Research Report

Educator Learning to Enact the Science of Learning and Development

Group of people working in an academic setting.
Linda Darling-Hammond, Lisa Flook, Abby Schachner, Steven Wojcikiewicz, with Pamela Cantor and David Osher
January 2022 | Learning Policy Institute
Group of people working in an academic setting.

Research advances in neuroscience and the developmental and learning sciences have provided us with important insights about how people learn and develop. This new knowledge points to important transformations in teaching practice, which in turn require transformations in educator development in order to support all educators in developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions associated with developing the whole child.

This report synthesizes research on how to support educators in developing those capacities both in preservice and in-service contexts. It addresses both the “what” of teacher and leader preparation—the content educators need to learn about children and how to support their development and learning—and the “how”—the strategies for educator learning that can produce deep understanding; useful skills; and the capacity to reflect, learn, and continue to improve.