Evolution of a STEAM Teacher Training Program

K-12 teachers often suffer from high stress and early burnout, a state made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their need for summer rest and renewal can therefore be at odds with their needs and desires for summer-time teacher professional learning. To promote participation in the summer professional development component of a year-long program aimed at promoting STEAM education in K-12 classrooms, we redesigned the PD to explicitly provide flexibility, accommodation, and empowerment for the teacher participants. In this new “Choose Your Own Adventure” model of professional development, teachers were given the autonomy to tailor their professional development experiences based on their personal needs, interests, and summer commitments by selecting a variety of workshops in their preferred modes of delivery. Findings suggest that this adaptation was effective in facilitating robust teacher participation in summer professional development while also satisfying the teacher professional learning needs of the overall program. This paper presents the design of professional development, its implementation strategies, available workshop offerings, and findings. Additionally, it offers insights into teacher participation within the model.