Planning for PLD in 2026 and beyond: a strategic opportunity

It’s that time of year again - staffing is confirmed, priorities are being set, and the focus turns to how best to resource professional learning for 2026 and beyond in a shifting funding landscape.

With Kāhui Ako resourcing ending this year, the completion of regionally allocated PLD (RAPLD) in 2024, and a new national funding model now in place, school leaders are taking a more deliberate approach to planning and resourcing professional learning. While national PLD funding continues for some priorities, schools are likely to need to extend this through their own operational funding to sustain professional learning alongside other priorities.

There’s no single formula for how much a school should invest in PLD, yet many already contribute substantially. In fact, a recent report from ERO on PLD stated that “just over two-thirds of schools funded half or more of their PLD from their operational funds” (ERO, 2025). What we do know is clear - effective teaching is the biggest driver of student achievement, quality leadership enables it, and well-planned PLD is one of the best ways to strengthen both.

Effective leadership focuses resourcing on what makes the biggest difference to outcomes. So how do you ensure your PLD plan delivers lasting impact?

Five key moves for effective PLD planning

Start with your strategic goals - not your budget

Don’t start with the budget, start with the strategic direction and improvement goals for your ākonga, and align professional learning accordingly. Viviane Robinson, a leading voice in educational leadership, distinguishes between leading change that merely shifts a school’s state - potentially for the worse or no better - and leading improvement, which deliberately influences outcomes to leave the school in a stronger position. Leaders need a detailed strategy and process that communicates how the proposed change, including PLD, will lead to the intended improvement. They should ask themselves:

• What gap in achievement might you be targeting and why?

• What skills and knowledge do your teachers and leaders need to grow over the next two-three years?

Effective PLD that leads to sustained improvement is paced over years, not months, aligned to strategic goals, and resilient to staffing changes. Avoid reactive, one-off sessions and instead invest in a developmental pathway towards your goals that deepens expertise year by year.

Set clear quality criteria when choosing PLD

Be selective. Use guidance such as ERO’s Framework for school leaders – Teachers’ PLD: Making sure it’s worth it to evaluate external providers or design internal offerings. Prioritise access for staff who need it most. When the quality of PLD is high, and access is equitable, everyone benefits. Internal PLD needs to build well from teachers’ current practice, support application and be reviewed. External PLD offers the advantage of new perspectives and assistance in challenging prevailing dialogical norms and enabling teachers and leaders to think about their existing practice in new ways. This advice is not new – it echoes the advice we received as a sector close to 20 years ago, in the Teacher Professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration.).

Embed professional learning into everyday practice

For PLD to translate into leadership and then into classroom impact, it needs to be supported in everyday school systems. Embed new practices into professional growth cycles, coaching, induction, and planning processes. Follow up regularly - What’s being tried? What’s shifting? What’s sticking? For whom? How do we know and who would agree? Remember, the goal is not just learning, but sustained implementation.

Build on strengths to grow engagement

PLD is most powerful when it is contextualised within teachers’ work, engages with current values and knowledge, and resolves tensions between different theories about how and why to teach. A key take away from the ERO report I mentioned above is that when teachers are supported to apply their learning to their own context for improvement, motivation rises and practice improves. Engage with teachers regularly through conversations that seek to understand their beliefs around current practice, then focus on building capacity, not "fixing" deficits. Foster a professional culture where growth is supported and celebrated.

Focus on what’s practical and applicable

The most useful PLD is immediately applicable. Whether it’s improving classroom practice or enhancing leadership capability, focus on approaches that provide your staff with concrete strategies they can implement and refine, aligned to the strategic direction, and monitor as you implement. Effective PLD is hands-on, and job-embedded, not just conceptual.

Strategic investment in professional learning isn’t just a budget decision - it’s a lever for equity and achievement. If your school is planning its PLD priorities for 2026, our facilitators can work with you to design a coherent, evidence-informed pathway that makes every dollar count.

References

Education Review Office. (2025). Teaching our teachers: How effective is professional learning and development? (National Review Report). Education Evaluation Centre | Te Ihuwaka.

Ministry of Education. (2024). Supporting teachers and kaiako with impactful professional learning and development (Published 18 September, 2024).

NZSBA. (2025). Budgeting in schools.

Robinson, V. (2018). Reduce change to increase improvement. Corwin Press.

Timperley, Helen, Aaron Wilson, Heather Barrar, and Irene Fung. (2007). Teacher Professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education.

Talk with us about your PLD needs

Contact Steve Edwards