Let Them See You Learn
My favorite principals, directors, and other leaders exemplified what it meant to be a lead learner. Early in my career, one principal placed printed copies of articles in our boxes (yes, that long ago) with the expectation that this information would be part of the conversation at an upcoming faculty meeting.
A favorite director gave me a copy of the book that transformed how I think of teaching and learning (Gayle Allen’s book, The New Pillars of Modern Teaching). He shared books that shaped his thinking, joined colleagues in book studies, asked what I was reading and listening to, and regularly connected ideas from his own learning to our work. Learning wasn’t something he expected from everyone else. It was simply part of how he led.
He also regularly asked, “How can we be a learning organization if we don’t promote learning ourselves?” That question stayed with me, and I became more intentional about sharing when I was learning, what I was learning, and, most importantly, how I was using what I learned.
Many educators identify as lifelong learners. But if you lead a team, campus, district, or organization, consider a slightly different question: What evidence do others encounter that tells them, “My leader is a learner”?
Two Ways to Make Your Learning Visible
Leaders no longer need to make copies of an article and stuff them into teachers’ boxes. There are other actions that model being a lead learner. An updated professional library might be a start, but there are additional ways to let colleagues know you value learning and do more than just consume content.
Visible Actions
What we share, display, try, and invite others into can provide evidence of our own learning. These actions don’t need to be elaborate; they can simply make learning a more visible part of our everyday work.
Here are a few ways to make your learning visible through everyday actions:
Forwarding an article or newsletter with the reason you’re sharing it
Dropping a podcast episode into a team chat
Sharing a quote and citing the source of an idea in a presentation
Displaying what you’re currently reading
Inviting colleagues into a book study (see Reimagining Book Studies)
Trying something you encountered in your own professional learning
Visible Language
The language we use can make our learning visible, too. In Magic Words, Jonah Berger writes that “Words not only influence and affect the people who listen to or read them, they also reflect and reveal things about the person (or people) who created them.”
In my Podcasts for Professional Learning post, I share one of my favorite phrases: “I was listening to a podcast and heard…” Repeating that kind of language let my colleagues and friends know that I wasn’t simply consuming content; I was connecting what I learned to my work.
Here are a few additional phrases that help others recognize learning in progress:
“This article challenged my thinking about…”
“I've been studying questioning strategies. Can we look at what happened in third period through that lens?”
“I saw this tool demonstrated in a webinar last week and wanted to try it with you today.”
“I’m still thinking about something I heard at ___…”
When we make our learning visible, we help create a culture in which learning is simply part of how leadership happens.
Learning in Progress
Making learning visible doesn’t require having something polished to share. Sometimes the most powerful thing a leader can make visible is the fact that learning is still in progress.
In one of my early sessions as a digital learning consultant, a few participants expressed some hesitation to try new strategies or tools, mainly because of the stress of an evaluation or an unexpected walk-through. A participant shared an agreement he had made with his principal to place a sign on his door that said, "Teacher Learning in Progress," or "Technical Learning in Progress," which indicated he was trying something new. The administrator was welcome to observe and learn, but that class period would not be used as an evaluation. I thought this was a wonderful way to nurture risk-taking and to help build his building’s culture of learning.
I’ve written before about the importance of modeling the learning we hope to inspire in others. That modeling includes letting people see us experimenting, reconsidering, asking questions, and occasionally changing our minds.
Making Space for Your Own Learning
Of course, making our learning visible assumes something important: we are making space for our own learning in the first place.
For busy leaders, that doesn’t necessarily mean blocking an afternoon every week for professional reading. It might mean protecting 15 minutes for “Principal Learning in Progress.” It might mean listening to a podcast during a commute, choosing an audiobook instead of print, subscribing to one useful newsletter, or keeping an article nearby to revisit when a related problem surfaces.
This kind of ongoing learning also connects to Learning Forward’s Professional Expertise standard, which calls on educators to “apply standards and research to their work, develop the expertise essential to their roles, and prioritize coherence and alignment in their learning.” Being a learning leader means continuing to develop our own expertise and letting that learning inform the work we do with others.
Jenn David-Lang shares additional strategies for fitting professional reading into the realities of a school leader’s schedule in her article, Yes, Principals Can Make Time to Read. One suggestion reinforces the idea that professional reading doesn’t always require large blocks of extra time; small, intentional habits can help leaders keep learning amid the demands of their work.
Continue Your Learning with LFTXJoin Jenn David-Lang for Maximize Your Own Professional Learning on September 16, 2026, 12:00 - 1:00 (CT). Join this interactive session to learn ways to develop your own habit of professional reading and use that reading to support the learning of others. Register using this Form. |
Keep Learning
Making our learning visible starts with continuing to learn. If you’re thinking about how to build your own learning habits, I’ve explored related ideas in Owning Your Own Learning, Designing Your Own Learning, and Making Time for Learning. If you’re looking for relevant book ideas, check out Elevating Learning. Choose the one that best matches what you need next.
Let Them See You Learn
Think back to the question from the beginning: What evidence do others encounter that tells them, “My leader is a learner”? The actions and language below offer a few possibilities for making that learning more visible.
Choose your two moves for this week to let others see you learn:
One action I will take: ___________
One phrase I will use: ___________
Don’t just close this tab. Forward this article to another learning leader and tell them why it made you think of them.
Kathryn Laster brings over 30 years of education expertise as a math teacher, instructional coach, and digital learning consultant. As an independent consultant, she creates and facilitates transformative learning experiences through intentional, human-centered, tech-infused design, with a goal of normalizing excellence in adult learning design. She is a graduate of the 2025 Learning Forward Academy.
📚 See Kathryn’s reading inspirations.
Connect with Kathryn at kathrynlaster.info and at Refined Learning Design.
