expert are improbable.
This concept is critical to understand because the fidelity of professional development implementation affects teachers' ability to execute instructional methods as intended; it has proven to be a critical factor in successfully leading high-impact project-based experiences for students. Students' academic growth has improved after teachers engage in extensive professional development and can consistently implement project-based units.
Research shows that students of teachers who implemented project-based learning with fidelity exhibited the most significant gains on STEM-related standardized tests. In contrast, students of teachers who inconsistently applied project-based learning instructional practices showed few to minimum gains on STEM-related standardized tests.
Teachers need ongoing support and opportunities to implement project-based learning in an authentic setting. However, depending on the type of follow-up support the teacher experiences, their ability to sustain and continuously implement the strategies learned during training may diminish over time. The need for more clarity between the school's desired outcomes and the support required to achieve the goals can contribute to the lack of fidelity with implementation.
For example, an administrator's learning walk or observation form must align with the PBL instructional model. So, school leaders must consider how project-based learning aligns with their schools' structure and goals to build a practical professional learning experience.
Instructional leaders should examine whether they have the human, social, and monetary capital to successfully launch and sustain a project-based learning initiative. If not, shift your thinking to how to implement these components so you can foster the conditions for a positive yet impactful professional development experience for teachers.
Take Action:
Reflect on the following questions and jot down your responses:
What specific skills and knowledge are essential for creating a high-achieving project-based learning environment in your school?
Based on past experiences, what support or resources have been most influential in enhancing teachers' instructional practices?
What professional development opportunities and resources will be available to support teachers in integrating project-based learning into their teaching practice?
How will the school ensure consistency and fidelity in implementing project-based learning across classrooms?