Essential Steps for Setting Up Schoolwide PBL

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Chances are, you’ve heard this oft-repeated Chinese proverb by Lao Tzu more than once—either as a way to remind you to take things one step at a time or to encourage patience with long endeavors. When I read it, a third lesson came to mind: Be mindful of the first steps at the beginning of a protracted undertaking.

Schools and districts regularly kick off new initiatives, and while some lead to positive and systemic change, many others falter. While there are a multitude of reasons this can happen, the culprits are often missteps that occur during the rollout. A botched “first step” can lead to things coming to an unexpected halt well before reaching anywhere near ”a thousand miles,” and project-based learning (PBL) is often the victim of mismanaged rollouts. But why? What are the missed opportunities that leaders should be keeping in mind when planning?

I recently had the privilege of supporting the launch of the newest cohort of the New York City School Leader Network. During this workshop, leaders from each of the participating schools were working with their colleagues to craft a plan that would bring their unique vision for PBL to life, and I noticed similarities across the conversations when it came to rolling out their plans. This led me to wonder if there were all-important first steps that all schools should consider.

After taking stock of the progress that was made that day, I was able to come away with three things that all leaders need to consider when preparing to roll out PBL at their own schools.

1. Communication

One of the most common questions was, how do we best communicate regarding the expectations for PBL? As with all initiatives, making sure that there are clearly articulated expectations is key to successful participation, but it’s just as crucial that all stakeholders have been given input into these processes.

This obviously means that your teachers need to be informed about important success criteria such as the number of projects you expect students to engage in and how prep time will be reallocated, but a common missed opportunity is limiting such communication to teachers alone. A major component of PBL is the emphasis on student voice and community partnerships, and if you expect both of these groups to be on board, they need to know what the expectations are as well. Finding ways to include students, parents, and potential community partners is an often-overlooked but critical ingredient to a successful rollout.

There are a myriad of ways that this can be done. You can utilize existing methods of communication such as bulletins and your school website, but adding avenues such as newsletters, social media posts, or even inviting future students and partners to public presentations or exposition events can be effective and helpful.

2. Consider the Size and Scope

In order for PBL to be done well from the get-go, it sometimes requires shifts in structures like bell schedules and instructional support. For this reason, clearly defining the size and scope of the initial year is key, but what should that look like? Do you start in just a few grade levels? Is it best to target a couple of departments or roll it out schoolwide right away?

The right answer is whatever is best for your school, and here are some questions that can help you determine what that means for you:

Do you concentrate on keeping it small? A small rollout allows you to focus on getting quality projects and providing more concentrated support. Or do you expand the size to a wider portion of students so that you can make the schoolwide approach to instruction more quickly and no learners or eager teachers are left out?

Do you have teachers who are already doing PBL or interested in exploring it? Do you have a team that is open to planning a project collaboratively? Including natural interest or strong collaborative groups in the initial pilot could help build wider support with more hesitant groups, as peer endorsements are a powerful method of building support.

How will you direct teachers in designing and facilitating their first project? Should you suggest that they revise a unit they dislike as a way of strengthening it instead of asking them to change something they have a lot of ownership of? Do you begin by revising one unit they’re passionate about teaching (the chances of it being more built out with richer resources could be an asset down the road)?

Above all, don’t let the scope of your rollout outstrip your ability to provide support. If you only have a certain amount of time to dedicate to teacher support, make sure to factor that into your final decision.

3. Planning for Effective Support

With PBL there is a sweet spot, and because there is variance in support infrastructure from school to school, that sweet spot will look different as well.

To find it, you might consider the following:

Do you have existing support structures you can co-opt for PBL? Could you use a day of staff development, take 15 minutes of a staff meeting, or dedicate a fraction of grade-level time to your rollout?

Do you have additional support or instructional help that can be reallocated to support PBL? If you have literacy or math coaches, could they support teachers attempting to do projects in ELA or math?

Coaching is key to success with PBL. It can come from many different sources so long as you have clearly defined quality criteria, such as a design or facilitation rubric. Coaching could be provided by leadership, by an outside consultant, or even from peers so long as the collaboration time exists.

In what other ways can you provide support? If time and personnel are in short supply, providing resources via email is one way. Administrators can also encourage teachers to informally share and check in when they see that opportunities could be fruitful.