How to Stop Wasting Your PD Budget

Ever left a fantastic professional development session feeling completely energised, only to find yourself back to square one a month later? Shane tackles this all-too-familiar scenario in this solo episode, coining it "One Hit Wonder PD" or "Drive-By PD."

Shane explores why even the most brilliant, engaging PD days often fail to create lasting change in schools. The problem isn't the quality of the training; it's what happens (or doesn't happen) after the applause dies down and real school life kicks back in.

Drawing on research from the Education Endowment Foundation, Shane reveals an uncomfortable truth: most of the responsibility for making professional development stick lies with school leaders themselves. He challenges listeners to focus on just one area this year and provides practical strategies for ensuring PD actually transforms practice rather than just creating good memories.

The episode offers a straightforward framework for leaders who want to make their professional development investment count: do the groundwork before training begins, plan the follow-up before the session even happens, and resist the temptation to juggle multiple initiatives. Sometimes going deep on one focus area creates far more impact than spreading efforts across numerous projects.

Links Mentioned

Education Endowment Foundation - 14 Mechanisms for Effective Professional Development

EEF Professional Development Guidance

Episode Partners

Teacher Development Trust

International Curriculum Association

Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensive

Shane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.

You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com

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