Staff Learning Plans
When I arrived at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP), the library was in the midst of implementing their 5 year strategic plan. One of the main goals of the plan was to foster a community of self directed learning and professional development within staff members. In order to move forward with the strategic plan, all staff members were encouraged to set learning goals during their end of year review in 2013. Most of the goals were vague, “improve my reference skills,” “learn more to assist job seekers.” When I sat down with each staff member for their first quarter meeting in March of 2014, I found that almost none of them had made any progress on the goals they set forth in December of 2013. I heard over and over again that they did not know where to start their learning process. They were overwhelmed at the idea of tackling such a seemingly gargantuan task. In talking to them about why they hadn’t moved forward it became obvious that they needed help breaking down their goals into smaller more manageable chunks.
So, in March of 2014 we changed course. Rather than having one large overarching goal, we were going to break down the goal into sub goals and we were going to come up with a concrete plan on how to accomplish this goal by breaking it down into small manageable tasks and measures for accountability along the way. I showed them an example of my learning plan at a staff meeting and we discussed how a learning plan might benefit each of them. I asked each staff person to come up with a draft and then we sat down to review. I showed them how to break things down into bite sized pieces that could easily be completed and we came up with measures of accountability for each goal. Now that they can see a path clearly laid out for them of how to learn they are much less overwhelmed and are making progress on their goals. An example of a learning plan is below.
At CLP we were changing course from an organization that reacts to an organization that is proactive. Enabling staff learning was key to accomplishing that task. Still, it was not fair to simply tell staff to do something new. I had to show them how. With these learning plans we were taking a proactive, comprehensive and accountable approach to learning that could be clearly documented and measured. After implementing this process staff and I would sit down and review their progress on a quarterly basis. They would also document what they had learned in their monthly reports.
Example of Staff Learning Plan
Year Long Goal: To strengthen reference skills to better serve our patrons.
Sub Goal: To strengthen reference skills in the area of science education for children.
Actions:
1. Using the test questions below, review collection at Woods Run.
a. Is literature up to date?
b. Gaps in coverage?
c. Diversity of age-appropriate materials?
2. Using the test questions below, review CLP kids website databases.
a. Make notes of which databases worked well for each search.
b. Make notes of which databases were appropriate for what age groups.
3. Using the test questions below, explore CLP’s links to other websites.
a. Make notes of which websites worked well for each search.
4. Using the test questions below, explore other websites with science reference for kids.
a. Makes notes of which websites worked well for each search.
5. Check Pittsburgh Public School’s monthly science calendar for each grade and be prepared to answer some questions if/when children come in and ask.
6. Explore opportunities (webinars/trainings) to strengthen science reference skills.
Test Reference Questions:
1. What are the phases of the moon? (astronomy)
2. How many different kinds of flowers are blooming in your neighborhood? (botany)
3. What changes in the environment can be created by a volcano? (earth science)
4. Illustrate the human tongue and label where your taste buds are located. (biology)
5. What are the parts of an atom? (chemistry)
Accountability:
1. Document what I learned in monthly report.
2. Document what questions regarding Science I get asked by children monthly.
3. Share knowledge with other staff in staff meetings or by email. Act as a lead in science reference for the staff.
4. Apply learning to science programming for children.
So, in March of 2014 we changed course. Rather than having one large overarching goal, we were going to break down the goal into sub goals and we were going to come up with a concrete plan on how to accomplish this goal by breaking it down into small manageable tasks and measures for accountability along the way. I showed them an example of my learning plan at a staff meeting and we discussed how a learning plan might benefit each of them. I asked each staff person to come up with a draft and then we sat down to review. I showed them how to break things down into bite sized pieces that could easily be completed and we came up with measures of accountability for each goal. Now that they can see a path clearly laid out for them of how to learn they are much less overwhelmed and are making progress on their goals. An example of a learning plan is below.
At CLP we were changing course from an organization that reacts to an organization that is proactive. Enabling staff learning was key to accomplishing that task. Still, it was not fair to simply tell staff to do something new. I had to show them how. With these learning plans we were taking a proactive, comprehensive and accountable approach to learning that could be clearly documented and measured. After implementing this process staff and I would sit down and review their progress on a quarterly basis. They would also document what they had learned in their monthly reports.
Example of Staff Learning Plan
Year Long Goal: To strengthen reference skills to better serve our patrons.
Sub Goal: To strengthen reference skills in the area of science education for children.
Actions:
1. Using the test questions below, review collection at Woods Run.
a. Is literature up to date?
b. Gaps in coverage?
c. Diversity of age-appropriate materials?
2. Using the test questions below, review CLP kids website databases.
a. Make notes of which databases worked well for each search.
b. Make notes of which databases were appropriate for what age groups.
3. Using the test questions below, explore CLP’s links to other websites.
a. Make notes of which websites worked well for each search.
4. Using the test questions below, explore other websites with science reference for kids.
a. Makes notes of which websites worked well for each search.
5. Check Pittsburgh Public School’s monthly science calendar for each grade and be prepared to answer some questions if/when children come in and ask.
6. Explore opportunities (webinars/trainings) to strengthen science reference skills.
Test Reference Questions:
1. What are the phases of the moon? (astronomy)
2. How many different kinds of flowers are blooming in your neighborhood? (botany)
3. What changes in the environment can be created by a volcano? (earth science)
4. Illustrate the human tongue and label where your taste buds are located. (biology)
5. What are the parts of an atom? (chemistry)
Accountability:
1. Document what I learned in monthly report.
2. Document what questions regarding Science I get asked by children monthly.
3. Share knowledge with other staff in staff meetings or by email. Act as a lead in science reference for the staff.
4. Apply learning to science programming for children.