Shifting the focus of professional development from teachers to students: Building students as teacher partners

The role of professional development in improving learning, assessment, and teaching is highly supported in the literature. It is a critical component of teacher development to better support teachers for continuous improvement. However, there is a mismatch between the content of teacher PD and the fundamental needs for effective learning. Most of the content is teacher-centric knowledge and skills, which is contrary to the most appropriate content of PD. As shown in the literature, 50% of the variance observed in student outcomes is due to themselves. This means that students are the main contributors to their learning. Hence, we must ensure that students have the knowledge and skills to effectively engage in their learning, including assessment, behaviour management, self-reflection, and others. To achieve this, teachers must build students' capacity as classroom partners. The disruption brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of students' capacity for self-directed learning. Those who can engage in their learning independently have a better chance of success. Thus, we need to leverage this lesson to better prepare our students in the emerging context of the post-pandemic era.