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The Center for Research and Creative Activities recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Professor James Noonan, who works in the Secondary and Higher Education department with students at both the undergraduate and graduate level in Salem State University’s McKeown School of Education. Noonan spoke with us about the recent publication of his article “‘Regard me’: A case study of learner engagement and the satisfaction of basic needs in continuing professional development,” in the journal Professional Development in Education.
Throughout his career, Noonan has worked with teachers as a facilitator of Professional Development (PD): vital and often prescribed learning experiences aimed at deepening the skills of educators. Noonan recognizes that PD, which may be offered to educators in the form of seminars, workshops, and lectures, often carries negative stereotypes among teachers, who see these broadly designed trainings as out of touch with their needs. Noonan believes that teachers are in fact a neglected group of students, who are just as deserving of relevant and meaningful learning experiences as their own students. .
Although Noonan acknowledges that many PD experiences are bad, he understands that there is plenty to learn from the good ones. Seeking to do just that, Noonan investigated positive professional learning experiences as part of his dissertation for his EdD, which he received from Harvard University in 2016.
In his dissertation research, Noonan spoke with twenty-five K-12 teachers across five districts and numerous disciplines, who he asked to describe one powerful PD experience they had during their career. While engaging in these conversations, Noonan had an especially inspiring exchange with a high school English teacher, whom he refers to in his work as Wayne. While Wayne’s story of an impactful learning experience contributed to Noonan’s dissertation, it also planted the seed for a concept that Noonan recognized as needing its own space –a concept that Noonan calls regard.
In his article, Noonan uses self-determination theory to describe how three basic human needs—autonomy, competency, and relatedness—must be met in order to inspire the motivation of adult learners. This motivation is directly linked to engagement, which Noonan theorizes with the example of Wayne’s story, and can be developed through regard.
Noonan revisits Wayne’s story in “‘Regard me,’” a case study that looks at motivation and engagement as it pertains to Wayne’s experiences and, as Noonan recommends, in designing better PD. In his article, Noonan uses self-determination theory to describe how three basic human needs—autonomy, competency, and relatedness—must be met in order to inspire the motivation of adult learners. This motivation is directly linked to engagement, which Noonan theorizes with the example of Wayne’s story, and can be developed through regard.
According to Noonan, on the surface, Wayne’s story reflected a typical PD set-up: an overhead projector and slides conducted through lecture style for two hours after school. During his recounting of this positive PD experience, however, Wayne notes a profound difference: that the expert facilitator leading the lecture had a way of making him feel understood, cared for, and seen. Describing this notion of care, Wayne tells Noonan, “I want [the facilitator] to regard me . . . You know, I always say to teachers when they first work here, the kids wanna feel like you love them to the point that you will jump out of a building for them. You won’t, but . . . people want to feel cared for at a certain level.”
Noonan theorizes that such a feeling of regard—that is, feeling that one’s needed are being attended to—can be established in PD through building rapport. It requires a facilitator or teacher to be responsive and conscious of how they are supporting students’ autonomy, competency, and relatedness. Once these basic needs are met, Noonan says, authentic learning can occur.
As teachers, Noonan notes, it is easy to focus on pedagogy and teaching, but it takes work to reflect on the learning experience.
In outlining this concept in his case study, Noonan’s aim is to advocate for teachers as learners, in turn encouraging his audience to be mindful of the experience of learning. As teachers, Noonan notes, it is easy to focus on pedagogy and teaching, but it takes work to reflect on the learning experience.
In the classroom, Noonan practices regard by working to build a sense of community, both between himself and his students and among the students themselves. Even with newer challenges of remote learning, Noonan places students in small “crews” every semester. Within these groups, students are asked to support each other throughout the semester. For Noonan, this is a way to encourage more meaningful connections in a large group of people, where students can regard one another and feel regarded by their peers. To ensure that students feel seen, cared for, and regarded by their professor, Noonan asks for and responds to weekly feedback, which he then uses to implement changes in the course and beyond.
Currently, Noonan is extending his research on the positive impact of regard in new ways. He is working with two Salem State colleagues, Professors Jacy Ippolito and Megin Charner-Laird, in a study that looks at how the university’s Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) in Educational Leadership program supports the growth and development of its students. Seeing the CAGS program as a form of extended professional learning for its students, all of whom are full-time educators, the new study attends closely to the learning experiences of adults in the program who are, as “’Regard me’” emphasizes, both teachers and students.
Congratulations on your publication, Professor Noonan!